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Harold Rosenberg and Willem de Kooning

Harold Rosenberg and Willem de Kooning
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Elaine de Kooning, 12 Mar 1918 - 1 Feb 1989
Sitter
Harold Rosenberg, 2 Feb 1906 - 13 Jul 1978
Willem de Kooning, 24 Apr 1904 - 19 Mar 1997
Date
c. 1956
Type
Drawing
Medium
Pencil on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 46.1 x 56.2cm (18 1/8 x 22 1/8")
Topic
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair
Home Furnishings\Drinking vessel\Glass
Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Bowtie
Willem de Kooning: Male
Willem de Kooning: Visual Arts\Artist\Painter
Willem de Kooning: Visual Arts\Art instructor
Willem de Kooning: Visual Arts\Artist\Painter\Muralist
Willem de Kooning: Presidential Medal of Freedom
Harold Rosenberg: Male
Harold Rosenberg: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor\University
Harold Rosenberg: Visual Arts\Art critic
Harold Rosenberg: Literature\Writer\Essayist
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Elaine de Kooning Trust
Object number
NPG.2001.59
Exhibition Label
This small drawing gives us clues to Elaine’s process in thinking through a portrait. On the left is a drawing of Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) with his body turned slightly to the side. Later she used this sheet to create a compositional study and precise drawing for her large painted portrait of the writer and critic Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978), also included in this exhibition. This drawing clearly delineates the studio window behind Rosenberg’s stretched-out figure, as well as the door in the right background, and captures the precise way in which he holds a cigarette in his left hand and a can in his right. These details remain in the larger painting, but they are surrounded by gestural strokes and dripping areas of pure color.
Este pequeño dibujo nos ofrece indicios sobre la manera en que Elaine razonaba sus retratos. A la izquierda aparece Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) con el cuerpo ligeramente girado hacia un lado. Ella usó luego esta página para crear un estudio compositivo y un dibujo más preciso que sirvieron de base a su pintura en gran formato del escritor y crítico Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978), incluida también en esta exposición. Este dibujo delinea con claridad la ventana del estudio detrás de la figura recostada de Rosenberg, así como la puerta del fondo a la derecha; también capta la manera específica en que Rosenberg sostiene su cigarrillo en la mano izquierda y una lata en la derecha. Estos detalles se conservan en la pintura, pero rodeados de pinceladas gestuales y áreas de salpicaduras de color puro.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view