Willem De Kooning
Willem De Kooning was a world renowned Abstract Impressionist. He was noted for his bizarre images of deformed women’s torsos painted from 1952-1954, as shown above. These two paintings were titled, Women I (on left) and Two Women IV (on right). Prior to committing to a specific design, De Kooning would make countless pencil and pastel sketches for his paintings (known as studies). In his paintings, he would exaggerate certain features on the female body; such as the breasts and the toothy smile. Many believe that these depictions of women stemmed from the trauma that he experienced during his parents divorce when he was five years old. Others believe that these paintings reflected De Kooning’s lust for women, or his rebellion against his own desires.