Customer Reviews

The Essential Willem De Kooning (Essential Series)

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When I first got this book I was a little skeptical thinking an artist as gifted as de kooning couldnt be captured in a little book, particularly an artist in the abstract field. Glad to say I was wrong. The author accomplishes what she sets out to do:

- comprehensive overview of de kooning's life and works; - introducing non-lovers of abstract art (not me but friends) in a non-overbearing manner to the world of abstract art; - highlighting de kooning's major works.

Accomplishing the above in a small book the size of a cd that you can read in one airline flight is pretty impressive. Aftert reading it I felt I knew de kooning -- already one of my favorite artists -- even more than I did before and I will certainly get other books in this series on different artists.

Despite the fact I thought I didn't like de Kooning's work I bought this book because it was cheap and short and the writing seemed fresh, clear and to the point. This book has completely turned me around on de Kooning and has given me just enough info to get a handle on the artist without buying a $50 book. His life, influences, main bodies of work and techniques are all covered. Short, sweet and succinct!

A diligent experimenter and Abstract Expressionist who sometimes shocked, the Dutch born de Kooning was also a sculptor. After stowing away to America as an impoverished 22-year-old immigrant, this artist grew to become a leader in modern art, "a defining member of the most influential art movement created in the United States."
With the impact of his colors drawing gasps, he literally transformed the way many of us view our surroundings. Quite obviously, he had admiration for traditional Western art yet struck out on his own only to find the country floundering in the depths of a Depression.
Despite his lack of funds de Kooning "remembers the years of the Depression as nurturing, formative ones. A sense of shared community prevails, since everyone is poor and none of them is famous yet."