Willem De Kooning Woman V Essay

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Woman V was created using oil and charcoal on canvas by Willem De Kooning in 1952-1953, during the period of Abstract Expressionism. Abstract Expressionism was a period developed during the 1940s and 1950s where the goal was to create abstract art that was emotional and very expressive. This painting is considered abstract art and was influenced by the period through the use of very expressive charcoal and brush strokes. This painting is currently displayed at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and is part of a series of six other paintings made by Willem de Kooning. The subject matter of this series, and this specific painting, are portraits of women. Woman V is a portrait that contains a woman smiling broadly with pronounced breasts …show more content…

Warm colors, hues of red to yellow, are mostly used in the center of the painting, while cooler colors, hues from blue green to blue violet, are used more in the exterior and ends of the painting. This choice of warm colors in the center brings more light and focus to the center of the artwork which contains the woman’s breasts, her huge arms and her broad smile. Because cooler colors are used on the exterior of the artwork, one does not rapidly notice or pay attention to where the woman is or what she is doing. This choice of placement and use of colors emphasizes the woman and brings attention to who or what the woman is, not what she is doing or where she is. Because the woman is composed mainly of the color red and shades of red, one will also typically associate her with the typical meaning or symbol of red. Red symbolizes fire and blood, and usually also has the connotation of love, lust, rage, war, danger, and strength. Since the woman is not compositionally polished or idealized, she is not seen as friendly, so one would tend to associated her with negative connotations of the color red. The woman evokes rage and danger to the mind. She intimidates the viewer and looks monstrous. The choice of where specific colors are placed and what colors are used brings foreword a very vicious woman as the subject matter in De Kooning’s

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