Rijksmuseum puts De Kooning drawings centre stage
A new exhibition shows how drawing formed the basis of the Rotterdam-born artist’s work.
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The Rijksmuseum has opened a major exhibition about Willem de Kooning, featuring more than 120 drawings, paintings and sculptures. The exhibition aims to show that his work was not exclusively abstract, but continually returned to human figures and recognisable forms.
The exhibition Willem de Kooning at work has been on display in Amsterdam since 9 October and runs until 17 January 2027. The Rijksmuseum is organising the exhibition together with the Art Institute of Chicago and The Willem de Kooning Foundation in New York.
The emphasis is on drawings. According to the Rijksmuseum, these were not simple preparatory sketches for paintings, but a way in which De Kooning explored, corrected and repeated his work. The exhibition traces this development over approximately 65 years and shows works in which human figures and landscapes repeatedly appear.
From the 1940s onwards, De Kooning became an important representative of abstract expressionism in New York. Yet curator Marian Cousijn stresses in AFP’s coverage that his work was never completely abstract. Eyes, limbs, faces or animals can be recognised in various works, even when the composition at first sight seems to consist mainly of loose forms.
The Rijksmuseum has placed two well-known paintings, Woman I and Woman and Bicycle, in the Gallery of Honour alongside The Night Watch. Works such as Excavation and Pink Angels are also part of the exhibition. De Kooning is thus presented not only as an American modernist, but also as an artist with a Dutch background.
De Kooning was born in Rotterdam in 1904 and left for the United States in 1926. There he initially worked, among other things, as a house painter and illustrator before making his breakthrough as an artist. He became an American citizen in 1962 and died in East Hampton in 1997.
The exhibition forms part of a broader reassessment of De Kooning’s drawings. The accompanying research and catalogue emphasise the creative process: not an opposition between figurative and abstract, but the constant movement between the two. The Rijksmuseum is also organising lectures, workshops and guided tours.
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The factual information about the exhibition and De Kooning’s career is confirmed by the museum and AFP. The text distinguishes verifiable information from curatorial interpretation.
- confirmed The exhibition runs from 9 October 2026 to 17 January 2027 inclusive. — The Rijksmuseum’s exhibition page gives these dates. source
- confirmed The exhibition contains more than 120 works. — The Rijksmuseum and AFP mention more than 120 works. source
- confirmed De Kooning was born in Rotterdam and left for the United States in 1926. — This biographical information appears on the exhibition page and in the AFP report. source
- confirmed Woman I and Woman and Bicycle are displayed in the Gallery of Honour during the exhibition. — The Rijksmuseum states that both paintings have been placed there. source
Editor's note
The exhibition dates, collaborating partners and number of works come from the Rijksmuseum and AFP. Interpretations about the relationship between abstract and figurative are clearly attributed to the curator.Sources
- Willem de Kooning at work — Rijksmuseum
- Retour au pays : Amsterdam accueille une rétrospective consacrée au peintre Willem de Kooning — TV5MONDE / AFP
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „willem de kooning”
- NU.nl — „willem de kooning”
- De Telegraaf — „willem de kooning”