Still Life

The Dutch-born painter Willem de Kooning was a leading figure of American Abstract Expressionism, renowned for his vigorous brushwork and layered surfaces that reconfigure figuration and generate acute formal tension. Still Life was painted when he was only 25, shortly after his move to New York. In this work, the potted flowers and leaves are reduced to near-symbolic forms, emanating a sense of mystery through stark contrasts of light and shadow. The pot and surrounding objects dissolve into geometric blocks of colour, creating an ambiguous interplay of floating and overlapping between objects and space. Within it one can discern what de Kooning described as a “pivotal experience”—the inspiration he drew from seeing a Matisse exhibition in 1927—as well as the lingering influence of the Dutch still life tradition and De Stijl. As a rare testament to his formative explorations during his early years abroad, the painting was featured in his 2012 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA).