Untitled

Willem de Kooning’s drawings from the 1960s often suggest the depiction of one or two female figures. They are drawn in very expressive lines leaving expansive space of paper untouched. Untitled shows a disparity from his paintings whose entire surface is heavily worked and re-worked. For De Kooning drawings often were a catalyst or served as inspiration for his paintings. Similar to De Kooning’s earlier paintings of women, the artist here exaggerated smiles and eyelashes. In this image De Kooning depicted the women wearing hats fashionable at the time. As in his other representations of women the artist most likely drew on advertisements as a source for his work. One can imagine De Kooning scanning the fashion advertisements of the late sixties before beginning this drawing. The eroticism present in Untitled can ultimately be traced to the erotic female presented in ads. Additionally the drawing incorporates the flashy, toothy grins selling products like cigarettes, for instance.