Willem de Kooning

Abstract Expressionist Painter

Willem de KooningFrom www.artfacts.net

Who Was Willem de Kooning?

• Dutch-American painter• Born in 1904 in the Netherlands• Studied at a famous art school in Rotterdam• Moved to the United States in 1926• First worked as a house painter in New Jersey• Knew much about artists and writers• Died 1997

How did he create art?Used oil paints, enamel, pencil, pastels, charcoals and even clay

Elegy, 1939

Glazier, 1940

Excavation, 1950

Woman I, 1950-1952

Rosy Fingered Dawn at Louse Point, 1963

What is Abstract Expressionism?• Artist presents an idea using only color and form

• Actual objects are not represented in the art

• Action painting: painting that emphasizes the physical movements involved

• Style of painting that developed between 1946 and the 1960s (during the time your grandparents were kids and teenagers)

• Other famous abstract expressionist painters: Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko

Information from http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/abstract-expressionism.html

Game: Did Willem de Kooning Paint This Picture?

Our Project: How Can We Paint Like Willem de Kooning?

• We are going to use lots of energy and emotion when we paint!

• First, draw a fast sketch of a person with a dark colored oil pastel

- Energetic and messy!• Then paint your portrait in a loose and

energetic style• Our pictures don’t really have to look like the

objects we are painting