Leanna Scott

Digital Journal week 8

Elaine de Kooning was born in Brooklyn in 1918. Her mother neglected her and her siblings and

eventually they were taken care of by their housekeeper. Since she was the oldest child, she took on the

role of being a mother for her younger siblings. After high school, Kooning attended Hunter College

shortly before dropping out. She then attended the Leonardo da Vinci School instead. During her time

there she was politically active, specifically about unions for artists. After some time at this school, she

again switched to another. This time it was the American Artists School. In the late thirties she met

Willem de Kooning who she took drawing lessons from. He also helped her begin to sell her work. In the

early forties they got married, but hey quickly began growing apart and connected with different artists.

In the late forties she began working as an art critic in North Carolina. While criticing art she bagn to

move towards abstract art in her own paintings. In the late fifties she began teaching at the University of

New Mexico. Following this she taught at a number of other places. Elaine de Kooning died in 1989 due

to lung cancer.

“Elaine De Kooning.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist/de-kooning-elaine/life-and-legacy/#nav.