WILLEM DE KOONING AT WORK: RIJKSMUSEUM’S RETROSPECTIVE

words by NIA TOPALOVA

This morning, we gathered over a cup of tea in one of the Rijksmuseum’s stunning halls, for an essential conversation about the work of one of the most influential Dutch artists of the 20th century, Willem de Kooning, marking one hundred years since his departure from Rotterdam to begin a new life in New York. Later on, we visited the highly anticipated exhibition, Willem de Kooning at work.

With the exhibition, Rijksmuseum presents over 120 works, offering a retrospective overview of his drawings, a selection of his most celebrated paintings, and sculptures. Alongside the exhibition, two of de Kooning’s most influential paintings, Woman I and Woman and Bicycle, will be displayed in the Rijksmuseum’s Gallery of Honour, placing de Kooning among the great masters of Dutch painting.

Drawing was the very foundation of de Kooning’s practice, with themes such as the human body and landscape recurring throughout his work. The exhibition explores his process of sketching, thinking, experimenting, revising, from rapid pencil and charcoal drawings, to works made with his eye closed, including Reclining Nude (Juliet Browner) (ca. 1934-1938), Itinerant Chapel (1951) and Woman in a Rowboat (ca. 1964-65), all from private collections, Abstraction (1949-1950, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza), Pink Angels (ca. 1945, Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation) and Woman (1983, Museum Ludwig).

De Kooning became recognisable mainly through his Woman series from the early 1950s. The series possessed a sense of presence and self-assurance as these figures defied the stereotypical image of women portrayed in the American mass media at the time, sparking decades of critical debate as they were simultaneously admired and condemned. His works contributed significantly to American modern art and helped shape Abstract Expressionism, yet they never became completely abstract as he combined figuration with abstraction, male and female figures, and traditional and contemporary subjects.

Developed in collaboration with the Art institute of Chicago and The Willem de Kooning Foundation in New York, Willem de Kooning at work will be on view from October 9 until January 17, 2027.