Biography of Willem de Kooning by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan published in 2004

Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan released their biography "de Kooning: An American Master" through Knopf in 2004, timed for the abstract expressionist's centenary. The 752-page work, priced at $35, draws on a decade of research to chronicle de Kooning's life from his impoverished childhood in Rotterdam to his emigration to the United States in 1926. It details his early commercial art endeavors, including house painting in Hoboken and advertising illustration, before his immersion in New York's intellectual circles with mentors like Arshile Gorky. The book explores his struggles with alcoholism, complex relationships with women such as Elaine Fried, and his artistic evolution amid movements like Abstract Expressionism. Stevens and Swan, critics for New York Magazine and Newsweek respectively, avoid romantic clichés while analyzing his impact on 20th-century American art, noting his isolation despite influences from peers like Jackson Pollock and critics including Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg. The biography also touches on his later years, including dementia and his death, framing him as a figure of resilience and ambiguity.