Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago

---

Get to know artist Willem de Kooning—from his early days as a stow-away and a sign painter to his rise as an internationally renowned Abstract Expressionist. Curator Kevin Salatino and conservator Margaret Holben Ellis trace the artist's career and shine a light on the unconventional tools and methods he used to continually innovate and redefine the possibilities of art across his seven-decade career.

Learn more about the exhibition Willem de Kooning Drawing on our website: https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9993/willem-de-kooning-drawing