Dimensions: support: 914 x 610 mm frame: 990 x 690 x 65 mm
Copyright: © Willem de Kooning Revocable Trust/ARS, NY and DACS, London 2014 | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Willem de Kooning's "Women Singing II," an oil on canvas piece housed at the Tate. It feels very raw, almost unfinished, with these broad strokes and ambiguous figures. What’s your take on this work? Curator: De Kooning's work reflects a post-war anxiety regarding the female figure, doesn't it? How do societal expectations and the male gaze inform its reception? Editor: That's interesting! So, you're saying the cultural context heavily influences how we perceive these abstracted forms of women? Curator: Precisely. Consider how the rise of mass media also contributed to this distorted imagery. Was de Kooning critiquing or perpetuating the objectification? Editor: It's definitely something to think about. I'm seeing this painting in a whole new light now. Curator: Indeed, art constantly reshapes our understanding of history and ourselves.
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This is one of three paintings by De Kooning titled Women Singing. They were based on pop singers the artist saw on television. The energetic style and vibrant colours are typical of De Kooning''s work of the 1960s. Interviewed by Sylvester a few years earlier, he spoke of the authority that he felt he had achieved in his painting. ''I have all my forces ... I have a bigger feeling now of freedom. I am more convinced ... of picking up the paint and the brush and drumming it out.'' Gallery label, September 2004
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