Carolina QuotesWhen I painted my seated men, I saw them as gyroscopes. Portraiture always fascinated me because I love the particular gesture of a particular expression or stance.. .Working on the figure, I wanted paint to sweep through as feelings sweep through..
Elaine de Kooning Connected to the Carolinas
Source
Quote of c. 1977, as quoted in 'The Portraitist', Berkson, Bill (1992), Modern Painters: pp. 40–42
- year
- 1977
- locator
- pp. 40–42
Cite this record
“When I painted my seated men, I saw them as gyroscopes. Port…” Elaine de Kooning. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-6BA60230F1. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/6ba60230f1
More from Elaine de Kooning
In shows selected by artists where there is no consciousness of sex, as in the American Abstract Artist Shows which began in the late 1930's or the Artists Annuals of the early 1950's, the ratio [between male and female artists presented there] seemed to be between one third and one quarter women. The only way to arrive at a true ratio, I suppose, would again be to have artist-juried shows.
Well, first—that term, 'women artists.' I was talking to Joan Mitchell at a party about 10 years ago when a man came up to us and said, 'What do you women artists think...' Joan grabbed my arm and said, 'Elaine, let's get the hell out of here.' That was my first response to Linda Nochlin's article ['Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?']. I was curious about how a man would react. Alex Katz thought it would be a cop-out to answer the piece. Sherman thought it would be a cop-out not to answer it. John Cage thought the question 'divisive and an over-simplification.' I agree with all of them.
A painting to me is primarily a verb, not a noun, an event first and only secondarily an image.