Elaine de Kooning Self Portrait

Title: Self Portrait
Artist: Elaine de Kooning
Year: 1946

This is a self portrait by Elaine de Kooning. The painting caught my eye because it's very unique and obviously much different than the self portraits we looked at in class in the past. De Kooning is seated with her legs crossed, looking at a book with blank pages. Perhaps it's a sketch book. Her body frame appears very thin; her clothes seem to engulf her. Her face is kind of scary; she gazes at the viewer with a very serious and severe expression. I like that there are images and crafts in the background. The coffee cup on the floor and the plant on the shelf make it more interesting. The pictures on the wall add dimension to the painting. The internet source that I got this image from has a quote by de Kooning that I really like: "Style is something I've always tried to avoid. I'm more interested in character. Character comes out of the work. Style is applied or imposed on it." This ideology comes through in her works. De Kooning's painting is an original and reveals her character as an individual.