Curated by John Elderfield

Whether taken to be a modernist painter pledged to sculptural volumes or an action painter enamored of old masters, Willem de Kooning has never fit comfortably within the dominant narratives of gestural abstraction. MoMA curator emeritus John Elderfield’s highly anticipated retrospective invites us to reconsider the achievement of this canonical, peerless artist in detail. Bringing together more than two hundred paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints from all the major stages of de Kooning’s career, the show will include some rarely seen works—such as Labyrinth, 1946, the artist’s fabled theatrical backdrop—among the justly celebrated Pink Angels, 1945, Excavation, 1950, and many other milestones. An extensively researched catalogue promises to offer fresh perspectives from scholars and conservators alike.

— Molly Warnock