de Kooning, Willem

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Dutch-born US painter. He emigrated to the USA in 1926 and worked as a commercial artist. After World War II he became, together with Jackson Pollock, one of the leaders of the abstract expressionist movement, although he retained figural images, painted with quick, violent brushstrokes. His Women series, exhibited in 1953, was criticized for its grotesque depictions of women.

As an abstract expressionist, De Kooning sought to create a spontaneous art that could convey emotion directly through the physical qualities of the paint itself – through colour, texture, and intensely worked paint – which was sometimes splashed or smeared across the canvas. He joined the faculty of the Yale Art School and became a member of the National Institute of Arts in 1960. In 1989 his painting Interchange (1955) was sold at Sotheby's, New York, for $20,680,000; the highest price paid at auction for a work by a living artist.

A condor, poised to attack enemies, protects the nation under its wings. Blue symbolizes independence from Spain. Yellow recalls the Federation of Greater Colombia. Red stands for courage. Effective date: 7 November 1900. >>