Paintings & Drawings

Elaine de Kooning Mixed-media Artwork, ca. 1960

Appraisal: Elaine de Kooning Mixed-media Artwork, ca. 1960

Transcript

GUEST: My dearest friend, who was my high school English teacher here in Albuquerque, gifted it to me. I've known her for 50 years.

APPRAISER: You're still in touch with her? Are you...

GUEST: Oh, yes, yes, I... We have lunch every Friday.

APPRAISER: Oh, that's lovely.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: When were you gifted this?

GUEST: Within the last year.

APPRAISER: And were you aware of it before? Had you paid any attention to it before during your visit?

GUEST: Well, actually, when I first entered her home about 35, 40 years ago, I saw it hanging on the wall with a, a lot... She had a lot of other paintings, and this one just stuck out. And I, every time I go to her house, I would stare at it and just say, "That is just an amazing painting." It was, it just, for me, it was captivating. It's by Elaine de Kooning, an artist who, back in the '50s and '60s and '70s, I guess, was fairly prolific in painting. And I do know she was the wife of Willem de Kooning, who's, I guess, pretty famous. Elaine de Kooning came to Albuquerque around 1959 as a visiting professor at the art department. And my friend was taking art in the art department, as well. She was getting her undergraduate degree, but she also lived in an area of Albuquerque called Old Town. And Elaine, during that time, lived right next door. So they became best friends. She said that Elaine was quite bohemian and smoked like a chimney, as did she back then.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: And they had a lot in common. Before she left, I assume, is when she gave it to Louise as a, as a memento, a nice token of their friendship.

APPRAISER: So I would place this one around about when she was here.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: So 1959, '60, that, that kind of time frame. What appeals to you about this work?

GUEST (inhales): The energy.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: And obviously, it's a bull.

APPRAISER: It's interesting you say that, 'cause that's the first word that came to my mind, as well, energy.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: 'Cause you really feel it in the brushwork. It's a wonderful piece, and as you say, it's, it's a bull. She went to bullfights, I believe, didn't she?

GUEST: Yes. Louise said she enjoyed going to the bullfights in Juárez, and would go there quite frequently, and became fascinated or enchanted with the whole bullfight, uh, regime.

APPRAISER: And you're absolutely right. She, she was married to Willem de Kooning, so she was involved with the Abstract Expressionist movement, but she never really let go of figuration. So in, to the extent that she was doing portraits, as well. She even did one of, uh, uh, John F. Kennedy.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: But she was known for doing these bull paintings. There's elements of it that look very much like gouache, which is a water-based paint. But there are also areas like this, which look more like acrylic paint. It's a mixed-media work on paper.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: I think it bears a, a little more analysis. So Elaine was... O, obviously the Abstract Expressionists, it was a bit of a boys' club, but she could stand her ground. She was Brooklyn girl.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: And she didn't take any nonsense, and she put up with a lot of nonsense from Willem de Kooning, but she had her own flings, as well.

GUEST: Oh. (laughs)

APPRAISER: So she was quite an independent lady. She was feisty, she was a spitfire. There's been a lot of talk lately about the Ninth Street Women, and these were all artists who were involved tangentially with the Abstract Expressionists. So you, you had Elaine de Kooning, you had Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, uh, Lee Krasner, who, of course, was married to Jackson Pollock.

GUEST: Oh, right, right.

APPRAISER: And Helen Frankenthaler. Back then, Elaine de Kooning and Lee Krasner, pretty much, they were painting, but they were really promoting their husbands at that time, so they took a secondary role. So it's very refreshing now, at last, we're seeing their work in the ascendant and people are looking at them as artists in their own right.

GUEST: I see.

APPRAISER: And what fabulous artists they were. And that's being reflected in their value at auction and at sale. So I don't know what, if you'd had any no, notions about what this one might be worth?

GUEST: Well, she thought maybe $15,000 to $20,000, something like that.

APPRAISER: Right. So would it surprise you if I said more likely, at auction, $50,000 to $80,000?

GUEST: Yeah.

(both laughing)

APPRAISER: Well, I'm delighted to hear it. It's nice people still get surprised.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: But what a great gift to get. That's fabulous. I mean, it really bears testimony to the friendship, an enduring friendship...

GUEST: Absolutely, she's very special.

APPRAISER: ...that, that you have.

GUEST: An insurance value would be about the same?

APPRAISER: Insurance, you're going to be north of $100,000.

GUEST: Oh.