ABSTRACT PAINTER, EXPRESSIONIST ICON DE KOONING DIES.Byline: Pat Milton Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Willem de Kooning, whose swirls and slashes of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color helped define abstract expressionism abstract expressionism, movement of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the mid-1940s and attained singular prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action painting and the New York school. and made him one of the 20th century's greatest painters, died in his studio Wednesday. He was 92. De Kooning's abstract expressionist ex·pres·sion·ism n. A movement in the arts during the early part of the 20th century that emphasized subjective expression of the artist's inner experiences. ex·pres works included traces of the earlier surrealist movement and prefigured Pop art. Along with Jackson Pollock, he led the group of artists who helped New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of replace Paris as the center of the art world in the years after World War II. ``I don't paint to live, I live to paint,'' he said in his 80s. ``It's a nice thing to look forward to.'' De Kooning painted daily until the late 1980s, even after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (ăls`hī'mərz, ôls–), degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia. . In 1989, after a bitter court fight, he was declared mentally incompetent and control of his estate was given to his attorney and his daughter, Lisa, who is his only survivor. De Kooning's death came just two months after New York's Museum of Modern Art opened an exhibit of his late paintings, entitled ``Objects of Desire.'' De Kooning ``is one of the two greatest painters in American art American art, the art of the North American colonies and of the United States. There are separate articles on American architecture, North American Native art, pre-Columbian art and architecture, Mexican art and architecture, Spanish colonial art and architecture, since World War II, the other being Jackson Pollock,'' said William Rubin, director emeritus of MOMA's department of painting and sculpture. Among his meticulously composed canvases was his 1944 ``Pink Lady,'' which brought $3.63 million at auction in 1987. Two years later his 1955 masterpiece ``Interchange'' sold for a stunning $20.6 million. Vintage works consistently sold for more than $1 million. Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, he was the son of a wine and beer distributor and a barmaid. They divorced when he was 5 and his father got custody, but his mother took him away by force - a fact that critics made much of in later years. He decided to come to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and, stowing away on a ship, ended up in Hoboken, N.J., in 1926. He learned English while working as a house painter and commercial artist. His first one-man show came in 1948 at age 44. When his canvas ``Excavation'' won the major prize at the Art Institute of Chicago's 1951 exhibition, it was viewed as a vindication for abstract expressionism, the movement that stresses the depiction of emotion through shapes and colors. In the 1950s, de Kooning returned to the figure, stirring controversy over his abandonment of pure abstraction. He worked for three years on ``Woman I,'' which was bought by the Museum of Modern Art. De Kooning never considered the work finished, or even a success, but it became the most frequently reproduced work of art of the 1950s, and other ``Woman'' paintings followed. ``Flesh,'' de Kooning once said, ``was the reason why oil painting was invented.'' Time magazine art critic Noun 1. art critic - a critic of paintings critic - a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art Robert Hughes Robert Hughes may refer to:
In the late 1960s, de Kooning moved into a studio he designed in East Hampton East Hampton or its variants is the name of several places in the United States:
De Kooning was married in 1943 to fellow painter Elaine Fried. They separated later and when he was 52 he had a daughter with Joan Ward. But he never divorced Elaine and in 1978 she returned. She helped him stop his heavy drinking and handled his affairs until her death in 1989. De Kooning was known for having difficulty declaring his paintings complete, but his output increased in the 1980s, when he produced more than 300 works. In a 1989 interview, Rose Slivka, an art critic and old friend of de Kooning's, commented on his vitality. ``It's very exciting to watch him paint,'' she said. ``As always, he brings his whole body into it. ... It seems to flow out of his fingers, his way of touching the canvas as if he were following the color lines, as if he's feeling into a very deep part of his life.'' A funeral was scheduled for Saturday afternoon at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Hampton. A public memorial service will be held later. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1--color) ``Interchange'' is by Willem de Kooning. He died Wednesday at 92. (2--color) A de Kooning painting adorns New York's Museum of Modern Art. (3--color) DE KOONING Associated Press |
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