Willem de Kooning Value: Top Prices Paid at Auction

Untitled XXV (1977) set de Kooning's current auction record when it sold at Christie's New York in November 2016. This large-scale work, measuring nearly 2 by 2.2 metres, exemplifies the artist's return to large-scale abstraction in the late 1970s - a period that is now recognised as de Kooning’s most productive and technically accomplished. As such, it showcases his characteristic sweeping brushwork and complex layering of vibrant colours. The work's dynamic composition balances bold strokes of pink, red, and white against contrasting areas of blue and yellow, creating a sense of constant movement. Previously sold in 2006 for £12.7M - then the most expensive post-war painting ever sold - its 2016 result represented a remarkable 370% increase in just a decade, demonstrating the exceptional appreciation for de Kooning's work, particularly his most significant abstractions.

Woman As Landscape (1954-55) sold at Christie's New York in November 2018, achieving the second-highest price for a de Kooning work to date. This significant painting from 1955 combines figurative elements with abstract colour and composition, invoking flesh tones and organic forms that suggest a female figure dissolving into and emerging from a landscape. The piece embodies de Kooning’s statement that "flesh was the reason oil paint was invented." Created during a period when de Kooning was simultaneously celebrated and controversial for his aggressive depictions of women, this painting's impressive result demonstrates the market's fascination with his most challenging and conceptually complex works.

Untitled (c.1979) achieved this top-10 result at Sotheby's New York in November 2022. This later abstract work demonstrates de Kooning's evolution toward a more fluid, lyrical style in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The painting's predominantly blue palette, with its suggestions of water and sky, reflects the artist's ongoing inspiration from his coastal surroundings in Springs, Long Island. The sweeping brushstrokes, mingling colours, and strong sculpting of depth within the colour palette show de Kooning’s continued prioritisation of space and movement over accurate representation. Hidden from public view since de Kooning gifted it to the original recipient’s family in 1955, the work emerged at auction for the first time in 2022, adding to its appeal for collectors.

Collage (1950) sold at Sotheby's New York in November 2022, when it sold out of the David M. Solinger collection after remaining hidden from the public eye since its sale in 1952. Despite its modest size compared to many of de Kooning’s abstracts of the 1970s, this painting's historical significance as a transitional piece between his black-and-white abstractions and his Woman series contributed to its strong performance. Its title is initially deceiving, as the piece is not a traditional collage. Instead, it incorporates oil paint, lacquer, and actual thumbtacks on paper, creating a unique mixed-media result. The shapes within the piece, including fragmented figurative elements and boldly outlined yellow and orange forms, also create a sort of visual collage. This experimental approach, playing with the very nature and definitions of traditional art, has established de Kooning as one of the Abstract Expressionism movement's most innovative figures.

Orestes (1947) achieved this impressive result at Christie's New York in May 2023, making it the most recent sale on this list. This early oil painting represents a crucial transitional moment in de Kooning's career, bridging his figurative studies and later abstract works. The monochromatic composition features de Kooning's characteristic bold, gestural brushstrokes forming abstract figures emerging from a complex ground of black and white marks. Created during the formative years of Abstract Expressionism, Orestes (1947) exemplifies de Kooning's exploration of classical themes through a new method. The painting's exceptional provenance, including display at the Gagosian Gallery and MoMA, undoubtedly contributed to its strong performance at auction.

This 1977 abstract masterpiece sold at Sotheby's New York in November 2019. The large-scale canvas demonstrates de Kooning's virtuosic handling of paint during his most celebrated period, with its dynamic composition of fluid, ribbon-like brushstrokes in blues, reds, and greens against a light background. Part of a series of paintings created in the late 1970s, when de Kooning had moved to Springs, Long Island, Untitled XXII (1977) reflects the artist's response to the quality of light and water in his coastal surroundings. The painting's loose, energetic gestures and luminous palette embody the sense of freedom that characterised his mature style, which had evolved from the denser, more aggressive approach of earlier decades.

Another remarkable sale of a de Kooning work from 1977, Untitled VIII (1977) achieved this result at Christie's New York in November 2013. Another stellar example from de Kooning's acclaimed late 1970s period, this painting demonstrates de Kooning’s double-sided manipulation of paint - through both fluid brushstrokes and scraped surfaces. The sweeping movements of red, white, black, and blue, create a sense of perpetual motion that became a hallmark of his style. At the time of its creation, de Kooning was firmly into his seventies; its success, therefore, reflects the growing market recognition of his late abstractions, which had once been considered less significant than his earlier figurative works but are now highly sought after.

Selling at Christie's New York in May 2022, Untitled XXI (1977) continues the overwhelming pattern of significant sales of works from 1977. The composition features de Kooning's trademark ribbons of colour in blues, yellows, and pinks, with varied techniques of paint application, scraping, and removal to create complex surfaces. The work had remained in a private collection since 1988, but appeared in many prestigious galleries before this. It was displayed first at the Xavier Fourcade Gallery in New York, but was later shown at international galleries such as Studio Marconi in Milan and the Galerie Hans Strelow in Dusseldorf, and then featured in a group exhibition with the likes of Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, and Frank Stella at the James Goodman Gallery in 1986.

Clamdigger (1972), a bronze sculpture, sold at Christie's New York in November 2014, establishing a record for the artist's three-dimensional work. Standing at 151.1 cm tall, with a deliberately uneven surface and irregular silhouette, this powerful male figure seems to capture de Kooning’s gestural painting style in sculptural form. Its depiction of its subject is expressive, cutting away the figure’s form in some places and extending it in others to create an unbalanced, almost precarious, stance. Clamdigger (1972) was inspired by the shellfish harvesters de Kooning observed on the Long Island coast. Coming from an edition of seven casts, this particular Clamdigger (1972) was stationed outside de Kooning’s studio until he died in 1997, when it passed on to his daughter, Lisa de Kooning. When Lisa herself died, it became part of a trust for her three daughters, who eventually decided to sell in 2014.

The final work on this list is another untitled piece from 1977 - de Kooning’s most productive and lucrative year. Untitled XXXIII (1977) sold at Sotheby's New York in November 2021, achieving this strong result just as interest in de Kooning’s abstract works was heightening. In the following 12 months, three of these top 10 sales would take place. The painting was part of the Macklowe Collection, the evening sale of which would become a historic event for Sotheby’s as the most valuable single-owner auction ever staged and the most valuable auction ever held at Sotheby’s.