Beschrijving

In this catalogue, de Kooning’s sculptures are brought into focus as an essential yet often overlooked part of his artistic oeuvre. Long celebrated for his paintings and as a leading figure in Abstract Expressionism, de Kooning began exploring sculpture in the late 1960s and early 1970s, creating large-scale bronze works that echo his painterly vigor in three dimensions. The book presents these sculptures in photographic plates and contextual essays, showing how the materiality of bronze, clay and found objects became for him a terrain to explore gesture, form, presence and the body.

The central portion of the book illustrates the major sculptures—such as Clamdigger (1972) and Seated Woman on a Bench (modelled 1972, cast 1976) — and examines how these works articulate de Kooning’s interest in the human figure, organic motion and the merging of abstraction with figuration. The sculptures are discussed not as mere adjuncts to his paintings, but as works with their own vocabulary: mass, void, surface texture, balance, and psychological resonance. The essays by Andrew Forge, David Sylvester and William Tucker (in the edition mentioned) reflect on how de Kooning translated his painterly concerns—brushwork, layering, tension—into sculptural form and how these works mark a late but decisive chapter in his career.

Finally, the catalogue offers reflection on the legacy and significance of de Kooning’s sculpture in the broader history of art. It argues that these works underscore his ongoing engagement with embodiment, material transformation and the body as both subject and medium. The reader is invited to consider how the sculptures stand as autonomous works of art—bridging painting and form—and how they continue to challenge our understanding of the artist’s practice. This book is therefore not merely documentation, but a renewed invitation to see de Kooning’s sculpture as central to his creative vision.