Rijksmuseum to stage major Willem de Kooning retrospective
Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum will host a major Willem de Kooning retrospective this October, the largest to be staged in Europe in four decades. The exhibition marks a symbolic homecoming for the Dutch artist, nearly a century after his departure for America. Featuring more than 120 works, “Willem de Kooning at Work” will explore his creative process, with drawing at its core. For the first time, iconic paintings from his “Woman” series will be displayed in the museum’s Gallery of Honor, creating a rare dialogue with the Dutch Old Masters.
This October, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will prepare for the largest Willem de Kooning retrospective to be held in Europe in four decades. The exhibition marks a monumental return for the great Abstract Expressionist to his native Netherlands, which he left in 1926 to seek his fortune in America. Titled “Willem de Kooning at Work,” the show will include more than 120 pieces, offering European audiences a rare opportunity to engage with the full arc of an artist who defined 20th-century art.
The exhibition focuses on de Kooning’s creative process, positioning drawing not as a mere preparatory stage but as the very foundation of his artistic practice. Spanning a 65-year career, the journey will connect rare works on paper with some of his most emblematic paintings. Particular emphasis is given to his recurring themes and experimental techniques—from lightning-fast pencil sketches to works created with his eyes closed—revealing the core of his relentless investigation into form and motion.
Among the masterpieces traveling to Amsterdam are major works from the collections of prominent American museums. “Excavation” (1950) will arrive from the Art Institute of Chicago, while the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) will lend the monumental “Woman I” (1950–52), and the Whitney Museum will contribute the equally significant “Woman and Bicycle” (1952–53). In a highly symbolic gesture, these specific works will be displayed in the Rijksmuseum’s Gallery of Honor, the space traditionally housing the Great Masters of Dutch art like Vermeer and Rembrandt, placing de Kooning in direct dialogue with them.
Born in Rotterdam in 1904, Willem de Kooning studied drawing at night school while apprenticing in a decorative arts workshop. In 1926, he stowed away on a cargo ship bound for the United States. After settling in New York, he worked as a house painter, illustrator, and window dresser before dedicating himself fully to his art. Following his first solo exhibition at the age of 44, he emerged as a central figure of the New York School, alongside artists such as Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, and Mark Rothko, fundamentally altering the course of modernism.
De Kooning’s return to the Netherlands extends beyond the Rijksmuseum. Fenix, Rotterdam’s new museum dedicated to migration, is honoring the centenary of the artist’s departure from his hometown. From July 18, three of his monumental bronze sculptures will be temporarily exhibited on the quay in front of the museum, directly linking his work to his point of departure and completing the circle of this symbolic reunion.
Source: Artnet News