Willem De Kooning: Reflections in the Studio - Hardcover

Lieber, Edvard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810945606 ISBN 13: 9780810945609

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2000

Synopsis

An intimate portrayal of Willem and Elaine de Kooning by a man who knew the couple well bursts many myths about the great artist and re-examines the Abstract Expressionist movement.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

This unique book, written and photographed by Edvard Lieber, who worked for the artists Willem and Elaine de Kooning in the 1980s, provides a rare opportunity to visit this remarkable couple in their own environment and to hear them tell anecdotes about their lives.  By turns hilarious and insightful, the chronologically arranged stories both enrich and correct the published biographies of both artists, who were among the most important artistic figures of their generation and an integral part of the New York art scene.  The author's intimate photographs of Willem de Kooning in his studio offer a visual counterpart to the text by showing the artist at work on the last great paintings of his career, demonstrating the extent of his creative genius to the end.

The de Koonings regale us with recollections of their early years, their painting, their lives together and apart, their experiences at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, their parties in East Hampton on Long Island, their apartments and studios, and-most interestingly-their friends, including Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and the rest of their lively circle.  The author meticulously recorded and carefully researched each of the stories, making this book an invaluable reference for de Kooning scholars as well as an enjoyable experience for anyone interested in painters of the New York School in general and the de Koonings in particular.

Review:

"...that honorable genre, the anecdotal history of a period, as practiced by such authors as Stendhal or the Goncourt brothers in the nineteenth century, or, most notably, Valéry in the twentieth, whose anecdotes about Dégas have guided art historians ever since.  Since most visual artists leave no written journals and are not notable letter writers, the testimony of intelligent friends is often essential.  Edvard Lieber is not only intelligent, but also modest...he restores the elements that, in fact, made of certain artists figures worthy of the world's attention: their seriousness, intelligence, sensitivity, and more private preoccupations." 
- Dore Ashton, Modern Painters

"Part memoir, part oral history going back to the artist's childhood, part documentation of the last phase of this premier abstract expressionist's career, and part compilation of digitally mastered photos...a who's who of the art world."
- Regina Weinreich, The New York Times

"It is a poignant tribute that, largely through photographs, provides us with an intimate glimpse into the working life of the artist during his final years.  What I am referring to are Mr. Lieber's glowing, wonderfully vivd color reproductions of several of the last paintings of this preeminent Abstract Expressionist...they are nothing less than a revelation."
- Joe Le Sueur, The East Hampton Star

"Just as Samuel Johnson had his Boswell and August Rodin had Rilke, so does Willem de Kooning have Edvard Lieber...Arthur Danto, art critic for The Nation, said in a recent interview, "This is a wonderful book, very intimate."
- Chuck Anderson, The Long Island Advance

About this edition

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0810945606
• ISBN 13: 9780810945609
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 138