Robers Armand

Fine Art
Willem de Kooning
“Woman III” 1952-1953, oil on canvas

This painting recently sold for 137 Million dollars. While I personally don’t particularly like the
piece, I can sort of admire it. It’s a deliberate challenging of conventional aesthetics is
interesting. It seems as if he’s deliberately trying to create an impression of Mass and fleshiness
despite using sharp jagged edged shapes. The eyes are large and expressive. Her expression
seems almost innocent despite her revealing mature garment. To me the figure in the painting
represents a working class/poor woman of probable ethnic European background. The piece is
like a more modern version of the ancient ‘Venus’ statues with bulbous breasts and voluptuous
contours.