Willem de Kooning

1 6.9

A painter from the Netherlands who is a leading figure in abstract expressionism

proper noun
/ˈwɪləm də ˈkuːnɪŋ/

: Willem de Kooning

Museum visitors admired the bold brushstrokes characteristic of Willem de Kooning's paintings.

Examples

Willem de Kooning played a major role in shaping the abstract expressionist movement in New York.
Her dissertation focused on the works of Willem de Kooning and their impact on modern art.
Willem de Kooning was influential.
Willem de Kooning changed art!
Willem de Kooning played a major role in shaping the abstract expressionist movement in New York.
Her dissertation focused on the works of Willem de Kooning and their impact on modern art.
Museum visitors admired the bold brushstrokes characteristic of Willem de Kooning's paintings.

Surface Forms

Willem de Kooning main

Morphology

Willem + de + Kooning

This is a proper name referring to a specific person; the referent and biographical information (that he was a painter) are not derivable from the constituent tokens. Personal names are arbitrary labels across languages, so knowing the parts 'Willem', 'de', and 'Kooning' does not allow a B1 learner to infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Willem de Kooning was a Dutch-born American painter who used very bold, fast brush strokes and big, loose shapes in his pictures. Imagine him in New York making wild marks with a large brush — that strong, energetic way of painting is why his name is linked to the style called 'abstract expressionism' and to powerful, expressive art.