Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning, the Dutch-American master of Abstract Expressionism, was a painter who wrestled with his canvases, leaving a legacy of energetic, and often controversial, art. He famously arrived in America as a stowaway, initially aiming to be a commercial illustrator. De Kooning became a leading figure in the New York School, known for his "action painting" style. His most famous and scandalous works are the "Woman" series, which some found aggressive and misogynistic. De Kooning, however, insisted he was aiming for a satirical and monumental quality. Rumor has it that his early, celebrated black-and-white paintings were a result of being too poor to afford colored pigments. Another tale whispers of a wealthy client who requested a painting for their living room, specifying the color scheme and pleading, "anything but one of those 'Women'." De Kooning is said to have mischievously painted an abstract landscape that, when turned on its side, was unmistakably one of his signature female figures.