Ideas and Forms in Art: Stories on Love, War & Industry, and Women: A Gould Center Passion Project

Woman 1

This was one of the most famous paintings I studied in high school. Looking at it now, I only remember one thing. She was made to look that way. The lines of her body are distorted. Everything about her is hard. She doesn’t look human. Her flesh is pale. Her eyes, nose, and mouth are so prominent that her face looks skeletal. Her breasts are distinct, but does anything else make her appear to be a woman? Who is she to me? I think she’s much older than a child. Her surroundings are also chaotic and rough. They’re muddy and vibrant at the same time. I feel like the piece is straddling the line between angry chaos and intentional cohesion. 

Women: A Series
This piece, Woman 1, is part of a series by artist Willem de Kooning. He was a very famous artist Dutch artist. He lived a long life filled with art, fame, and a troubled relationship with his mom. In her book, Hustvedt shared her thoughts about the Woman Series and the influences of de Kooning. Certainly, the women he made said more about de Kooning than anything else. Hustvedt’s insights made this creation logical when she cited: 

In their biography of de Kooning, Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan describe the artist’s last meeting with his mother in Amsterdam, not long before she died. He described his mother as “a trembling little old bird.” And then, after he had left her, he said, “That’s the person I feared most in the world.” Cornelia Lassooy beat her son when he was a child. (17)

Cornelia Lassooy is de Kooning’s mother. I felt a lightbulb go off. Of course the women in the series look non-human. His mother was inhumane at times. So, instead of a warped and mutilated woman that a man made, now I see a child who had anger towards his mother. This painting reveals so much truth and that’s why I love it. 

Side note: I really appreciate Hustvedt’s phrase: “Cornelia Lassooy beat her son when he was a child.” It centered de Kooning’s mother as the aggressor. It made her name known. Her actions were put on trial for the reader, not the trauma of de Kooning.

This page has paths:

This page references: