Elaine de Kooning
Encyclopedia
Elaine de Kooning was an Abstract Expressionist
, Figurative Expressionist
painter
in the post-World War II era and editorial associate for Art News magazine. On December 9, 1943, she married artist Willem de Kooning
, who was a highly influential artist in the Abstract Expressionism
movement.
then brief studies at Hunter College
in New York City
, in 1937 she attended the Leonardo da Vinci Art School
, Hoboken
, New Jersey. In 1938 she went on to study at the American Artists School
in New York City
.
She stated:
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
, Figurative Expressionist
American Figurative Expressionism
According to Marilyn Stokstad, the art historian:-Early Expressionistic movements:Expressionistic movements before and after 1910 were developed by three artists' groups:• The Fauves • Die Brücke • Der Blaue Reiter...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
in the post-World War II era and editorial associate for Art News magazine. On December 9, 1943, she married artist Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, who was a highly influential artist in the Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
movement.
Early life and education
Born Elaine Marie Fried in Brooklyn, New York, her artistic sensibility was encouraged by her mother, who took her to museums and taught her to draw what she saw. After graduating from Erasmus Hall High SchoolErasmus Hall High School
Erasmus Hall Campus High School is a four-year public high school in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States operated by the New York City Department of Education....
then brief studies at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in 1937 she attended the Leonardo da Vinci Art School
Leonardo da Vinci Art School
The Leonardo Da Vinci Art School was an art school founded in New York City , whose most famous student was Isamu Noguchi and whose director was sculptor and poet Onorio Ruotolo.-First Decade:...
, Hoboken
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
, New Jersey. In 1938 she went on to study at the American Artists School
American Artists School
The American Artists School was a progressive independent art school in New York City associated with socialism and the American Radical movement.The school was founded in April 1936 at 131 West Fourteenth Street...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
She stated:
A painting to me is primarily a verb, not a noun, an event first and only secondarily an image.
Death
February 11, 1989, Elaine de Kooning died at the age of 70. Willem de Kooning, suffering from advanced Alzheimers Disease at the time, was never told that his wife had died.Teaching positions
- 1959: University of New MexicoUniversity of New MexicoThe University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
; - 1960: The Pennsylvania State University;
- 1963-64: University of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, DavisDavis, CaliforniaDavis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, California; - 1967: Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, New HavenNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Connecticut; - 1968: Pratt InstitutePratt InstitutePratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
; - 1968-70: Carnegie-Mellon University;
- 1971-72: University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
; - 1971: Wagner CollegeWagner CollegeWagner College is a private, co-educational, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 total students located atop Grymes Hill in New York City's borough of Staten Island...
; - 1974: New York Studio School, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; - 1974-75: Parsons School of Design, NYC;
- 1976-79: University of GeorgiaUniversity of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
.
Selected solo exhibitions
- 1952, 1954, 1956: Stable GalleryStable GalleryThe Stable Gallery, originally located on West 58th Street in New York, was founded in 1953 by Eleanor Ward. The Stable Gallery hosted early solo New York exhibitions for artists including Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol.-History:...
, NYC; - 1957: Tibor de Nagy Gallery, NYC;
- 1959: Lyman Allyn Art MuseumLyman Allyn Art MuseumThe Lyman Allyn Art Museum was founded in 1932 by Harriet Upson Allyn in memory of her father, Lyman Allyn. The museum is situated in New London, Connecticut.- Museum and collection :Housed in a handsome Neo-Classical building designed by Charles A...
, New LondonNew London, ConnecticutNew London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
, Connecticut; - 1960: Ellison Gallery, Fort WorthFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, Texas; - 1960, 1963, 1965, 1975: Graham Gallery, NYC;
- 1964: “25 Portraits of J.F.K.”, Peale House Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Pennsylvania; - 1979: “Bacchus, Works on Paper”, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art and Library, LaurelLaurel, MississippiLaurel is a city located in Jones County in Mississippi, a state of the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 18,393 although a significant population increase has been reported following Hurricane Katrina. Located in southeast Mississippi, southeast of...
, Mississippi; - 1982, 86: Gruenebaum Gallery’ NYC;
- 1983: “Elaine de Kooning and the Bacchus Motif”, Arts Club of ChicagoArts Club of ChicagoArts Club of Chicago is a private club located in the Near North Side community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, a block east of the Magnificent Mile, that exhibits international contemporary art. It was founded in 1916, inspired by the success of the Art Institute of...
, Chicago, Illinois; - 1991: “Black Mountain Paintings from 1948”, Joan T. Washburn Gallery, NYC.
Selected group exhibitions
- 1951, 1953-1957: 9th Street Art Exhibition, the first “New York Painters and Sculptors Annual Exhibition” and subsequent 5 New York Artists’ Annual Exhibitions, Stable GalleryStable GalleryThe Stable Gallery, originally located on West 58th Street in New York, was founded in 1953 by Eleanor Ward. The Stable Gallery hosted early solo New York exhibitions for artists including Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol.-History:...
, NYC; - 1956: “Abstract Expressionism”, circ., by the Walker Art CenterWalker Art CenterThe Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, MinneapolisMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Minnesota; “Young American Painters”, circ., The Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, NYC; “Pittsburgh International”, Carnegie InstituteCarnegie Museums of PittsburghCarnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, Pittsburgh; - 1958: “Action Painting, 1958”, The Dallas ContemporaryThe Dallas ContemporaryThe Dallas Contemporary, founded in 1978, is situated on the edge of the city center of Dallas, the ninth largest city in the United States and fourth largest metropolitan area with Fort Worth...
, DallasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas; - 1960: “Abstract Expressionists Painting of the Fifties”, The Walker Art CenterWalker Art CenterThe Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, MinneapolisMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Minnesota; - 1961: The Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
AnnualsAnnualsAnnuals is a six-piece indie-pop outfit from Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band was started by Adam Baker in 2003 as a side project of the still active sister band Sunfold, formerly known as Sedona and headed up by lead guitarist Kenny Florence....
and Biennials, NYC; - 1964: “67th Annual American Exhibition: Directions in Contemporary Painting and Sculpture”, The Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
; - 1980: “The Fifties: Aspects Painting in New York”, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenThe Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; - 1990: “East Hampton Avant-Garde, A Salute to the Signa Gallery”, Guild Hall Museum, East HamptonEast Hampton (village), New YorkThe Village of East Hampton is a village in Town of East Hampton, New York. It is located in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of eastern Long Island...
, New York.
See also
- Women in art
- American Figurative ExpressionismAmerican Figurative ExpressionismAccording to Marilyn Stokstad, the art historian:-Early Expressionistic movements:Expressionistic movements before and after 1910 were developed by three artists' groups:• The Fauves • Die Brücke • Der Blaue Reiter...
- New York Figurative ExpressionismNew York Figurative ExpressionismNew York Figurative Expressionism of the 1950s represented a trend where "diverse New York artists countered the prevailing abstract mode to work with the figure."-Categories of figurative expressionist modes:...
- New York SchoolNew York SchoolThe New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
- 9th Street Art Exhibition
- Abstract ExpressionismAbstract expressionismAbstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
- Action paintingAction paintingAction painting sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied...
Sources
- Grace Glueck; New York Times obituary, February 2, 1989
- Paul Schimmel; Judith E Stein; Newport Harbor Art Museum, The Figurative fifties: New York figurative expressionism (Newport Beach, California: Newport Harbor Art Museum; New York: Rizzoli, 1988); ISBN 0847809420, ISBN 9780847809424, ISBN 0917493125, ISBN 9780917493126
- Lee Hall, Elaine and Bill, portrait of a marriage : the lives of Willem and Elaine de Kooning, (New York, New York : HarperCollins Pub., ©1993.) ISBN 0060183055
- Marika Herskovic, American Abstract and Figurative Expressionism: Style Is Timely Art Is Timeless (New York School Press, 2009); ISBN 9780967799421 pp. 72–75
- Marika Herskovic, American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s An Illustrated Survey, (New York School Press, 2003); ISBN 0-9677994-1-4; pp. 90–93
- Marika Herskovic, New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists, (New York School Press, 2000); ISBN 0-9677994-0-6; p. 8, 16, 25, 36, 102-105
- The Spirit of Abstract Expressionism Selected Writings; ISBN 0-8076-1337-1
- Edvard Lieber, Willem de Kooning: Reflections in the Studio, 2000, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.; ISBN 0-8109-4560-6