Willem de Kooning: The Breakthrough Years, 1945–50
John Elderfield | Princeton University Art Museum | 5th March 2026
De Kooning was classically trained but living in New York alongside abstractionists like Pollock, his “personal vocabulary” changed. Some works that started as figurative ended up abstract; others went the other way. Leading up to his first solo show in 1948, a mature style was emerging – abstract shapes, made with his characteristic bold and heavy brushstrokes yet carefully assembled. A few years later the ever restless de Kooning started his semi-figurative “Women” series. Pollock shouted “betrayal”.