# Elaine DeKooning artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/elaine-dekooning/
Profile generated: 2026-05-07T06:08:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1918-12-03
- Death date: 1989-02-01
- Nationality: American
- Movements: Abstract Expressionism, Figurative Expressionism
- Common media: oil painting, drawing, printmaking

## About Elaine DeKooning

Elaine de Kooning (1918–1989) was an American painter, draftsman, and art critic central to the post-World War II New York art scene. Born Elaine Marie Catherine Fried in Brooklyn, she married the Dutch-born painter Willem de Kooning in 1943 and became a distinctive voice within Abstract Expressionism, though she resisted rigid categorization by working fluidly between abstraction and figuration throughout her career. Beyond the studio, she served as an editorial associate at ARTnews, where she wrote critically on contemporaries such as Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. Her own work—spanning energetic canvases, portrait commissions, and series such as the bullfight paintings—earned solo exhibitions at major institutions and cemented her reputation as both an artist and a keen interpreter of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Collectors today encounter her work at auction, in museum holdings, and in private collections worldwide.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Elaine de Kooning's oil paintings on canvas, often depicting abstracted figures, portraits, or bullfight scenes. She also produced a significant body of works on paper, including ink and graphite drawings, many of which served as preparatory studies for larger compositions. Prints and editioned works are also known. Her subjects range from gestural abstractions to recognizable figurative studies, with portrait commissions forming a notable part of her output. Drawings related to collaborative book projects, such as those for Frank O'Hara's 'In Memory of My Feelings,' also appear in institutional and auction contexts.

## Market and appraisal context

Elaine de Kooning's work appears regularly in Post-War and Contemporary Art sales at major auction houses. Oil paintings from the 1950s and 1960s, particularly figurative compositions and her bullfight series, tend to attract the strongest bidder interest. Works on paper, prints, and preparatory drawings offer a more accessible entry point. Value depends heavily on medium, scale, provenance, condition, and whether the work carries full scholarly attribution. Her dual identity as both an accomplished artist and a noted critic adds contextual depth that can influence collector perception and market positioning.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research grounded in museum records, library authority files, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Elaine de Kooning, identity data is supported by the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, the RKD Netherlands Institute, and the Museum of Modern Art collection records.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n83060194
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/3212
- RKD Netherlands Institute: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/45759
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q449536
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/9984005/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_de_Kooning