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Lot Essay
"I feel my hand slip across the paper. I have an image in mind but the results surprise me. I always learn something new from this experience."
(W. de Kooning quoted in R. Shiff "De Kooning Controlling De Kooning," C. Butler and P. Schimmel, Willem De Kooning: Tracing the Figure, Los Angeles, 2002, p. 163).
During the 1960s, Willem de Kooning immersed himself in his drawings and developed a technique focused entirely on the process of the work. In order to do this, de Kooning began drawing with his eyes closed. This series of charcoal drawings on paper remains an exquisite example of how he grappled with the materiality of the medium and the method, rather than focusing on the image alone. He yielded the basic facts in the composition and stated that "It is true that I made them with closed eyes. I found that closing the eyes was very helpful to me" (Ibid.). With closed eyes he could concentrate inwards and was less inhibited by the visual work allowing both elements of skill and chance into the drawings.
However, working blindly did not mean that de Kooning did not have a calculated approach to the drawings. He centered the work on the theme of men and women either sitting or standing. As seen throughout de Kooning's body of work, his female nudes tend to look haggard and yet seductive. Some of the male figures allude to a crucifixion. These drawings reveal, as well, a recurring play between abstraction and representation, depth and surface. These magnificent charcoal works seem unresolved, which is precisely what de Kooning intended.
(W. de Kooning quoted in R. Shiff "De Kooning Controlling De Kooning," C. Butler and P. Schimmel, Willem De Kooning: Tracing the Figure, Los Angeles, 2002, p. 163).
During the 1960s, Willem de Kooning immersed himself in his drawings and developed a technique focused entirely on the process of the work. In order to do this, de Kooning began drawing with his eyes closed. This series of charcoal drawings on paper remains an exquisite example of how he grappled with the materiality of the medium and the method, rather than focusing on the image alone. He yielded the basic facts in the composition and stated that "It is true that I made them with closed eyes. I found that closing the eyes was very helpful to me" (Ibid.). With closed eyes he could concentrate inwards and was less inhibited by the visual work allowing both elements of skill and chance into the drawings.
However, working blindly did not mean that de Kooning did not have a calculated approach to the drawings. He centered the work on the theme of men and women either sitting or standing. As seen throughout de Kooning's body of work, his female nudes tend to look haggard and yet seductive. Some of the male figures allude to a crucifixion. These drawings reveal, as well, a recurring play between abstraction and representation, depth and surface. These magnificent charcoal works seem unresolved, which is precisely what de Kooning intended.