De Kooning An American Master

"HEN we get the chance to look at the whole life and work of Willem de Kooning, the upheaval in American art in the middle of the 20th century comes into clearer focus. That alone makes DE KOONING: AN AMERICAN MASTER, by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, an important book. Several biographies in recent years--of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Arshile Gorky, among them--brought parts of that history to life. But in this book an enormous picture develops....One of the great strengths of this book is its sense of an artist in his studio. At times the authors disappear, and rather than just read about de Kooning we watch him apply paint, scrape it off and attack again..., destroy canvases, fly into rages of frustration and fling furniture about."Stevens, Mark is the author of 'De Kooning An American Master', published 2004 under ISBN 9781400041756 and ISBN 1400041759.