Untitled

The vivid pinks, warm reds and luscious greens that dance across the surface of this exquisite Untitled work are examples of the forms of lyrical brushwork that characterized a new era in de Kooning's work in the 1970s, when the artist moved away from the dense urban environment of Manhattan to a property in the Hamptons. His new surroundings--the sense of space and the contact with nature--propelled his painting in a new direction. His works from this period explode with color and freedom, reflecting his new concept of space and light. The color of the fields, trees and endless skyscapes of Long Island increasingly overtook Kooning's representation of the female form, and throughout this period, the artist seemed to be exploring new ways in which to convey the sense of freedom and space that spread out before him.

The expanse of colors that de Kooning lays across the surface of this work, combined with the intense and compressed visual field, immerses the viewer and provokes in them a kinesthetic response. Color and energy unite to produce a dizzying array of painterly effects that delight and energize the senses. This very open-ended way of working enabled de Kooning to keep a uniform and consistent sense of fluidity running throughout the entire surface of his work and ensured that the painting as a whole developed in a homogenous and almost organic way.