Elaine de Kooning (American, 1918-1989) Jardin de Luxembourg, 1977 Lithograph on paper Gift of Rebecca Schnelker 1996.147.3
Jardin du Luxembourg is a part of Abstract Expressionist artist
Elaine de Kooning’s Bacchus series, in which she repeatedly
studied the sculpture Le Triomphe de Silène (1885) by Jules
Dalou. In her representation, de Kooning utilized broad
gestural sections of color to represent the figure, calling back
to her Abstract Expressionist roots. De Kooning was most
interested in the how light added movement to the frozen
action of the statue, and this energy is the true subject of this
piece. For women artists, the world of abstraction was off-
limits, as it was seen as representing a “masculine” energy. By
using this abstracted style, de Kooning was fighting against
sexist separation in the art world.