In the 1940s, de Kooning, with his friend the artist Arshile Gorky, frequented the Metropolitan Museum to study portraits by nineteenth-century French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. This seated figure, which belongs to de Kooning’s first series of "women" paintings, demonstrates his interest in the human form. Awkwardly posed, the woman’s arms, legs, and breasts exist as abstract shapes in a flattened space. Like other Abstract Expressionists, de Kooning was interested in portraying nature as simultaneously creative and destructive. Although the figure is recognizable as a woman, de Kooning’s arrangement of form, line, and color gives the effect of a body coming together and falling apart.
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Edwin Denby and Rudolph Burchardt; Thomas B. Hess, New York (until d. 1978); his heirs, New York (1978–84; their gift to MMA)
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. "Willem de Kooning," September 19–November 17, 1968, no. 15 (dated ca. 1944, lent by a private collection, New York City, N.Y.).
London. Tate Gallery. "Willem de Kooning," December 5, 1968–January 26, 1969, no. 17 (dated ca. 1944, lent by a private collection, New York City, N.Y.).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Willem de Kooning," March 6–April 27, 1969, no. 17.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Willem de Kooning: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture," December 15, 1983–February 26, 1984, no. 153 (dated ca. 1944, lent by a private collection).
Berlin. Akademie der Künste. "Willem de Kooning: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture," March 11–April 29, 1984, no. 153.
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. "Willem de Kooning," June 26–September 24, 1984, unnumbered cat. (p. 62; dated ca. 1944, lent by a private collection, United States).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection Two: Twentieth-Century Art," June 4–September 2, 1985, no catalogue.
Canberra. Australian National Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," March 1–April 27, 1986, unnumbered cat. (p. 64, as "Seated Woman").
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," May 7–July 1, 1986, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Willem de Kooning: The Early Years," March 14–August 14, 1989, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "14 Americans," July 16, 1990–January 2, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting: 1905–1950," April 19–October 7, 1991, no catalogue.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Willem de Kooning: Paintings," May 8–September 5, 1994, no. 5.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Willem de Kooning: Paintings," October 11, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 5.
London. Tate Gallery. "Willem de Kooning: Paintings," February 15–May 7, 1995, no. 5.
Munich. Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. "Women: Picasso, Beckmann, de Kooning," March 30–July 15, 2012, no. 15.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Kerry James Marshall Selects: Works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 25, 2016–January 29, 2017, no catalogue (p. 267 in "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry" exhibition catalogue).
Philadelphia. Barnes Foundation. "Soutine / de Kooning: Conversations in Paint," March 7–August 8, 2021, unnumbered cat. (pl. 6).
Paris. Musée de l'Orangerie. "Chaïm Soutine / Willem de Kooning. La peinture incarnée," September 15, 2021–January 10, 2022, unnumbered cat. (pl. 6).
Thomas B. Hess. Willem de Kooning. Exh. cat., Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. New York, 1968, pp. 46, 161, no. 17, ill. p. 43 (color).
Andrew Forge. "De Kooning's 'Women'." Studio International 176 (December 1968), ill. p. 250 (color), dates it ca. 1944.
David Sylvester. "de Kooning's Women." Sunday Times Magazine (December 8, 1968), pp. 48–49, ill.
Gabriella Drudi. Willem de Kooning. Milan, 1972, p. 32, fig. 20 (color), dates it about 1944.
Harold Rosenberg. De Kooning. New York, [1974], pp. 29–30, pl. 35, dates it about 1944.
Harry F. Gaugh. Willem de Kooning. New York, 1983, p. 49, fig. 32 (color), dates it ca. 1944; suggests that this figure is not a woman but instead an object, puppet, or mannequin, noting the dislocated positions of the extremeties.
Jörn Merkert inWillem de Kooning: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Munich, 1983, pp. 118, 120, no. 153, ill. p. 162 (color).
Harry F. Gaugh. "De Kooning in Retrospect." Art News 83 (March 1984), p. 93, [probably this work].
Lisa M. Messinger in "Twentieth Century Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1984–1985. New York, 1985, pp. 56–57, ill. (color), calls it "Seated Woman".
William S. Lieberman. 20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 1, Painting: 1905–1945. New York, 1986, pp. 6, 60–61, 63, ill. (color, overall and detail), calls it "Seated Woman".
Eugene Victor Thaw. "The Abstract Expressionists." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 44 (Winter 1986–87), pp. 21, 23, 45, fig. 17 (color), calls it "Seated Woman".
Sally Yard. Willem de Kooning: The First Twenty–Six Years in New York. PhD diss., Princeton University. New York, 1986, pp. 108–10, 114, 133, fig. 121, dates it about 1944.
Jenny Harper in20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Australian National Gallery. Canberra, 1986, p. 64, ill. (color).
Sylvia Hochfield. "Thoroughly Modern Met." Art News 86 (February 1987), p. 116.
Philippe Sollers. De Kooning, Vite. Paris, [1988], vol. 1, p. 79, vol. 2, fig. 9 (color), calls it "Femme assis".
Roger Bevan. "Museum Review: The Metropolitan Museum: a New Wing for Modern Art." Apollo 127 (January 1988), pp. 40–41, calls it "Seated Woman".
Hilton Kramer. "Though Exhibiting It Badly, Met Offers a Worthy de Kooning Show." New York Observer (August 28, 1989), p. 19, calls it "Seated Woman".
David Sylvester inWillem de Kooning: Paintings. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., 1994, p. 26.
Marla Prather inWillem de Kooning: Paintings. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1994, p. 82, 85 n. 47, no. 5 (color), dates it about 1944; compares it to an earlier, symbolist–inspired painting by the artist, "The Kiss" (1925, private collection).
Catherine Morris. The Essential Willem de Kooning. New York, 1999, pp. 43–45, ill. (color).
Stella Paul. Twentieth-Century Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Resource for Educators. New York, 1999, pp. 79–81, ill. and ill. p. 78 (color).
Carol Vogel. "Met Gets Gift of 100 Works Collected by Son of Matisse." New York Times (February 27, 2003), p. B9.
Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan. De Kooning: An American Master. New York, 2004, p. 198, date it about 1944.
Jennifer Field in John Elderfield. De Kooning: A Retrospective. Ed. David Frankel. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 2011, p. 103, fig. 6 (color).
Richard Shiff. Between Sense and de Kooning. London, 2011, p. 89, fig. 30 (color), dates it about 1944.
Eva Reifert inWomen: Picasso, Beckmann, de Kooning. Ed. Carla Schulz–Hoffmann. Exh. cat., Pinakothek der Moderne, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen. Ostfildern, 2012, p. 90, no. 15, ill. (color).
Judith Zilczer. A Way of Living: The Art of Willem de Kooning. London, 2014, fig. 66 (color).
Richard Meyer. "Changing Partners: Richard Meyer on 'Reimagining Modernism' at the Met." Artforum 54 (November 2015), ill. p. 143 (color, installation photo).
Kathryn Calley Galitz. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Masterpiece Paintings. New York, 2016, p. 528, ill. (color), colorpl. 460.
Judith Zilczer inSoutine / de Kooning: Conversations in Paint. Ed. Simonetta Fraquelli and Claire Bernardi. Exh. cat., Barnes Foundation. Philadelphia, 2021, pp. 48, 63, colorpl. 6, dates it about 1944.
Lili Davenas inChaïm Soutine / Willem de Kooning. La peinture incarnée. Ed. Claire Bernardi and Simonetta Fraquelli. Exh. cat., Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia. Paris, 2021, pp. 55, 213, colorpl. 6.
Willem de Kooning (American (born The Netherlands), Rotterdam 1904–1997 East Hampton, New York)
1949
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