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The picture in question was Willem de Kooning’s Woman, I (1950–52). Though it was one of a series of six oil -on- canvas paintings centered upon a single female figure that de Kooning had worked on from 1950 to 1953, Woman, I received the most attention.
Woman I is an 1950 Abstract Expressionist painting by American artist Willem de Kooning. The work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, in New York. History. Willem de Kooning painted Woman I over two years, from 1950 to 1952.
The strange story behind Willem de Kooning’s Woman I. On the anniversary of the Dutch abstract expressionist's birth, we tell the tale behind one of his infamous works. By the middle of the 20th century, Willem de Kooning had pretty much made it.
Title: Woman, I. Artist: Willem de Kooning (American (born The Netherlands), Rotterdam 1904–1997 East Hampton, New York) Date: 1950–1952. Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 75 7/8 × 58 in. (192.7 × 147.3 cm) Classification: Paintings. Credit Line: The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1953
The hulking, wild-eyed subject draws upon an amalgam of female archetypes, from Paleolithic fertility goddesses to contemporary pin-up girls. Her threatening stare and ferocious grin are heightened by de Kooning's aggressive brushwork and frantic paint application.
A garish woman, her hair a gaudy, flaming orange, stares out at the viewer, her oversized eyes having been incised into the wet paint with a pencil point to reinforce the effect. Her eye-like, prominent breasts stand as beacons in the very center of the sheet.
Dec 6, 2023 · Woman, I. by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Willem de Kooning, Woman, I, 1950–52, oil on canvas, 192.7 x 147.3 cm (The Museum of Modern Art) © The Willem de Kooning Foundation.
