Willem de Kooning - Corinna Thierolf

In 1926 22 year - old Dutchman Willem de Kooning
(1904 - 1997) travelled to the USA on a British
freighter
- without papers and hidden in the
machine room. The young art student eked out a
living by painting houses, signs and faades, before
he was able aft er eight years to dedicate himself
entirely to painting.


In the United States he established contacts with the
art scene and forged friendships with artists such as
Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, Clifford Still, Jackson
Pollock, and Mark Rothko. Today De Ko oning
belongs to the outstanding painters of Abstract
Expressionism and together with Jackson Pollock is
regarded as a pioneer of Action Painting. This
publication vividly examines De Kooning's life,
marked by self - doubts, successes, new beginnings,
excess es, and scandalous paintings, as well as the
evolution of his artistic work. In addition, author
Corinna Thierolf opens up exciting perspectives on
De Kooning's work by revealing entirely new,
surprising relationships with the works of fellow
artists such
as Franz Marc, Piet Mondrian, or
Wassily Kandinsky.