Flying Blind: de Kooning’s “Closed-Eye” Drawings
There are 24 charcoal drawings now on display at the Museum of Modern Art that Willem de Kooning did with his eyes closed.
This was not an uncommon thing for de Kooning, who often liked to close his eyes, or avert his eyes, or use them to watch TV while he drew. This may sound like a gimmick, or some kind of dada or surrealist gambit, or an act of desperation from an artist running on fumes.
Caption: Willem de Kooning, “Untitled” (1966). Charcoal on paper, 10 x 8 inches. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Jan Christiaan Braun in honor of Rudi Fuchs.

Flying Blind: de Kooning’s “Closed-Eye” Drawings

There are 24 charcoal drawings now on display at the Museum of Modern Art that Willem de Kooning did with his eyes closed.

This was not an uncommon thing for de Kooning, who often liked to close his eyes, or avert his eyes, or use them to watch TV while he drew. This may sound like a gimmick, or some kind of dada or surrealist gambit, or an act of desperation from an artist running on fumes.

Caption: Willem de Kooning, “Untitled” (1966). Charcoal on paper, 10 x 8 inches. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Jan Christiaan Braun in honor of Rudi Fuchs.

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