aic-contemporary: Untitled, Willem de Kooning, 1948, Art Institute of Chicago: Contemporary ArtWille

aic-contemporary:

Untitled, Willem de Kooning, 1948,Art Institute of Chicago: Contemporary Art

Willem de Kooning established his reputation as a key figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement with a series of black-and-white paintings that he created in the late 1940s using household enamels and paper. Characterized by lyrical brushwork and biomorphic abstractions, these works marked the artist’s shift from a figurative drawing style, largely influenced by Arshile Gorky and other European artists, to the evolving gestural tradition of the New York School. Having eliminated color from his palette at that moment, de Kooning became more spontaneous with his application of paint, pushing his compositions to the edge of the paper. The resulting works embodied the physical act of painting, a defining characteristic of what would later become termed “action painting.” Gift from the Mary and Earle Ludgin Collection
Size: 92.1 × 123.8 (36 ¼ × 48 ¾ in.), without frame
Medium: Oil and enamel on paper, mounted on composition board

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/62290/