Who is this?
Nope, it's not a stolen picture from Dartmouth's class of '09. It's a picture of Willem de Kooning. He was born in the '40s, and painted his most famous picture, "Woman I," in 1952:
Of course, there are those who will claim that it's an ugly picture of a fat lady. However, Koening began the era of "action painting," in which artists like Jackson Pollock would become famous. He focused more on the process of painting rather than the art itself. Much like the face of the lady, it was messy; just take a look at that first picture to see it.
Why did he do this? I believe it is because, as an artist, he sought to destroy boudaries. He painted in a time where most art came in this form:
And not only the art: the entire concept of the fifties was, in most cases, an emphasis on the final product
(a happy home, peace, and pleasure) rather than the steps it took to get there. It was a rush to perfection, an obsession with a destination.
Willem enjoyed the journey, even if the end result was beautiful only to him. The fact he has transcended an era, however, means this beauty has been found by many.
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