Object number1953.2.6

Untitled Study (Women)

Datec. 1948

Artist Willem de Kooning (American, b. Netherlands, 1904 - 1997)

CultureAmerican

MediumOil, crayon, graphite and pastel on cream paper

DimensionsFramed: 29 x 39 3/4 x 2 1/4 in. (73.7 x 101 x 5.7 cm)
Unframed: 20 7/8 x 32 in. (53 x 81.3 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Richard Deutsch (Katherine W. Sanford, class of 1940)

Period20th c

Classification(s)

Drawings and Watercolors

SignedSigned (LR): de kooning

BibliographyPhagan, Patricia. “Drawings at Vassar to ‘Illustrate the Loftiest Principles and Refine the Most Delighted Hearts.’” Master Drawings 42, no. 2 (2004): 133–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1554650. p.138 Mundy, James, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center: Vassar College The History and Collection (New York: Prestel Publishing, 2007), p.123 repr Nobuyuki, Okabe, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College," (Japan: Yamagata Museum of Art)ProvenanceCollection of the Artist;
Purchase by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Deutsch (Katherine W. Sanford);
Gift to Vassar College Art Gallery by Mrs. Richard Deutsch (Katherine W. Sanford, class of 1940), 1953

Vassar Exhibitions

Paris-New York: Modernist Painting in 19th and 20th century Masterworks from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College

Exhibition HistoryJapan, Shimane Art Museum, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," March 7 - May 11, 2008. Cat. no. 55, p 112;

Japan, Ishibashi Museum of Art, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," May 17 - July 20, 2008;

Japan, Yamagata Museum of Art, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," July 30 - August 31, 2008;

Japan. Fuchu Art Museum, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," September 6 - November 3, 2008;

Japan, Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum, "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York," November 14 - December 14, 2008;

Los Angeles, CA, Museum of Contemporary Art, "Willem de Kooning: Tracing the Figure," February 10-April 28, 2002. (San Francisco, CA, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 27-September 8, 2002; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art, September 29, 2002-January 5, 2003);

New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, "De kooning: A Retrospective," September 18, 2011 - January 9, 2012;
DescriptionOne of the key members of the group of Abstract Expressionists who were active in New York, the Dutchman Willem de Kooning worked steadily throughout the 1940s on studies that would evolve into his series of monu- mental paintings of women during the 1950s. Evoking the sensuous cour- tesans of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon of 1907, de Kooning creates a tumble of interlocking forms, some clearly legible as body parts, others less so. The figures with their mask-like faces are set off from a background of strongly contrasting shades of yellow, red, orange, purple, green and blue, creating a primitive and aggressive planar assembly of figures in movement. This de Kooning and two others were the first gifts by Mrs. Deutsch to the Vassar collection and were bought directly from the artist at his studio when she visited him in the company of Thomas Hess, critic and author of early books and articles on de Kooning.

Terms

abstraction

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu