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Article: Willem De Kooning: Matthew Marks Gallery. (Reviews).(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Artforum International
- Article date:
- January 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Artforum International Magazine, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Like an unsigned will, Willem de Kooning's 1980s paintings ended his career with a kind of divisive largesse. For some viewers, the aged de Kooning is a kind of Yeatsian hero, sailing off into his own Byzantium. To detractors, he's a pitiable mannequin, performing wobbly pantomimes of his familiar painterly gestures. We still don't know the exact nature or trajectory of de Kooning's illness. We do know, however, according to Gary Garrels, curator of the traveling survey "Willem de Kooning: The Late Paintings, the 1980s," that there was a turning point of sorts in 1987, at which time the artist's health, energy, and concentration weakened precipitously. So this show, ...