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Lot Essay
In the 1940s de Kooning termed the phrase "no-environment" to denote a sense of concrete space without providing the specifics of an actual place in his paintings. The modern city fosters a sense of anonymity and individuals can feel as if they are alone because of the city's emphasis on the mass collective. "No--environment--the metaphysical and social alienation of man from society and the nightmares of urbanization have been a preoccupation of modern writers from Marx and Dostoyevsky to Heidegger and Celine. For de Kooning, however, "no-environment" is a metaphysical concept with physical materiality--with flesh and cement." (T. B. Hess, Willem de Kooning, New York, 1959, p. 18.) De Kooning's paintings from the 1940s exemplify the concept of no-environment. There are many tales of de Kooning wandering the nocturnal streets of New York, inspired by the imposing architecture and nocturnal scenes of the city. De Kooning, the great equalizer, did not privilege the glamorous aspects of the urban environment over the harsher, marginalized ones. In fact, he ruefully remarked in a memorable observation, " I seem to be wrapped in the melodrama of vulgarity."
Untitled is filled with unsettling pictorial ambiguity. Spatially, one is uncertain whether it is an exterior or interior scene. What is shown is a remnant of an architectural setting with a wall and floor. The green and blue rectilinear shapes can be understood as windows or doors, although the blue one appears more window-like with what appears to be a windowsill placed underneath. Below them are swerves of black chalk and paint that create abstractly rendered bio-morphic shapes. On the right side of the canvas, a bulky shape resting atop a graceful-looking pedestal can be either interpreted as a mailbox or a truncated view of a chair with its back and legs. The perspective has been eliminated so that there is no need to delineate foreground and background.
At this time de Kooning broke free from realism by aligning his work with geometric abstraction. He was enormously influenced by Picasso's geometric pictures of the late 1920s through his friend Arshile Gorky. As fellow Europeans who shared a similar aesthetic, de Kooning and Gorky became instant friends in the 1930s. In Gorky, de Kooning found the role model of a professional fine artist who had an immaculate studio and knew a wide range of art history. De Kooning revered and also felt greatly challenged by Picasso, and no doubt, shared this sentiment with his compatriot. In a comparison of Picasso's The Studio, 1927-1928 and Gorky's Organization, c. 1933-1936, these paintings are antecedents to de Kooning's Untitled. Both paintings by Picasso and Gorky offer a view into an interior space formed by colored blocks divided by black lines. In de Kooning's Untitled, rectilinear and curved shapes are placed individually against a monochromatic backdrop. While the older pictures are complicated in terms of their structure, de Kooning's picture has an aggressively frontal orientation, a characteristic that will be dominant throughout his oeuvre. Additionally there are drip marks below the rectangular forms as to show evidence of previous brushwork that emphasizes the act of painting as process.
As de Kooning recalled years later, "Picasso and Matisse showed us the way and we filled in with our own personalities." (Quoted in an interview with Ken Wilkie, 'Willem de Kooning: Portrait of a Modern Master," Holland Herald, 17, March 1982, p. 30 cited in M. Prather, Willem de Kooning: Paintings, exh. cat., Washington, D.C., 1994, p. 80.) He would have had numerous opportunities to study Picasso's paintings in New York, the most influential exhibition being the major Picasso retrospective exhibition in 1939 at the Museum of Modern Art. The Jacques Seligmann Gallery also held exhibitions. De Kooning said in 1951: "Of all movements, I like Cubism most. It had that wonderful unsure atmosphere of reflection--a poetic frame where something could be possible, where an artist could practice his intuition. It didn't want to get rid of what went before. Instead it added something to it. The parts that I can appreciate in other movements came out of Cubism." (W. de Kooning, "Statements by Six American Artists," Museum of Modern Art, Bulletin, Vol. XXVIII, no. 3, Spring 1951.)
The most original feature of Untitled is the unabashed use of bright color. Only several years before, de Kooning used primarily earth tones in his paintings of men in tribute to paintings by the Le Nain brothers. However, around 1940, he started using bright, pure colors in his paintings of women in interiors; they have been attributed to color photography in magazines and advertisements (de Kooning once worked as a magazine illustrator). However, it is important to consider the effect of Matisse on de Kooning at this time. He would have had the opportunity to see Matisse's paintings in 1931 where a monographic exhibition was mounted at the Museum of Modern Art and another key exhibition in 1938 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery. The arrangement of discretely placed objects against a field of color occurs in Matisse's most abstract works of 1914-1917, such as The Blue Window, 1913. His use of brilliant color may have influenced de Kooning's choice of palette for Untitled, the jewel-like colors of the red, blue and green. His change to a brighter palette, according to his new biography, may have been caused by his romance and eventual marriage to Elaine Fried in 1943. It was a considerably happy and calm period in his life as he became married, upgraded to a renovated loft, and was considered an important painter emerging from the downtown scene. Elaine, who posed for her husband, can be identified as the woman from these early 1940s works. Untitled was created in the same year as Woman, c. 1944 and Pink Lady, c. 1944 where both painting show a seated woman in an interior; Untitled shares the same background as these paintings.
Untitled is filled with unsettling pictorial ambiguity. Spatially, one is uncertain whether it is an exterior or interior scene. What is shown is a remnant of an architectural setting with a wall and floor. The green and blue rectilinear shapes can be understood as windows or doors, although the blue one appears more window-like with what appears to be a windowsill placed underneath. Below them are swerves of black chalk and paint that create abstractly rendered bio-morphic shapes. On the right side of the canvas, a bulky shape resting atop a graceful-looking pedestal can be either interpreted as a mailbox or a truncated view of a chair with its back and legs. The perspective has been eliminated so that there is no need to delineate foreground and background.
At this time de Kooning broke free from realism by aligning his work with geometric abstraction. He was enormously influenced by Picasso's geometric pictures of the late 1920s through his friend Arshile Gorky. As fellow Europeans who shared a similar aesthetic, de Kooning and Gorky became instant friends in the 1930s. In Gorky, de Kooning found the role model of a professional fine artist who had an immaculate studio and knew a wide range of art history. De Kooning revered and also felt greatly challenged by Picasso, and no doubt, shared this sentiment with his compatriot. In a comparison of Picasso's The Studio, 1927-1928 and Gorky's Organization, c. 1933-1936, these paintings are antecedents to de Kooning's Untitled. Both paintings by Picasso and Gorky offer a view into an interior space formed by colored blocks divided by black lines. In de Kooning's Untitled, rectilinear and curved shapes are placed individually against a monochromatic backdrop. While the older pictures are complicated in terms of their structure, de Kooning's picture has an aggressively frontal orientation, a characteristic that will be dominant throughout his oeuvre. Additionally there are drip marks below the rectangular forms as to show evidence of previous brushwork that emphasizes the act of painting as process.
As de Kooning recalled years later, "Picasso and Matisse showed us the way and we filled in with our own personalities." (Quoted in an interview with Ken Wilkie, 'Willem de Kooning: Portrait of a Modern Master," Holland Herald, 17, March 1982, p. 30 cited in M. Prather, Willem de Kooning: Paintings, exh. cat., Washington, D.C., 1994, p. 80.) He would have had numerous opportunities to study Picasso's paintings in New York, the most influential exhibition being the major Picasso retrospective exhibition in 1939 at the Museum of Modern Art. The Jacques Seligmann Gallery also held exhibitions. De Kooning said in 1951: "Of all movements, I like Cubism most. It had that wonderful unsure atmosphere of reflection--a poetic frame where something could be possible, where an artist could practice his intuition. It didn't want to get rid of what went before. Instead it added something to it. The parts that I can appreciate in other movements came out of Cubism." (W. de Kooning, "Statements by Six American Artists," Museum of Modern Art, Bulletin, Vol. XXVIII, no. 3, Spring 1951.)
The most original feature of Untitled is the unabashed use of bright color. Only several years before, de Kooning used primarily earth tones in his paintings of men in tribute to paintings by the Le Nain brothers. However, around 1940, he started using bright, pure colors in his paintings of women in interiors; they have been attributed to color photography in magazines and advertisements (de Kooning once worked as a magazine illustrator). However, it is important to consider the effect of Matisse on de Kooning at this time. He would have had the opportunity to see Matisse's paintings in 1931 where a monographic exhibition was mounted at the Museum of Modern Art and another key exhibition in 1938 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery. The arrangement of discretely placed objects against a field of color occurs in Matisse's most abstract works of 1914-1917, such as The Blue Window, 1913. His use of brilliant color may have influenced de Kooning's choice of palette for Untitled, the jewel-like colors of the red, blue and green. His change to a brighter palette, according to his new biography, may have been caused by his romance and eventual marriage to Elaine Fried in 1943. It was a considerably happy and calm period in his life as he became married, upgraded to a renovated loft, and was considered an important painter emerging from the downtown scene. Elaine, who posed for her husband, can be identified as the woman from these early 1940s works. Untitled was created in the same year as Woman, c. 1944 and Pink Lady, c. 1944 where both painting show a seated woman in an interior; Untitled shares the same background as these paintings.