Willem de Kooning at work

From 9 October 2026 to 17 January 2027, the Rijksmuseum, together with the Art Institute of Chicago, presents the first comprehensive overview of Willem de Kooning's (1904-1997) drawings ever shown in the Netherlands.

Drawing as foundation

De Kooning drawings are not studies for paintings. For him, drawing was a way to explore through sketching, correcting, repeating, and deliberately surprising himself. This process was fundamental to his art in every medium and is visible on nearly every artwork he completed.

He liked to say, "I have to change to stay the same" (1981), and so his art never stood still. In over 120 pieces, you see how his drawing evolved across more than 65 years, from early drawings as a student to rapid charcoal sketches. Alongside these are paintings and sculptures that established the artist's reputation, including Excavation (1950) and Pink Angels (c. 1945), and in the Gallery of Honour, close to the Night Watch, are Woman I (1950-1952) and Woman and Bicycle (1952-1953).

Around the exhibition

A catalogue edited by the Art Institute of Chicago presents new research on the artist’s drawings, alongside a Dutch-language publication by the Rijksmuseum offering an overview of the artist’s trajectory. Join a masterclass in modern art history, draw along in a workshop at the Teekenschool, or take an audiotour.

A hundred years of Willem de Kooning in the Netherlands

His hometown is celebrating too. On 18 July 2026, exactly a hundred years after his departure, Fenix Museum in Rotterdam will place three monumental bronze sculptures by De Kooning on the quay from which he sailed.

Credits

Header: Untitled (Three Women) , c. 1948. Collection of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, Gift of Mrs. Richard Deutsch (Katherine W. Sanford, class of 1940), © 2026 The Willem de Kooning Foundation, Pictoright, Amsterdam