Merritt Parkway

1959

Willem de Kooning American, 1904-1997

Not On View

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Unlike his contemporaries Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, de Kooning’s paintings refer to natural forms and specific places or events, pushed into pure abstraction by his reliance on color and the deep build-up of paint to create form. Depth and perspective are subordinated to the flattening effects of his slashing, violent brushwork. Some of the "abstract landscapes" from 1957 to 1963 are based on the landscape around Long Island Sound, including Merritt Parkway, a local highway. Speed is suggested by the controlled thrusts of the brush while the naturalistic palette conveys the crisscross of the road through the landscape.

Title Merritt Parkway

Artwork Date 1959

Artist Willem de Kooning

Life Dates 1904-1997

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 80 × 70 1/2 inches (203.2 × 179.1 cm) Framed: 81 × 70 7/8 × 2 inches (205.7 × 180 × 5.1 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department Contemporary Art after 1950

Credit Bequest of W. Hawkins Ferry

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 1988.177

Markings

Signed Signed, lower left: De Kooning

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

The artist

estate of Ira Haupt [died in 1963]

(J. L. Hudson & Co., Detroit, Michigan, USA)

(Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, New York, USA)

W. Hawkins Ferry [1913-1988]

1989-present, bequest to the the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Hess, Thomas B. Willem de Kooning. Great American Artists Series. New York, 1959, pl. 5.

Janis, Harriet and Rudi Blesh. De Kooning. New York, 1960, p.36, pl. K.

Ponente, Nello. Modern Painting, Contemporary Trends. New York, 1960, p. 157 (ill.).

The World in Vogue. New York, 1963, p. 364 (ill.).

Gaugh, Harry F. Willem De Kooning. New York, 1983, p. 64.

The W. Hawkins Ferry Collection. Exh. cat., The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1987, p. 23 (ill.).

Bulletin of the DIA 65, nos. 2/3 (1989): 50, fig. 32 (ill.).

Elderfield, John, and Lauren Mahony, Jennifer Field, Delphine Huisinga, Susan Lake. De Kooning: a Retrospective. Exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2011, pp. 318-319 (fig. 110).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback