A Dutch-American draftsman and painter, and one of the most important members of the Abstract Expressionsim movement and the New York School. His works are characterized by vigorous, almost violent gestural strokes. The presence of movement in his brushstrokes can also classify his paintings as 'action paintings'. The subject matter of his most prominent works are female figures. He was heavily influenced by the cubism of Picasso which is manifest in the ways in which De Kooning's figures are often dismembered, distorted and reasslembled.
