Many of de Kooning’s smaller works of 1949 relate to his major project of that year, Attic (MMA 1982.16.3). Here, he tests himself to see how far he can distort and abstract body parts.
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Inscription: Signed (upper left and lower right): de Kooning
Aaron Siskind (until ca. 1955; sold ca. 1955 to Newman); Muriel Kallis Newman, Chicago (ca. 1955–2006; her gift to MMA)
University of Chicago, Bergman Gallery. "Avant-Garde Chicago: Exhibit of Contemporary Art from Chicago Collectors," opened November 11, 1968, unnumbered cat.
Chicago. Richard Gray Gallery. "Willem de Kooning, 1941–1959," October 4–November 16, 1974, no. 9.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "An American Choice: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection," May 21–September 27, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 153).
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism, Works on Paper: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 26–April 4, 1993, no. 7.
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. 7.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 17, 2007–February 3, 2008, extended to March 2, 2008, no. 26.
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, p. 24, fig. 7 (color).
Richard Shiff inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 80–82, no. 26, ill. (color).
Willem de Kooning (American (born The Netherlands), Rotterdam 1904–1997 East Hampton, New York)
ca. 1946
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