This in-depth study of the paintings of Willem de Kooning (1904 1997) from the 1940s through the 1970s breaks new ground in its analysis of the artist s working methods and yields new information about previously unreported materials. De Kooning s idiosyncratic working methods have long engendered intense speculation and debate among conservators and art historians, primarily on the basis of visual inspection and anecdotal accounts rather than rigorous technical analysis. This is the first systematic study of de Kooning s creative process to use comprehensive scientific examinations of the...