Untitled

Willem de Kooning, Untitled, 1950, enamel on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1980.5.2
Willem de Kooning, Untitled, 1950, enamel on paper mounted on paperboard, sheet: 2230 in. (55.976.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1980.5.2

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled
Date
1950
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 2230 in. (55.976.3 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums
Mediums Description
enamel on paper mounted on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1980.5.2

Artwork Description

This black-and-white drawing reveals de Kooning’s mastery of the spontaneous gesture. In the service of pure abstraction, his lines move across the surface with a fluency and energy that distinguish his most accomplished work. Integrating angular and curvilinear forms, this composition captures the tension an artist experiences at the moment of creative expression.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009

Works by this artist (12 items)

Willem de Kooning, The Wave, ca. 1942-1944, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the Vincent Melzac Collection, 1980.6.1
The Wave
Dateca. 1942-1944
oil on fiberboard
On view
Willem de Kooning, The Netherlands, from the United Nations Series, 1944, acrylic on prepared fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.82
The Netherlands, from the United Nations Series
Date1944
acrylic on prepared fiberboard
Not on view
Willem de Kooning, Untitled (Litho #10), 1966, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Cornelia Jane Strawser in memory of Herbert Little and Margaret Thayer Ward Little, 1991.42.2
Untitled (Litho #10)
Date1966
lithograph on paper
Not on view
Willem de Kooning, Valentine, 1971, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Cornelia Jane Strawser in memory of Herbert Little and Margaret Thayer Ward Little, 1991.42.4
Valentine
Date1971
lithograph on paper
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Untitled (Purple)
Date1987
enamel on plywood
Not on view
Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., Portrait of Hermine Katz, Atlantic City, 1949, enamel paint on board, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.19
Portrait of Hermine Katz, Atlantic City
Date1949
enamel paint on board
Not on view
Phenomena Sea Born
Dateca. 1965
acrylic and enamel on canvas
Not on view