The Art Institute of Chicago is offering members exclusive preview access to "Willem de Kooning Drawing" from June 11–13, 2025, before it opens to the public. This is the first exhibition to comprehensively examine de Kooning's drawing practice, featuring works from across his career—from his earliest drawings to late calligraphic paintings—and marks the museum's first solo presentation of the artist since 1969.
This exhibition matters because it reframes de Kooning's legacy by centering drawing as foundational to his entire artistic process, including painting, sculpture, and printmaking. By showcasing the evolution of his graphic work over seven decades, the show offers an unprecedented opportunity to understand how de Kooning redefined modern and contemporary art, while also highlighting a major collection piece, "Excavation" (1950), in a new context.