Willem de Kooning is probably the most important member of the Abstract expressionists, a group that included Pollock, Rothko, Hofmann, and Motherwell among others. The hallmark of de Kooning’s style was an emphasis on complex figure ground ambiguity. Background figures would overlap other figures causing them to appear in the foreground, which in turn might be overlapped by dripping lines of paint thus positioning the area into the background. He will probably best be remembered for his abstract paintings of the female nude, his Woman paintings. There is no doubt that his legacy will carry on as one of the most original and provocative artists of the post World War era.

Description: Hard bound with dust jacket, in publishers green cloth slipcase, as issued. Text in Italian. 37 pages of text including a biography, bibliography and index of the plates. 178 numbered plates, with about half in color. One of the titles in the Le Grandi monografie Pittori d’oggi series. This monograph has become a sort of standard in the Literature on de Kooning, often referenced by Sotheby’s and Christie’s. In the late 1950s Willem de Kooning visited Rome, where he was well received by high society there. Art critic Gabriella Drudi, a close friend of Thomas Hess and Gregory Corso, was there at the time. “All the young artists, even the amateurs, asked him to come to see their shows. And if it was a painter, he felt he had to go. He had this feeling that if somebody wanted to be an artist, you had to respect him”. Scarce and sought after!

Bookseller Inventory # 26151

SOLD

Willem de Kooning
Drudi, Gabriella; de Kooning, Willem

Publisher: Fratelli Fabbri
Publication Date: 1972
Binding: Hardcover in publishers slipcase
Book Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Good
Edition:  1st Edition

· Category: Sold ·