Willem de Kooning Drawing

Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) was one of the most celebrated and prolific draftsmen of the 20th century.

Willem de Kooning Drawing is the first exhibition to examine the expansive drawing practice of this renowned American artist who immigrated to New York from the Netherlands at the age of 22. While many Art Institute visitors may be familiar with de Kooning’s monumental painting Excavation (1950), a cornerstone of our collection, this exhibition marks the first solo presentation of the artist’s work at our museum since 1969.

This major gathering of works from across the globe reveals how the act of drawing was foundational to de Kooning’s entire artistic process and production—his paintings, sculptures, and printmaking, as well as his drawings—and showcases the totality of his graphic production, from his earliest existing works to his late calligraphic paintings.

Rigorously trained at the Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences in Rotterdam, de Kooning achieved a remarkable command of traditional drawing techniques while still in his teens. In 1926, he stowed away on a freight ship bound for the United States to pursue his dream of becoming an illustrator. Eventually arriving in New York City, de Kooning found work as a house painter, freelance commercial artist, and window display designer. At the same time, he became immersed in the New York art world, befriending artists such as Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, and John Graham and ultimately becoming a key figure of the movement that would be known as “Abstract Expressionism” or the “New York School” with such contemporaries as Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Image credit: Two Women’s Torsos, 1952, Willem de Kooning. The Art Institute of Chicago, John H. Wrenn Memorial Collection. © 2026 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York