1958, Willem de Kooning, Lisbeth's Painting -- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond)
From the museum label:
"I don't paint with ideas of art in mind. I see something that excites me. It becomes my content." -Willem de Kooning
Abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning is celebrated for his bold, energetic brushstrokes. While this work is characteristic of de Kooning's iconic style, it also points to how he used his life as subject matter, capturing intimate moments on canvas with spontaneous gestures.
De Kooning recalled returning to his studio the morning after completing this painting to find that his two-year-old daughter, Lisbeth, had pressed her paint-covered hands onto the canvas. De Kooning left her handprints and titled the painting in her honor. Like the surrealists, who explored the unconscious using chance and randomness, de Kooning and his contemporaries embraced the importance of the accidental as a source of creative expression.
1958, Willem de Kooning, Lisbeth's Painting -- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond)
From the museum label:
"I don't paint with ideas of art in mind. I see something that excites me. It becomes my content." -Willem de Kooning
Abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning is celebrated for his bold, energetic brushstrokes. While this work is characteristic of de Kooning's iconic style, it also points to how he used his life as subject matter, capturing intimate moments on canvas with spontaneous gestures.
De Kooning recalled returning to his studio the morning after completing this painting to find that his two-year-old daughter, Lisbeth, had pressed her paint-covered hands onto the canvas. De Kooning left her handprints and titled the painting in her honor. Like the surrealists, who explored the unconscious using chance and randomness, de Kooning and his contemporaries embraced the importance of the accidental as a source of creative expression.