Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning in his East Hampton studio, New York, 1971
Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002
Photographer: Kenneth Tyler
Willem de Kooning was born in 1904 in Rotterdam. After leaving school early, he worked as an apprentice house painter while attending night classes at the Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, before migrating to the United States in 1926. Once settled in New York he again worked as a house painter before dedicating himself to his art entirely in 1930, with periods of teaching at both Black Mountain College and Yale University. De Kooning is renowned for his Abstract paintings, in particular his Women series, which he first began in 1938 and of which the National Gallery holds an outstanding example, Woman V.
Later in life de Kooning broadened his attention to include sculpture, and in 1971 completed a sculptural edition, Untitled, at Gemini GEL. The edition was cast in pewter from a clay maquette. As in the majority of de Kooning’s paintings the subject of the work is the abstracted human figure.
Emilie Owens
Works in the Kenneth E. Tyler Collection
Browse all works by Willem de KooningChronology
1904 Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
1916 Begins apprenticeship with the decoration firm of Jan and Jaap Gidding
1917–21 Enrols in night classes at Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Technology
1926 Emigrates to United States of America and settles in Hoboken, New Jersey; works initially as a house painter and later completes lettering, sign painting, and carpentry
1927 Moves to New York, New York; works for AS Beck shoe stores on window designs
1935 Employed by the Federal Arts Project in the mural division on the Williamsburg Federal Housing Project, Brooklyn, New York
1936 Begins to paint full time; included in exhibition, New horizons in American art, at Museum of Modern Art, New York
1937 Receives commission for Medicine mural for the Hall of Pharmacy at the 1939 World. s Fair in New York, alongside murals by Michael Loew and Stuyvesant van Veen
1938 Begins to paint first series of Woman; becomes close friends with David Smith and Barnett Newman
1940 Designs sets and costumes for Les Nuages, performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera, New York
1944 Included in exhibition, Abstract and Surrealist art in America, Mortimer Brandt Gallery, New York
1946 Creates backdrop for the ballet Labyrinth, performed by Marie Marchowsky at the New York Times Hall
1948 First solo exhibition, at Charles Egan Gallery, New York; teaches at Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, North Carolina; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1949 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1950 Included in Venice biennale, Italy; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; teaches at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; begins second series of Woman paintings
1951 Included in exhibitions: Abstract painting and sculpture in America, at Museum of Modern Art, New York; Annual exhibition, at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, where he receives the Logan Medal; included in Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil
1952 Included in exhibition, Carnegie international, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1953 Travelling retrospective exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; included in Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil
1954 Included in Venice biennale, Italy
1955 Included in exhibition, Carnegie international, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1956 Included in Venice biennale, Italy
1957 Completes his first print by illustrating Harold Rosenberg's poem 'Revenge' in Twenty-one etchings and poems (New York: Morris Gallery, 1960)
1959 Included in exhibition, Documenta 2, Kassel, West Germany
1960 Makes first lithographs at University of California, Berkeley
1961 Included in exhibition, Carnegie international, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1962 Becomes a citizen of the United States of America
1963 Moves to Long Island, New York; receives the President's Medal, Washington, DC; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1964 Receives Guggenheim International Award and Presidential Medal of Freedom; solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning retrospective: drawings, Allan Stone Gallery, New York; included in exhibition, Documenta 3, Kassel, West Germany
1965 Travelling retrospective exhibition, Willem de Kooning: a retrospective exhibition, at Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1966 Included in travelling exhibition, Two decades of American printmaking, which travels to Japan; Italy; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
1967 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1968 Travelling retrospective exhibition, Willem de Kooning, originating at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
1969 Included in exhibitions: The new American painting and sculpture, at Museum of Modern Art, New York; Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; travels to Japan
1972 Completes multiple Untitled at Gemini GEL, Los Angeles; included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1973 Receives Albert Einstein Commemorative Award from Yeshiva University, New York
1974 Travelling solo exhibitions: Lithographs 1970–72, originating at Art Gallery, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; De Kooning drawings/sculpture, organised by Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1976 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at the Art Institute of Chicago
1977 Travelling solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning: paintings and sculpture, organised by Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; included in exhibition, Documenta 6, Kassel, West Germany
1979 Receives Andrew W. Mellon prize (together with Eduardo Chillida); receives the Order of Orange-Nassau from the Dutch Government; solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning, at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; included in travelling exhibition, America and Europe: a century of modern masters from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, originating at Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth and travelling to Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1981 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1983 Travelling retrospective exhibition, Willem de Kooning: the North Atlantic Light 1960–83, originating at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
1984 Receives Max Beckmann Prize from the city of Frankfurt am Main, West Germany; solo exhibition, The drawings of Willem de Kooning, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; travelling retrospective exhibition, Willem de Kooning retrospective exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1986 Receives National Medal of Arts and the Mayor's Liberty Medal, New York
1987 Included in exhibition, Annual exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1990 Solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning: works on paper 1954–1984, organised by Contempo Modern Art Gallery, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
1991 Travelling solo exhibition, Willem de Kooning: a selection of printer's proofs from the collection of Irwin Hollander, master printer, at Galeria Afinsa, Madrid
1996 Solo exhibition, Collection in context: Willem de Kooning's door cycle, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1997 Willem de Kooning died in East Hampton, New York
Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd; revised Kate Buckingham, 2006
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.
Further Reading
EXHIBITIONS
AUDIO
NATIONAL GALLERY PUBLICATIONS
- Joan Mitchell: Worlds of colour, Anja Loughhead (ed.), 2021
- Workshop: The Kenneth Tyler Collection, Jane Kinsman (ed.), 2015
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