Two Women in the Country
Date
(1954)
Artist
Willem de Kooning, American, b. Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1904–1997
Provenance
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, by November 1955
Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kantor, Beverly Hills, by June 1957-13 April 1964
Paul Kantor Gallery, Beverly Hills, 13 April 1964
Joseph H. Hirshhorn, New York, 13 April 1964-17 May 1966
Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966
Exhibition History
MARTHA JACKSON GALLERY, New York. "Recent Oils by Willem de Kooning," 9 November-3 December 1955, no. 4, unpaginated.
MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS. "American Paintings 1945-1957," 18 June-1 September 1957, no. 30 (Paul Kantor, lender)
CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM, Houston. "The Romantic Agony: From Goya to de Kooning," 23 April-31 May 1959, ill. p. 18
PAUL KANTOR GALLERY, Beverly Hills, California. "Willem de Kooning," 3-29 April 1961, ill, unpaginated.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART. "Inaugural Loan Exhibition," April-July 1965
FONDATION M. ET A. MAEGHT, St. Paul de Vence, France. "10 Ans d'Art Vivant 1945-1955," 9 April-31 May 1966, cat. no. 87, ill, unpaginated.
STEDELIJK MUSEUM, Amsterdam. "Willem de Kooning," 19 September-17 November 1968, cat. no. 55, ill., unpaginated. MUSEUM OF MODERN ART INTERNATIONAL TOUR: TATE GALLERY, London, 8 December 1968-26 January 1969; MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, New York, 3 March-27 April 1969, cat. no, 64, ill. p. 98; ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, 16 May-6 July 1969; LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART, 28 July-14 September 1969.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. "Inaugural Exhibition," 4 October 1974-15 September 1975, plate no. 727, p. 496, pp. 681-82
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "The Golden Door: Artist-Immigrants of America 1876-1976," 20 May-20 October 1976, cat. no. 111, ill. p. 258.
MUSEUM OF ART, CARNEGIE INSTITUTE, Pittsburgh. "Willem de Kooning: Pittsburgh International Series," 26 October 1979-6 January 1980, no. 23.
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, New York. "Willem de Kooning: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture," 15 December 1983-26 February 1984, cat. no. 197, ill. p. 184. TOUR: AKADEMIE DER KUNSTE, Berlin, 11 March-29 April 1984; MUSEE NATIONAL D'ART MODERNE, CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU, Paris, 28 June-24 September 1984, ill. p. 104.
STEDELJIK MUSEUM, Amsterdam. "Painting after 1945," December 1984-April 1985.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, Washington, DC. "Willem de Kooning: Paintings," 8 May 1994-5 September 1994.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Willem de Kooning from the Hirshhorn Museum Collection," 21 October 1993-9 January 1994, cat. no. 14, p. 201, 216, colorplate 14, p. 77. TOUR: FUNDACIO "LA CAIXA," CENTRE CULTURAL, Barcelona, Spain, 17 February-3 April 1994; HIGH MUSEUM OF ART, Atlanta, Georgia, 13 September-27 November 1994; MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, Boston, 10 December 1994-19 February 1995; MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, Houston, Texas, 19 March-28 May 1995.
ZEITGEIST GELLESCHAFT, Berlin. "The Age of Modernism--Art in the 20th Century." MARTIN-GROPIUS-BAU, Berlin, 7 May-27 July 1997.
SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION, New York. "Between Art and Life: From Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art." TOUR: CENTRO CULTURAL FUNDACIO "LA CAIXA," Barcelona, 28 January-28 March 1999; SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE, Frankfurt, Germany, 21 April-4 July, ill. p. 59.
KUNSTFORUM WIEN, Austria. "Willem DeKooning: Retrospective," 13 January-28 March 2005.
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Grand re-opening exhibition, 1 July 2006-4 July 2007.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Masterworks from the Hirshhorn Collection," 9 June 2016-6 August 2017, no cat.
MUSEE NATIONAL DES BEAUX-ARTS DU QUEBEC. "America. Between Dreams and Realities: Selections from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection," 9 June-5 September 2022, color ill. p. 64.
Published References
PORTER, FAIRFIELD. "Reviews and Previews: Willem de Kooning," Art News 54 (November 1955): p. 48, colorplate.
ASHTON, DORE. "Art," Arts and Architecture 72 (December 1955): p. 34
ROSENBERG, HAROLD. "Tenth Street: A Geography of Modern Art," Art News Annual 28 (1959): p. 139, colorplate.
MUNRO, ELEANOR C. "Twentieth Century," Golden Encyclopedia of Art (New York: Golden, 1961): p. 258, colorplate
HUNTER, SAM. La Pittura americana del dopoguerra (Milan: Fratelli Fabbri, 1967): colorplate 11
HUNTER, SAM. "Action Painting: La generazione eroica," L'Arte Moderna 13 (1967): p. 47, colorplate
LICHTBLAU, CHARLOTTE. "Willem de Kooning and Barnett Newman," Arts Magazine (March 1969): ill, p. 29
DRUDI, GABRIELLA. Willem de Kooning (Milan: Fratelli Fabbri, 1972): colorplate 91
ROSENBERG, HAROLD. Willem de Kooning (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1974): ill. plate 120
LERNER, ABRAM, et al. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1974): p. 681, fig. 727 (colorplate)
LERNER, ABRAM. An Introduction to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1974): colorplate no. 13
GARSON, INEZ. Willem de Kooning in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (New York: Scala, 1974): no. 8
BENDER, TODD, et al. Modernism in Literature (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977): ill.
WALDMAN, DIANE. Willem de Kooning in East Hampton (New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1978): pp. 21-22, ill. p. 22
MEEWIS, WIM. Iconologie van de Action Painting (Brussels: Paleis der Academien, 1983): ill.
UNSIGNED. "De Kooning arrive par les 'femmes,'" Le Point (25 June 1984): ill.
UNSIGNED. "Le geste du peintre," Les Nouvelles (28 June 1984): ill.
UNSIGNED. "De Kooning," Galeries des Arts no. 224 (July/August 1984): ill.
BAYON, DAMIAN. "de Kooning, perturbador involuntario," El Pais (18 August 1984): ill.
MICHA, RENE. "Willem de Kooning," Art International 27 (September-November 1984): p. 51, ill.
PRADEL, JEAN-LOUIS. World Art Trends 1983/84 (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1984): p. 149, ill. (Note: review of retrospective at Whitney Museum of American Art, 1983-84.)
ROSENFELD, LUCY DAVIDSON. What's in a Painting? (Portland, Maine: J. Weston Walch, 1986): section 6, p. 51, plate 65
HOBHOUSE, JANET. The Bride Stripped Bare: The Artist and the Nude in the Twentieth Century (London: Jonathan Cape, 1987): no. 217, ill.
WALDMAN, DIANE. Willem de Kooning (New York: Harry N. Abrams with the National Museum of American Art, 1988): no. 87
GIBSON, ERIC. " De Kooning exhibit offers unexpected insights," Metropolitan Times (8 November 1993): C17.
ZILCZER, JUDITH. "Willem de Kooning: from the Hirshhorn Collection," American Art Review 5/5 (Fall 1993): p. 105.
SMITH, ROBERTA. "De Kooning's 90th Birthday Nears, and Hirshhorn Leads the Tribute," New York Times (14 December 1993): p. C20.
CATEFORIS, DAVID. "Willem de Kooning," Art Journal 53/4 (Winter 1994): p. 86.
ZILCZER, JUDITH. "Willem de Kooning," El Guia. Art de l'arc mediterraneen (February 1994): p. 19, 20.
SANTOS-TORROELLA, RAFAEL. "Willem de Kooning: en persona," ABC de las artes (February 1994): p. 30.
UNSIGNED. "De Kooning, una pincelada valiente," Architectural Digest no. 55 (February-March 1994): pp. 24, 25.
ZILCZER, JUDITH. "Willem de Kooning, pionero y lider del expresionismo abstracto," Panorama (March 1994): p. 3.
ANFAM, DAVID. "Washington and Barcelona: Willem de Kooning," Burlington Magazine (April 1994): p. 69, 70.
FOX, CATHERINE. "A Closer Look at Willem de Kooning," The Atlanta Journal (13 September 1994): p. C12.
JINKNER-LLOYD, AMY. "The Endurance of Beauty," Creative Loafing (17 September 1994): p. 29.
FOX, CATHERINE. " De Kooning: at the High: His is legacy of abstraction," The Atlanta Journal (25 September 1994), p. N3.
SHUTER, MARTY. "Abstract Expressionism," Savannah News/Press (9 October 1994): p. 1F, 2F.
UNSIGNED. "De Kooning's daring journey into artistic chaos-and back again," Cape Cod Times (24 December 1994): p. C1.
SHERMAN, MARY. "MFA show brushes by greatness of de Kooning," Boston Herald (8 January 1995): pp. 49. 57.
UNSIGNED. "Willem de Kooning from the Hirshhorn Museum Collection," MFA Houston Calendar (1995): p. 9-10.
JOHNSON, PATRICIA. "Willem de Kooning: abstract women and master strokes define MFA exhibit," Houston Chronicle (18 March 1995): p. 1C, 8C.
KALIL, SUSIE. "Defining De Kooning," Houston Press (20-26 April 1995): p. 4.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN. Hirshhorn Museum and Scultpure Garden: 150 Works of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996), pp. 90-91.
SOTHEBY'S NEW YORK. Contemporary Art, Part I; Auction: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 at 7pm (New York, Sotheby's, 1996).
ZILCZER, JUDITH. "Artist and Patron," Journal of the History of Collections 8/1 (1996): p. 124.
THE AGE OF MODERNISM: ART IN THE 20TH CENTURY. Edited by Christos M. Joachimides and Norman Rosenthal. (Berlin : Zeitgeist-Gesellschaft e.V. ; Ostfildern-Ruit [Germany] : G. Hatje ; New York, N.Y. : Distributed in the US by DAP, Distributed Art Publishers, c1997): no. 65.
YARD, SALLY. Willem de Kooning (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc, 1997): plate no. 46, p. 62.
CHRISTIE'S NEW YORK. Contemporary Art: From the Collection of irwin and Bethea Green, Tuesday, 18 November 1997 (New York: Christie's, 1997): p. 41.
MORRIS, CATHERINE. The Essential Willem de Kooning (The Wonderland Press, 1999): p. 63.
STEINBERG, LEO. Encounters with Rauschenberg (A Lavishly Illustrated Lecture) (Houston: The Menil Collection; Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2000): fig. 2, p. 3.
HARRISON, HELEN AND CONSTANCE AYERS DENNE. Hamptons Bohemia: Two Centuries of Artists and Writers on the Beach (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2002): p. 81.
UNSIGNED. Xerox copy of catalogue/book written in Japanese (?) (unknown publisher and date): p. 309.
CLARK, MARLENE. The Woman In Me: Willem De Kooning, Woman I-VI (Washington, DC: Academica Press, 2020), fig. 6 (color), p. 147.
MONTUA, GABRIEL and ANNA WEGENSCHIMMEL, eds. Picasso & Les Femmes D'alger (Munich: Hirmer Publishers, 2021), fig. 1 (color).
See more items in
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection
School
Abstract Expressionism (First Generation)
On View
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC), 2nd Floor
Credit Line
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966
Data Source
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Accession Number
66.1200
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil, enamel, and charcoal on canvas
Dimensions
46 1/8 x 40 3/4 in. (117.1 x 103.5 cm)
