Excavation by Willem De Kooning

In the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago hangs the painting "Excavation" by Willem De Kooning. The painting was done in 1950 and was inspired from a Neorealist film "Bitter Sweet" where a woman was working in the fields.

In looking at this painting one is immediately aware of the agitation and tense feeling of the work. One of the elements that lends itself to this intensity is the fragmentation of the object throughout the work. Though De Kooning was inspired by a woman working in the fields for this piece there is no apparent image or even suggestion of a woman in the painting, for the point in this piece does not seem to really take into account the woman or even her image or there would certainly be some kind of image of her present in the work, even the most suggestive.

Rather than having a painting of a woman working in the fields you have here a canvas with sharp jagged images permeating a space that is imbued with a low-toned cream colors. All of the images on the canvas are cut in black which accounts for their form and then as you look across the surface of the canvas you will see other colors in the images but all in small amounts so as not to take away from the linear presence of the forms on the canvas.

The failure of the piece is its lack of any substantive forms or images that even remotely suggest a woman or any sort of "excavation". If the viewer wants to imagine a woman or any human form in this painting that is his or her prerogative but in searching the surface of the canvas these elements are not apparent.

The success of the piece is its ability to keep you focused on it without really know what is going on. There is on one to this day that can tell you what the piece is about or for that matter even have to for there is no apparent meaning to the work of art whatsoever. The terms here can be very misleading and can be a starting point for some completely other idea that the artist may have in mind. For a painting to work, no matter what style it is in, has to communicate to its viewer what it is about. One certainly would not acquire a book on the life of Mozart and find that the author is writing on Chinese Cooking!

All in all one cannot say that nothing is going on in this painting for there is action throughout the piece and the sharp black-lined images act as a catalyst for movement in this famous work of art.

Stephen F. Condren ~ Artist

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