The flying Dutchman

Dana Gordon | The New Criterion | 3rd June 2025

De Kooning and Pollock were the two artists who established abstract expressionism. De Kooning, with his exacting training in drawing, never entirely relinquished figuration. His acclaimed “Women” series, for example, is a mix of abstraction and “ghosts of figures”. In addition he was, says one writer, an “enchanting colourist”. His reputation has suffered for decades but with figure painting now resurgent, he is back in vogue. “A timely show [and] a revelation”.