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Willem de Kooning, Painter, Springs, Long Island, New York, 8/18/69

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Willem de Kooning, Painter, Springs, Long Island, New York, 8/18/69

Artwork Details

Artist/Maker

Richard Avedon
American, 1923–2004

Date

1969, printed 1975

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Accession #

1991.55

Dimensions

9 15/16 x 7 15/16 inches

Location

Currently Not on View

Description

Richard Avedon established his name in the world of fashion photography early on, using experimental compositions to create dramatic and visually arresting images. In this starkly-contrasted portrait of Abstract Expressionist painter Willem de Kooning, Avedon shies away from the overt theatrics of his earlier magazine photographs. Instead, he conveys a subtle tension between vitality and mortality, focusing less on the artist’s clothing and more on the intensity of his gaze and the age of his body.

Credit

Gift of the artist to mark the retirement of Gudmund Vigtel

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