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Lot Essay
Willem de Kooning's Nude painted in 1965 possesses the same ferocity and power of his other depictions of women, yet is notably characterized by its dark, earthy tones rather than his more iconic bright pastels and light hues. Pushing his work further towards abstraction, the piece lacks a clear distinction between its womanly features and those of the background, resulting in the entire figure merging with the background.
When discussing his return to the figure, specifically the female one, de Kooning often disperses with the need to distinguish between figuration and abstraction; to him, both were the result of the application of paint onto the surface of a canvas. In this way, the female figure was simply a subject in which to explore the nuances of his craft. Rather than abandon a motif that remained essential to his entire career, de Kooning obsessively continued using the woman as his subject even as his compositions pushed the boundaries to further and further abstraction. In Nude, for example, de Kooning explores the concept of the figure in pictorial space. While the woman in this composition lacks a true figure or place in space, the image immediately recalls the reclining figures of Edouard Manet and Paul Cézanne, where the model is set upon by the palpable gaze of a male protagonist. Cézanne's recollection of Manet in his own masterwork, Modern Olympia from 1873-74, presents a broader scenario that includes an actual audience between a courtesan and client rather than just an allusion to one. De Kooning's nude contrarily limits the scope of the viewer, converging on the solitary figure, yet is not too dissimilar from Cezanne's depiction. Utilizing a subdued and earthy color palette, the composition conveys a sense of a shadowed interior space and allows an intimate connection between the viewer and the woman.
The deliberate fixation on the female figure speaks to de Kooning's ability to embrace the common, the ordinary and the everyday. In this way, "the banal motif gave him the exact subject that he needed for his painting, a multifaceted character that he could play out in a heroic-comic drama. The figure of "woman" unleashed de Kooning's power [and] released him from any lingering feeling that he may have for abstract imagery" (D. Waldman, Willem de Kooning, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1988, 87). Acknowledging the beauty and the power in something as commonplace as a woman's features, de Kooning's continual exploration of this motif meant his constant discovery of further nuances as his painting matured and progressed throughout his career.
When discussing his return to the figure, specifically the female one, de Kooning often disperses with the need to distinguish between figuration and abstraction; to him, both were the result of the application of paint onto the surface of a canvas. In this way, the female figure was simply a subject in which to explore the nuances of his craft. Rather than abandon a motif that remained essential to his entire career, de Kooning obsessively continued using the woman as his subject even as his compositions pushed the boundaries to further and further abstraction. In Nude, for example, de Kooning explores the concept of the figure in pictorial space. While the woman in this composition lacks a true figure or place in space, the image immediately recalls the reclining figures of Edouard Manet and Paul Cézanne, where the model is set upon by the palpable gaze of a male protagonist. Cézanne's recollection of Manet in his own masterwork, Modern Olympia from 1873-74, presents a broader scenario that includes an actual audience between a courtesan and client rather than just an allusion to one. De Kooning's nude contrarily limits the scope of the viewer, converging on the solitary figure, yet is not too dissimilar from Cezanne's depiction. Utilizing a subdued and earthy color palette, the composition conveys a sense of a shadowed interior space and allows an intimate connection between the viewer and the woman.
The deliberate fixation on the female figure speaks to de Kooning's ability to embrace the common, the ordinary and the everyday. In this way, "the banal motif gave him the exact subject that he needed for his painting, a multifaceted character that he could play out in a heroic-comic drama. The figure of "woman" unleashed de Kooning's power [and] released him from any lingering feeling that he may have for abstract imagery" (D. Waldman, Willem de Kooning, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1988, 87). Acknowledging the beauty and the power in something as commonplace as a woman's features, de Kooning's continual exploration of this motif meant his constant discovery of further nuances as his painting matured and progressed throughout his career.