Willem de Kooning and Italy - by Mario Codognato & Willem de Kooning & Gary Garrels (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The first study of de Kooning's works on paper and clay sculpture from his formative sojourns in Italy

The Dutch-American giant of abstraction Willem de Kooning (1904-97) enjoyed two long sojourns in Italy: in the fall of 1959 and in the summer of 1969. These trips profoundly impacted his work--the first generated a significant body of black-and-white works on paper, while the second inspired the artist to experiment with clay--yet they have yet to receive their due scholarly attention. Willem de Kooning and Italy is the first monograph to explore these two chapters in de Kooning's life and career, as reflected in the development of his work from the end of the '50s to his last works of the '80s.
In addition to essays by the two curators and editors, this lavishly illustrated volume includes contributions from the art historians Jeremy Bleeke, Ester Coen, Anna Coliva and Patrick Elliott. A bibliography and a list of exhibitions further enrich the monograph.

Review Quotes

Intelligently selected and beautifully installed, the show concentrated on paintings, drawings, and sculptures with direct connections to de Kooning's visits to Italy, contextualized by works made both before and after that revealed the effects and the persistence of his awareness of Italian art and architecture, often in unexpected ways.--Karen Wilkin "The New Criterion"

The paintings in this show from the late 1950s and on prove that de Kooning had indeed sat at the feet of, and learnt much from, such old Italian masters as Titian and Tintoretto, from the sweep, confidence, and sheer panache of the brushwork to the richness of his color choices; from the ever-increasing size of the works to the ever-grander vision of what seemed to possess him.--Michael Glover "Hyperallergic"