Small Painting I

“In 1958, at the same time that he was at work on the abstract landscapes, de Kooning produced a group of small paintings in oil, each 8 by 7 in. Truncated forms, compact spatial planes, and densely pigmented surfaces make them, in all likelihood, the most monumental abstractions of their scale ever painted. They seem to be fragments cut from some once-colossal work, self-sufficient pieces small enough to fit in one’s hand, yet heavier than earth itself. Oskar Kokoschka once remarked that making a big painting is always easier than a small one, an axiom reaffirmed by the concentrated energy of de Kooning’s small, but far from diminutive series. Pantagruelian in toughness and wit, they exemplify another axiom of art history: monumentality exceeds physical scale.
Throughout his career de Kooning has experimented with numerous media, and the mid- to late 1950s was a technically rich period as he worked in pastel, pencil, ink, oil, and enamel, varying greatly the size of his paintings and drawings.” (H. F. Gaugh, Willem de Kooning, New York, 1983, pp. 68-70.)