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Artwork Details
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Title:Zot
Artist:Willem de Kooning (American (born The Netherlands), Rotterdam 1904–1997 East Hampton, New York)
Date:1949
Medium:Oil on paper, mounted on wood
Dimensions:18 × 20 1/4 in. (45.7 × 51.4 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:From the Collection of Thomas B. Hess, Purchase, Rogers, Louis V. Bell and Harris Brisbane Dick Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and Gift of the heirs of Thomas B. Hess, 1984
Inscription: Signed and inscribed (lower left): ZOT / de Kooning
the artist, East Hampton, N.Y. (from 1949); Thomas B. Hess, New York (until d. 1978); his heirs, New York (1978–84; to MMA)
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Willem de Kooning: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture," December 15, 1983–February 26, 1984, no. 175 (lent by a private collection).
Berlin. Akademie der Künste. "Willem de Kooning: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture," March 11–April 29, 1984, no. 175.
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. "Willem de Kooning," June 26–September 24, 1984, unnumbered cat. (lent by a private collection, United States).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection Two: Twentieth-Century Art," June 4–September 2, 1985, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Willem de Kooning: The Early Years," March 14–August 14, 1989, no catalogue.
Coral Gables, Fla. Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. "Abstract Expressionism, Other Dimensions: An Introduction to Small Scale Painterly Abstraction in America, 1940–1965," October 26–December 3, 1989, no. 22.
Chicago. Terra Museum of American Art. "Abstract Expressionism, Other Dimensions: An Introduction to Small Scale Painterly Abstraction in America, 1940–1965," January 23–March 11, 1990, no. 22.
New Brunswick, N. J. Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum. "Abstract Expressionism, Other Dimensions: An Introduction to Small Scale Painterly Abstraction in America, 1940–1965," March 25–June 13, 1990, no. 22.
Whitney Museum of Art at Philip Morris, New York. "Abstract Expressionism, Other Dimensions: An Introduction to Small Scale Painterly Abstraction in America, 1940–1965," October 5–December 5, 1990, unnum. brochure.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism, Works on Paper: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 26–April 4, 1993, no. 8.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism, Works on Paper: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 4–September 12, 1993, extended to November 7, 1993, no. 8.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Willem de Kooning: Paintings," May 8–September 5, 1994, no. 18.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Willem de Kooning: Paintings," October 11, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 18.
London. Tate Gallery. "Willem de Kooning: Paintings," February 15–May 7, 1995, no. 18.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. "Founders and Heirs of the New York School," January 25–March 16, 1997, no. 26.
Sendai. Miyagi Museum of Art. "Founders and Heirs of the New York School," April 5–May 25, 1997, no. 26.
Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki. "Founders and Heirs of the New York School," June 28–August 3, 1997, no. 26.
Madrid. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. "À Rebours: La rebelión informalista, The informal rebellion (1939–1968)," July 6–October 11, 1999, unnumbered cat. (p. 139).
Madrid. Fundación Juan March. "Expresionismo Abstracto: Obra Sobre Papel, Colección The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York," May 9–July 2, 2000, no. 26.
London. Tate Modern. "Looking at Modern Art: In Memory of David Sylvester," January 17–March 24, 2002, unnumbered cat. (p. 31).
Kunstforum Wien. "Willem de Kooning," January 13–March 28, 2005, no. 10.
Kunsthal Rotterdam. "Willem de Kooning," April 17–July 3, 2005, no. 10.
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. "Be-Bomb: The Transatlantic War of Images and all that Jazz, 1946–56," October 4, 2007–January 7, 2008, unnumbered cat. (as "Zot [The Idiot]"; p. 407).
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyons. "Repartir à zéro, 1945–1949: Comme si la peinture n'avait jamais existé," October 24, 2008–February 2, 2009, no. 174.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "De Kooning: A Retrospective," September 18, 2011–January 9, 2012, unnumbered cat. (pl. 66).
Tate St Ives. "Modern Art and St Ives: International Exchanges 1915–65," May 17–September 28, 2014, unnumbered cat. (pl. 51).
Royal Academy of Arts, London. "Abstract Expressionism," September 24, 2016–January 2, 2017, no. 39.
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. "Abstract Expressionism," February 3–June 4, 2017, no. 39.
Madrid. Fundación Juan March. "The Irascibles: Painters Against the Museum, New York, 1950," March 6–13, 2020 [intended closing date June 7, 2020], no. 4.
Jörn Merkert inWillem de Kooning: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Munich, 1983, pp. 122, no. 175, ill. p. 170 (color).
Robert Rosenblum inWillem de Kooning. Exh. cat., Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. Paris, 1984, p. 11, ill. p. 80 (color).
Hilton Kramer. "Though Exhibiting It Badly, Met Offers a Worthy de Kooning Show." New York Observer (August 28, 1989), p. 19.
Lisa Mintz Messinger. Abstract Expressionism, Works on Paper: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta. New York, 1992, pp. 18, 24, fig. 8 (color).
Holland Cotter. "Abstract Expressionism: The Lighter, Quieter Side." New York Times (June 4, 1993), p. C24.
Judith Zilczer. Willem de Kooning from the Hirshhorn Museum Collection. Exh. cat., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution. Washington D.C., 1993, pp. 40–41, fig. 20, notes that the artist reused the wordplay of "Zurich," which also has the letters "ZOT" in its composition (1947, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.).
David Anfam. "Abstract Expressionism: Works on Paper. New York, Metropolitan Museum." Burlington Magazine 135 (September 1993), p. 658.
David Anfam inFranz Kline: Black and White, 1950–1961. Exh. cat., Menil Collection. Houston, 1994, p. 11.
David Sylvester inWillem de Kooning: Paintings. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., 1994, pp. 20–21.
Marla Prather inWillem de Kooning: Paintings. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1994, pp. 94, 99, no. 18, ill. p. 117 (color), states that the letters "ZOT" of this work's title and used in the composition means "foolish" in the artist's native Dutch.
David Sylvester. "The Birth of 'Woman I'." Burlington Magazine 137 (April 1995), p. 226.
Yosuke Oga inFounders and Heirs of the New York School. Exh. cat., Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, 1997, p. 75, no. 26, ill. p. 78 (color).
Dore Ashton inÀ Rebours: La rebelión informalista, The informal rebellion (1939-1968). Exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1999, p. 40, ill. p. 139 (color).
Lisa M. Messinger. Expresionismo Abstracto: Obra Sobre Papel, Colección The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York. Exh. cat., Fundación Juan March. Madrid, 2000, p. 64, no. 26, ill. p. 67 (color).
Nicholas Serota. Looking at Modern Art: In Memory of David Sylvester. Exh. cat., Tate Modern. London, 2002, pp. 9, 30–31, ill. (color), reprints Refs. Sylvester 1994 and 1995.
David Anfam. "De Kooning, Bosch and Bruegel: Some Fundamental Themes." Burlington Magazine 145 (October 2003), p. 711, fig. 32 (color), describes this composition as an abstracted kaleidoscope of body parts.
Florian Steininger inWillem de Kooning. Ed. Ingried Brugger and Florian Steininger. Exh. cat., Kunstforum Wien. Vienna, 2005, pp. 79, 186, no. 10, ill. p. 55 (color).
Corinne Domer inRepartir à zéro, 1945–1949: Comme si la peinture n'avait jamais existé. Exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. Paris, 2008, p. 342, no. 174, ill. p. 307 (color).
John Elderfield. De Kooning: A Retrospective. Ed. David Frankel. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 2011, pp. 34, 36, colorpl. 66, describes this painting as an "open cousin" to "Attic" (MMA 1982.16.3).
Lauren Mahony in John Elderfield. De Kooning: A Retrospective. Ed. David Frankel. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 2011, pp. 209, 211, 227, colorpl. 66, identifies the letters "ZOT" as taken from the earlier "Zurich" (1947, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.), the arrow from "Figure" (1949, Cleveland Museum of Art), and the door/window shape from numerous works such as "The Wave" (ca. 1942–44, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.) and "Pink Angels" (ca. 1945, Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles).
Judith Zilczer. A Way of Living: The Art of Willem de Kooning. London, 2014, pp. 75, 256, fig. 94 (color).
David Anfam inAbstract Expressionism. Ed. David Anfam. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London. London, 2016, p. 44, no. 39, ill. p. 172 (color).
Bradford R. Collins et al., ed. The Irascibles: Painters Against the Museum, New York, 1950. Exh. cat., Fundación Juan March. Madrid, 2020, p. 275, no. 4, ill. p. 163 (color).
Willem de Kooning (American (born The Netherlands), Rotterdam 1904–1997 East Hampton, New York)
1944
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