Art Institute of Chicago opens major survey of Willem de Kooning's drawings

Willem de Kooning. Untitled [man and woman], about 1947–48. Matte opaque paint (possibly oil) with fine particulate filler, enamel, carbon transfer drawing, and graphite pencil on pressed paper cover stock, mounted on secondary support. 54.5 × 42.5 cm (21 7/16 × 16 3/4 in.). Private collection. © 2026 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo courtesy of TAJAN.

CHICAGO, IL.— The Art Institute of Chicago opened Willem de Kooning Drawing, on view June 14 through September 20, 2026. This is the first major exhibition to examine the artist’s expansive drawing practice, and the first solo presentation of his work at the Art Institute since 1969.

Willem de Kooning Drawing gathers more than 200 works from across the globe, many of which have never been shown together before, to reveal how the act of drawing was foundational to de Kooning’s entire artistic process and production. The exhibition includes drawings along with major paintings, sculptures, and prints to showcase the totality of his graphic production, from his earliest existing works to his late calligraphic paintings.

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Rigorously trained at the Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences in Rotterdam, de Kooning achieved a remarkable command of traditional drawing techniques while still in his teens. In 1926, at the age of 22, he immigrated to the United States to pursue his dream of becoming an illustrator. In New York City, de Kooning found work as a house painter, freelance commercial artist, and window display designer. He became immersed in the New York art scene, ultimately becoming a key figure of the movement that would be known as “Abstract Expressionism” or the “New York School” with contemporaries including Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko.

Ambiguity would become a distinguishing feature of de Kooning’s practice, as his work increasingly dissolved the boundaries between representation and abstraction, male and female figures, “high” and “low” art forms, and, in particular, the disciplines of drawing and painting. Compelled to continually innovate and surprise even himself, de Kooning began experimenting with unconventional drawing methods including working with his eyes closed, which opened up new directions for his art.

“Willem de Kooning continually innovated throughout his career, exploring and expanding ways of seeing and rendering what is seen. He drew incessantly and famously blurred the line between drawing and painting. In the process, he produced a staggering body of work that transformed modern art,” said Kevin Salatino, Chair and Anne Vogt Fuller and Marion Titus Searle Curator. “We are profoundly grateful to The Willem de Kooning Foundation for its unstinting support and commitment to this exhibition. The discoveries that came out of our years of research will allow visitors to gain an entirely new understanding and appreciation of de Kooning.”

This landmark exhibition offers an unprecedented opportunity to experience the full scope of de Kooning’s drawing practice—and drawing’s influence on his work in other media—shedding light not only on its evolution over seven decades but also on the ways it redefined the possibilities of modern and contemporary art.

Willem de Kooning Drawing is organized by the Art Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and in consultation with The Willem de Kooning Foundation. The exhibition’s curatorial team at the Art Institute includes Kevin Salatino, Chair and Anne Vogt Fuller and Marion Titus Searle Curator, Prints and Drawings; Mel Becker Solomon, associate research curator, Prints and Drawings; and Charlotte Healy, senior research associate, Prints and Drawings, with contributions from Margaret Holben Ellis, exhibition paper conservator.

The exhibition is accompanied by essays and insights published in an illustrated catalogue.