Product Description

Willem de Kooning is celebrated in the United States as one of the most significant artists of the 20th century and a leading Abstract Expressionist. In Europe, however, the artist has yet to be fully recognized, particularly with regards to his work of the 1960s and 1970s, when he retreated from urban life to live and work on Long Island. This segment of de Kooning's oeuvre bears the imprint of a fundamental experience of the landscape, for it was in these Long Island works that he developed a new style of figuration, characterized by a transformed sense of color and energetic gesture. This period of vigorous, pioneering creativity is illuminated for the first time in this volume, which features a concentrated selection of large-format paintings. In images and essays by Klaus Kertess, Harold Rosenberg, and others, the book illustrates how de Kooning's paintings--although recognizable as landscapes--grew abstract under the influence of his intense experience of nature. Edited by Bernhard Mendes Bürgi. Essays by Klaus Kertess, Ralph Ubl and Bernhard Mendes Bürgi. Hardcover, 9.8 x 12 in./176 pgs / 40 color and 15 b&w.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33422 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-15
• Released on: 2005-11-15
• Original language: English, German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

seminal period of an American master
This book contains numerous illustrations of many rarely seen works from what is perhaps the seminal period of this masters work. There are numerous essays by leading scholars of de Koonings art. The design is a little heavy handed, for example the ideosyncratic typeface, but it does not get in the way of viewing the plates. The uncoated paper is a nice touch. Many other books reproduce de Koonings paintings with oversaturated colors; this one does not.

The best of the best.
Great book showing the best paintings from the greatest modern painter from his greatest artistic period, the sixties and seventies. Wish I had visited the exhibition. This book is a must have for every de Kooning lover.

de Kooning paintings 1960-1980
Book is in English and German.Good photographs with some works I had not seen before.Also a couple pictures of de Koonings studio inside and out.Includes an interview by Harold Rosenberg.Loved it, of course I am De Koonings biggest fan!