DE KOONING, WILLEM

born April 24, 1904, Rotterdam, Neth. died March 19, 1997, East Hampton, N.Y., U.S. Dutch-born American painter who was one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism, particularly the form known as Action painting. During the 1930s and '40s de Kooning worked simultaneously in figurative and abstract modes, but by about 1945 these two tendencies seemed to fuse. The series Woman IVI caused a sensation with its violent imagery and impulsive, energetic technique. His later work showed an increasing preoccupation with landscape. Additional reading Essays on the artist and his work include Thomas B. Hess, Willem de Kooning (1959), and Willem de Kooning Drawings (1972); Harriet Janis and Rudi Blesh, De Kooning (1960); Harold Rosenberg, De Kooning (1974); Harry F. Gaugh, Willem de Kooning (1983); and Diane Waldman, Willem de Kooning (1988). Thomas B. Hess, Willem de Kooning (1968); and Diane Waldman, Willem de Kooning in East Hampton (1978), are exhibition catalogs, and include bibliographies.