Willem de Kooning's Drawings Take Center Stage at Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) will present "Willem de Kooning Drawing" from June 14 to September 20, featuring over 200 works that highlight the artist's draftsmanship. Curated by Kevin Salatino, the exhibition includes drawings, paintings, sculptures, and prints, many never exhibited together. De Kooning, who stowed away to America in 1926, was trained at the Rotterdam Academy and admired Old Masters like Ingres and Rubens. His early charcoal work "Dish with Jugs" (1919–1921) demonstrates his skill. The show explores how drawing was central to his process, with over 2,000 surviving drawings. It includes pieces like "Two Women's Torsos" (1952), created during his Abstract Expressionist period, and experiments from the 1960s, such as drawing with his eyes closed, inspired by Surrealists. Salatino notes that drawings reveal the planning behind de Kooning's paintings. The exhibition, the first solo de Kooning show at AIC since 1969, was organized with the Rijksmuseum and will travel to Amsterdam in October.