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Lot Essay
In the late 1950's de Kooning's work shifted toward pure abstraction, a radical departure from the figurative 'Woman series' which had so preoccupied him earlier in the decade. Yellows and Blues, painted in 1959, clearly illustrates this shift. Abandoning problems of figuration allowed the artist to delve at greater depth into a study of color and form, unconstrained by representational elements.
The large brushstrokes and simple colors of Yellows and Blues create a dramatic effect which, while being boldly innovative, recall de Kooning's seminal 'black and white' paintings from the 1940's. Despite their simplicity-only two color tones-these paintings were groundbreaking in the way that the artist used simple, vaguely organic forms to create a sense of ambiguity, a dynamic tension between the figurative and the abstract, which would become a hallmark of de Kooning's style for the rest of his career. Exhibited at his first one man show in 1948 at the Egan Gallery in New York, the series immediately established de Kooning as a major artist both in the New York art scene and internationally.
Painted in 1959, Yellows and Blues came at a decisive point for the artist as he began to distance himself from the New York scene, spending more time in the countryside. The same year he stayed some months in a rented house in Southampton and purchased land in Springs, near East Hampton, where he would ultimately move his studio in 1963. The landscape of the east end of Long Island, which in the 1950s remained largely undeveloped, with its low horizons and lush marshland and abutting the sea was reminiscent of de Kooning's native Holland, from where he had emigrated in 1926, so that abandoning city life for Springs was in a way, a sort of return to his roots. "Actually I've fallen in love with nature" he said, "I don't know the names of the trees but I see things in nature very well. I've got a good eye for them, and they look back at me." (Stevens and Swan, de Kooning, 2004, p. 447.)
By 1959, de Kooning had fallen in love with the vibrancy of the landscape, an experience which would have a decisive impact on his art: "I have a bigger feeling of freedom. I am more convinced about picking up the paint and the brush and drumming it out" (Stevens, p. 423). As his work became more abstract, it also became more naturalistic. This newfound freedom is evident in Yellows and Blues, in the swaths of paint lain down in sweeping brushstrokes, which in their intersection create a sense of liberated energy.
Indeed, though lacking explicitly figurative elements there is an expressiveness and a sense of freedom created through the combination of abstract elements, and as such it becomes evident that the landscape itself was de Koonings inspiration for Yellows and Blues. The broad swaths of color in assertive horizontals suggest a landscape of open fields and sky; the thick, varied texture created by the overlay of brushstrokes could allude to the scrubby brambles of the bay-side marshes in Springs. But it is above all de Kooning's masterful treatment of color in Yellows and Blues which conveys the vibrancy of the landscape. The canvas seems to be erupting in color---the rich, earthy tones of yellow strike a dynamic contrast with the brilliant cerulean blue, giving a sense of watery landscape bathed in sunlight. Visible paint spattering, especially at the top of the canvas, adds to the sense of freedom, giving the painting a kind of potency in that it conveys the energy with which the artist attacked the canvas, physical evidence of what happens when forms and colors explosively combine. Ultimately Yellows and Blues becomes, at a basic level, about the act of painting itself.
The colors yellow ochre and cerulean blue were absolutely central to de Kooning's palette throughout his career. In Bolton Landing, a highly celebrated work from 1957, we see a similar use of yellow and blue in a composition dominated by assertive, brushy horizontals which, despite being highly abstract suggests a comparable watery landscape. Even at his most abstract, through a masterful articulation of form and color, de Kooning was able to infuse the canvas with an explosive energy and meaning; a fact to which Yellows and Blues is prime evidence.
The large brushstrokes and simple colors of Yellows and Blues create a dramatic effect which, while being boldly innovative, recall de Kooning's seminal 'black and white' paintings from the 1940's. Despite their simplicity-only two color tones-these paintings were groundbreaking in the way that the artist used simple, vaguely organic forms to create a sense of ambiguity, a dynamic tension between the figurative and the abstract, which would become a hallmark of de Kooning's style for the rest of his career. Exhibited at his first one man show in 1948 at the Egan Gallery in New York, the series immediately established de Kooning as a major artist both in the New York art scene and internationally.
Painted in 1959, Yellows and Blues came at a decisive point for the artist as he began to distance himself from the New York scene, spending more time in the countryside. The same year he stayed some months in a rented house in Southampton and purchased land in Springs, near East Hampton, where he would ultimately move his studio in 1963. The landscape of the east end of Long Island, which in the 1950s remained largely undeveloped, with its low horizons and lush marshland and abutting the sea was reminiscent of de Kooning's native Holland, from where he had emigrated in 1926, so that abandoning city life for Springs was in a way, a sort of return to his roots. "Actually I've fallen in love with nature" he said, "I don't know the names of the trees but I see things in nature very well. I've got a good eye for them, and they look back at me." (Stevens and Swan, de Kooning, 2004, p. 447.)
By 1959, de Kooning had fallen in love with the vibrancy of the landscape, an experience which would have a decisive impact on his art: "I have a bigger feeling of freedom. I am more convinced about picking up the paint and the brush and drumming it out" (Stevens, p. 423). As his work became more abstract, it also became more naturalistic. This newfound freedom is evident in Yellows and Blues, in the swaths of paint lain down in sweeping brushstrokes, which in their intersection create a sense of liberated energy.
Indeed, though lacking explicitly figurative elements there is an expressiveness and a sense of freedom created through the combination of abstract elements, and as such it becomes evident that the landscape itself was de Koonings inspiration for Yellows and Blues. The broad swaths of color in assertive horizontals suggest a landscape of open fields and sky; the thick, varied texture created by the overlay of brushstrokes could allude to the scrubby brambles of the bay-side marshes in Springs. But it is above all de Kooning's masterful treatment of color in Yellows and Blues which conveys the vibrancy of the landscape. The canvas seems to be erupting in color---the rich, earthy tones of yellow strike a dynamic contrast with the brilliant cerulean blue, giving a sense of watery landscape bathed in sunlight. Visible paint spattering, especially at the top of the canvas, adds to the sense of freedom, giving the painting a kind of potency in that it conveys the energy with which the artist attacked the canvas, physical evidence of what happens when forms and colors explosively combine. Ultimately Yellows and Blues becomes, at a basic level, about the act of painting itself.
The colors yellow ochre and cerulean blue were absolutely central to de Kooning's palette throughout his career. In Bolton Landing, a highly celebrated work from 1957, we see a similar use of yellow and blue in a composition dominated by assertive, brushy horizontals which, despite being highly abstract suggests a comparable watery landscape. Even at his most abstract, through a masterful articulation of form and color, de Kooning was able to infuse the canvas with an explosive energy and meaning; a fact to which Yellows and Blues is prime evidence.