DeKooning

Last Tuesday we were invited to dinner at the home of Lisa DeKooning. Her daddy was a very very famous painter, and the house she lives in now was the same house her daddy lived and worked in. The party was incredibly unusual - the huge group of 7 year olds that was also invited had a pony and a pot bellied pig...a parrot, a juggler, and two massage therapists. Balloons and party favors were on all the tables. When I asked one of them what the special occasion was, he looked me confused and said "there's nothing special about this. we always do this." Just another day in the Hamptons, I guess.

This was NOT, however, just another day in the Hamptons for me. I spent the majority of the evening in DeKooning's studio drinking wine with my friend Carlos and taking photographs. The space is exactly as he left it in 1997...complete with color swatches on the walls, half-worked canvases on easels, and dirty brushes in cans of thinner.

I have never spent much time thinking about DeKooning's paintings. To be honest, I have never been very drawn to them. His sculptures have always been more intriguing to me. There's always something about seeing an artist's working space that can inspire a lot more curiosity about what they're doing. The history of his work and his legacy was heavy in the air of the space...and you couldn't help but acknowledge its importance once you roamed through the studio.




PS: Jack told me that Willem De Kooning was so undeniably attractive that women flocked for miles to catch a glimpse of his charm. I suppose his bibs gave him a certain something...