WILLEM DE KOONING | East Hampton IV

Private Collection, The Netherlands
Diederiks Auction House, The Hague, 29 August 1983, Lot 116
Private Collection, The Netherlands
Christie’s, New York, 16 November 2000, Lot 144
Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco 
Solomon & Co., New York
Private Collection, New York
Simon Capstick-Dale Fine Arts, New York (acquired from the above in 2013)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2015

New York, Knoedler & Co., De Kooning, January 1968 - March 1969, no. 12
San Francisco, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, Pairings: Discovered Dialogues in Post War Abstraction, July - August 2003, p. 23, illustrated in color

Anonymous, "de Kooning Paintings Auctioned in The Hague," Haagsche Courant,  27 August 1983
Anonymous, "60,000ƒ‎ for de Kooning Painting," Haagsche Courant, 30 August 1983

This work is in very good condition overall. There is light evidence of wear and handling to the edges, which are taped. There is very minor evidence of hairline craquelure in the lower left. The colors are bright and fresh. Under Ultraviolet inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"It is breathtaking to see the traces of the brush racing across the canvas at breakneck speed, groping, raw and sublime, and uniting or overlapping within the space of the canvas. They almost seem to have lost control, driven by an inner dynamic, slobbering, smearing, smudging, spilling, crusted, and spattering, veering away from the whole of the picture. And yet the picture whole, the whole of the painting, is unmistakably present...Such a candid commitment to process, to emergence and inevitable passing, makes this life of ceaseless movement in and through painting essentially heroic and dauntless."
Bernhard Mendes Bürgi in Exh. Cat., Kunstmuseum Basel, De Kooning: Paintings 1960-1980, 2005, p. 26