Willem de Kooning

1904-1997 · Dutch-American · Abstract Expressionism, Action painting

Auction record: $68.94M

Woman as Landscape, 1955 · Christie's, New York · Nov 13, 2018

Biography

Willem de Kooning trained in Rotterdam, stowed away to the United States in 1926 and became, with Pollock, the leading figure of the New York School. His violent, gestural Woman series of the early 1950s scandalised critics, while the abstract urban and pastoral landscapes of the mid 1950s and the fluid, luminous canvases painted in East Hampton in the 1970s are now among the most prized works of the period. He kept painting into the 1980s. His market is deep, with about 2,400 lots offered at auction over 27 years, from drawings to eight-figure canvases. Masterpieces from 1955 to 1977 lead, and private sales such as Interchange, reported at about 300 million dollars in 2015, show the ceiling for the best works.

Recent auction results

Untitled I (1980)Christie's, New York	$12.25M	May 18, 2026	heni.com
Untitled (1972)Sotheby's, New York	$858K	May 15, 2026	heni.com
Untitled III (1975)Sotheby's, New York	$26M	May 14, 2026	heni.com
Two Figures in Dunes (1968)Sotheby's, New York	$3.22M	May 13, 2025	heni.com

Market

Liquidity: High

Museums

Museum of Modern Art, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Art Institute of Chicago
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington

News

Oct 16, 2026: $12.9 million de Kooning painting leads Sotheby’s October London auctions. Artsy
Oct 14, 2026: 8 Roy Lichtenstein Works that Explain Why the Pop Artist Is So Influential Artsy

Sources

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