Willem de Kooning, one of the pioneers of Abstract Expressionism, experimented with the human form throughout his career. An artist deeply sceptical about Western ideals of beauty, he focused on anatomical fragmentation and spatial ambiguity to express the fleeting nature of the individual. This book, published in conjunction with an exhibition originating at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, explores de Kooning's drawings of the female form between 1940 and 1955. It reveals an artist who struggled to eliminate traditional barriers between drawing and painting as he explored ambiguities between the figure and its background. De Kooning relied on early-20th-century abstraction in his initial attempts to redefine the figure, drawing and re-drawing the same line until he resolved the image. Beginning in 1947-49, he synthesized abstraction and figuration, dismembering figures and rearranging them with seeming randomness. As his figural compositions developed, geometric configurations transformed into architectural elements (suggesting windows, doors, mirrors, paintings and furniture) to create ambiguous space. In 1951, de Kooning abruptly returned to depictions of women.
Usi
Rezensionen / Stimmen
The vivid reproductions in Tracing the Figure show de Kooning's frenzied mind and hand at work ... as he developed his distinctive style... This wonderfully produced book traces de Kooning's development from early figurative drawings to the studies tat led to Woman I, the painting that he worked on for almost two years, and that ended up defining his career. Modern Painters Highly recommended for anyone interested in the phenomenon that was abstract expressionism in the mid-20th-century US (or for anyone who is simply looking for something on De Kooning that is clearly written and carefully researched). Choice
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Produkt-Hinweis
Illustrationen
124 farbige Bildtafeln, 6 Fotos bzw. Rasterbilder
124 color plates. 6 halftones
Maße
Höhe: 337 mm
Breite: 235 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-691-09618-6 (9780691096186)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Cornelia Butler is Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, where she has organized numerous exhibitions, most recently "Flight Patterns" and "The Social Scene." Paul Schimmel is Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. His exhibitions include "The Interpretive Link," "The Figurative Fifties," and "Out of Actions." Richard Shiff is Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Art and directs the Center for the Study of Modernism at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of Cezanne and the End of Impressionism. Anne Wagner is Professor of Art History at the University of California, Berkeley. She has published Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Three Artists (Three Women).
