Willem De Kooning (Modern Masters)

Rating:
Summary: His Study of Women vs. Himself
Review: I was enjoying my book of de Kooning's work years ago, when I was painting in that same abstract expressionist style. I especially loved his "portraits" of women done within that style. I was showing them to hubby one night and he said, "The women look just like him. I think he was painting himself." Well, whose the artist in this household, huh? That was my first thought. My second was that, darn it all, hubby was right! As I went back through the paintings, I couldn't believe I'd missed seeing that. Just like writers, artists spend a lot of time doing autobiographical work, sometimes not even knowing they are doing so themselves. de kooning lived to a very old age and his work became simpler yet still in variations of his basic abstractionism. I think he was a marvelous painter and well worth studying but if you hate abstract expressionist art, he is not for you. There are a number of filmed documentaries, which show him painting in his studio, that I saw years ago. They are well worth chasing down as well for artists. He spent as much time looking at his paintings, studying them as they evolved, maybe even more time, which is a very natural thing for an artist to do once in the creative process. If you ever feel guilty for just staring and staring at your work before moving onto its next stage, de kooning can make you feel much better about yourself!

Rating:
Summary: His Study of Women vs. Himself
Review: I was enjoying my book of de Kooning's work years ago, when I was painting in that same abstract expressionist style. I especially loved his "portraits" of women done within that style. I was showing them to hubby one night and he said, "The women look just like him. I think he was painting himself." Well, whose the artist in this household, huh? That was my first thought. My second was that, darn it all, hubby was right! As I went back through the paintings, I couldn't believe I'd missed seeing that. Just like writers, artists spend a lot of time doing autobiographical work, sometimes not even knowing they are doing so themselves. de kooning lived to a very old age and his work became simpler yet still in variations of his basic abstractionism. I think he was a marvelous painter and well worth studying but if you hate abstract expressionist art, he is not for you. There are a number of filmed documentaries, which show him painting in his studio, that I saw years ago. They are well worth chasing down as well for artists. He spent as much time looking at his paintings, studying them as they evolved, maybe even more time, which is a very natural thing for an artist to do once in the creative process. If you ever feel guilty for just staring and staring at your work before moving onto its next stage, de kooning can make you feel much better about yourself!