A Generous Vision

November 1, 2017
Meticulous and captivating biographer Curtis continues her quest to fully illuminate the lives and work of underappreciated women artists, following her portrait of painter Grace Hartigan in Restless Ambition (2015) with this vivid and clarifying chronicle of Elaine de Kooning. Though most often considered in conjunction with her famous artist husband, Willem de Kooning, despite the fact that, while they remained married for decades, they spent very little time together, Elaine is dazzling in her own right as an inquisitive and bold painter and an incisive arts writer. Brilliant, empathetic, vivacious, witty, fearless, and utterly unconventional, she worked constantly, knew everyone in the New York art world, taught as a visiting artist across the country, threw rollicking parties, drank and smoked to excess (she quit the former but died from the latter), was cavalier about money, and inspired and helped many. Elaine loved language and color, embraced the challenge of depicting bodies in motion, and painted dynamic portraits, most famously of JFK. Curtis chronicles Elaine's diverse accomplishments and channels her radiant spirit and vibrant genius to indelible effect.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)