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Artist
Elaine de Kooning, 12 Mar 1918 - 1 Feb 1989
Sitter
Elaine de Kooning, 12 Mar 1918 - 1 Feb 1989
Date
1968
Type
Drawing
Medium
Charcoal on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 60.2 x 46cm (23 11/16 x 18 1/8")
Mat: 77.5 × 64.8cm (30 1/2 × 25 1/2")
Frame (Verified): 80 x 64.8 x 3.8cm (31 1/2 x 25 1/2 x 1 1/2")
Topic
Self-portrait
Elaine de Kooning: Female
Elaine de Kooning: Visual Arts\Artist\Painter
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; the Ruth Bowman and Harry Kahn Twentieth-Century American Self-Portrait Collection Conserved with funds from the Smithsonian Women's Committee
Elaine de Kooning was best known for her expressive, gestural portraits and for her ability to capture the individuality of her subject’s entire body. For her, “the pose is the person.” She often did multiple drawings in graphite or charcoal while creating paintings of the same subject. Here, in a drawing inscribed with the date, March 18, 1968 (just six days after her fiftieth birthday), de Kooning created a severe and introspective portrait of herself in charcoal. Although she delineated the slight effects of age, her features and hair approximate her appearance as captured in painted self-portraits from more than twenty years before. At this time, still separated from her husband, Willem de Kooning, she purchased a small house in Springs, East Hampton, that was close to her friends Ibram and Ernestine Lassaw, and near Willem’s home and studio. She may have been taking stock of her life and charting a new course.
Elaine de Kooning es conocida sobre todo por sus retratos gestuales y expresivos y por captar la individualidad de sus modelos no solo en el rostro sino en el cuerpo. Creía que “la pose es la persona”. Mientras pintaba a alguien, también solía hacerle dibujos en grafito o carboncillo. En este dibujo fechado el 18 de marzo de 1968, seis días después de cumplir cincuenta años, De Kooning nos ofrece un retrato severo e introspectivo. Aunque delineó los ligeros efectos de la edad, sus facciones y cabello presentan gran similitud con autorretratos pintados más de veinte años antes. En esta época, todavía separada de su esposo, Willem de Kooning, la artista compró una casita en Springs, East Hampton, cerca de sus amigos Ibram y Ernestine Lassaw así como de la casa y el estudio de Willem. Quizás estaría haciendo balance de su vida y planeando un nuevo rumbo
