The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 8, 2024

Untitled XIII

Untitled XIII

1985
(American, 1904–1997)
America, 20th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 207 x 181 x 4 cm (81 1/2 x 71 1/4 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 203.2 x 177.8 cm (80 x 70 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1987.63
© The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: not on view

Description

Willem de Kooning, one of the masters of Abstract Expressionism, is best known for his depictions of women created during the 1940s and 1950s. In the early 1960s he continued to paint women, but also began to produce compositions suggesting the landscape and light of his native Holland. In the mid-1970s, the figure became less important to him and by the mid-1980s de Kooning’s paintings had become open, luminous abstractions that integrated both painting and drawing. Untitled XIII features flatly applied, boldly colored interlocking shapes that float in and around swirls of white. The result is a suggestion of broad, expansive space while the shapes and hues hint at a landscape, ocean vista, open sky, or even a curving body part. A remarkable display of energy and inventiveness, this painting was completed by de Kooning at the age of 81.
  • Collection of the Artist
  • Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1987." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 2 (1988): 30-71. Reproduced p.45 25160017.
  • Albert Oehlen: Woods Near Oehle. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 4, 2016-March 12, 2017).
    Willem de Kooning: The Late Paintings, the 1980s. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (organizer) (September 22, 1995-January 7, 1996); Walker Art Center (February 3-May 8, 1996); Museum of Modern Art, NY (January 22-April 29, 1997) https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/233?locale=en.
    The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).
    "Willem de Kooning: Recent Paintings 1983 - 1986," London, Anthony d'Offay Gallery (Nov. 21, 1986 - Jan. 14, 1987). Exhibition catalogue no. 8, illustrated in color.
  • {{cite web|title=Untitled XIII|url=false|author=Willem de Kooning|year=1985|access-date=08 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.63