Willem de Kooning, 92, one of the leading American artists of this century and a giant of abstract expressionism, died Wednesday at his studio in East Hampton, N.Y. He had Alzheimer's disease.
De Kooning's paintings and drawings profoundly influenced the development of art in this country in the years since World War II. His career spanned more than six decades, and his artistic style underwent several transformations. But he probably is best remembered for the violent, slashing brush strokes and the volatile, cataclysmic and fearsome expressions of his midlife period when he painted the "Woman" series of pictures.
To many of his admirers, de Kooning was the greatest of all living American artists. But there also were critics who said he peaked in the 1950s and that his subsequent work lacked its earlier brilliance and intensity.
With friend and fellow artist Jackson Pollock, de Kooning was a dominant figure in the group of abstract artists that revolutionized the New York art community in the late 1940s. Their compositions were characterized by a self-expressive and spontaneous application of paint, a style that eventually came to be known as abstract expressionism. The style helped make New York City the art capital of the world.
For the first half of his life, de Kooning painted in relative obscurity, and he lived in poverty for much of that time. His first one-man show, in 1948 when he was 44, won him critical acclaim.
In 1982, "Two Women," a 1955 de Kooning painting, was sold at auction for $1.2 million, setting a record for the highest price paid for a work by a living American artist. Seven years later, that record increased almost twentyfold, when another 1955 de Kooning, "Interchange," was sold on consignment to a collector for $20.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in 1989.
De Kooning is survived by his daughter.
Willem de Kooning