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Untitled 1969 20th Century 19 in. x 24 in. (48.26 cm x 60.96 cm) Willem de Kooning (Rotterdam, Holland, 1904 - 1997, Long Island, New York) Object Type: Drawing Medium and Support: charcoal on paper Credit Line: Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Purchase, Tabriz Fund and Museum Purchase Plan of the NEA. 1971.009.002 Accession Number: 1971.009.002 Comments: Except for a series of early portraits of men from 1938 to 1944, there have been relatively few male subjects in De Kooning's work.  This charcoal on paper is one of the exceptions.  This work reflects the artist's vigorous and austere manner in working with charcoal, reminiscent his black and white paintings of the late 1940s or a work such as Excavation from 1950.  He established a composition, locked into the margins of the sheet with an ostensibly male-figure motif, giving the work an autonomous existence.  In 1966, De Kooning prepared a number of spontaneous charcoal drawings for a project with Knoedler (his dealer after he left Janis).  Regarding these works, De Kooning stated, "…the pad I used was always held horizontally.  The drawings often started by the feet…but more often by the center of the body, in the middle of the page." (f.n. No page # in the book, but the quote comes from the last page). The description begins to describe the Arts Center piece, which is a not too distant relative of the Knoedler pieces.  But, this later drawing is more aggressive.  The "negative spaces" of the composition are as skillfully shaped and fully realized as are the positive elements of the male figure's head, torso, and arms: figure and ground are one.  The charcoal drawing is both abstract and figurative, moving freely back and forth just as the artist had throughout his long and productive career.

Keywords:

• drawing
• American
• charcoal

Portfolio List
This object is a member of the following portfolios (click any portfolio name to view all objects in that portfolio):

• Drawing: Abstraction
• Masterworks: Drawing
• Twentieth Century American Drawings

Keywords:

• Artist:North American:American
• Class:Fine Arts:drawing
• Class:Fine Arts:drawing:charcoal

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