Paintings
The paintings of Willem de Looper evolved over a forty year career, from early lyrical abstraction in the 1960s to more geometrically structured work in the 1990s. An overriding concern with color and texture remained consistent throughout his painting.
In the mid sixties, de Looper produced biomorphic stain paintings depicting flower and plant forms.
Photography of all works in the Foundation collection by Gregory Staley
Untitled, 1965, acrylic on canvas, 57 x 56"
Untitled, 1965, acrylic on canvas, 26 x 16"
Untitled, Oct. 1965, acrylic on canvas board, 20 x 16"
Untitled, 1965, acrylic on canvas, 57 x 36"
Untitled, 1966, acrylic on canvas, 52 x 48"
Color field: Beginning in the late 1960s de Looper created ethereal paintings of luminous fields of color, carefully poured in layers onto unprimed canvas. Influenced by the Washington Color School, these works are spatially infinite, restricted only by the painting’s edge.
Untitled, 1967, acrylic, 57 x 46"
Untitled, 1968, acrylic, 89 x 64"
Untitled, 1970, acrylic, 59 x 79"
August 1968, acrylic, 40 x 25"
Untitled, 1969, acrylic, 45 x 33"
Geometric abstraction: Amorphous stain paintings progressed to large-scale works characterized by horizontal striations of harmonious color: a restrained palette reminiscent of the geology of the southwestern US. Later works in this period included hard-edge blocks of color.
Untitled, 1972, acrylic, 95 x 71"
Untitled, 1973, acrylic, 76 x 84"
Untitled, 1974, acrylic, 77 x 77"
Untitled, 1975, acrylic, 50 x 38"
Untitled, 1979, acrylic, 72 x 48"
Innovation: Throughout the next decade, de Looper’s compositions became more intense as he experimented with texture and line, and introduced a new element: the curve. In the late 1980s de Looper pursued a strong interest in “window frame” compositions possibly inspired by Bonnard, Matisse, and Diebenkorn.
Untitled, 1985 diptych, acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 in.
Black Window, May 1985, acrylic on canvas, 44 1/2 x 40 1/2 in.
Untitled, 1987, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24"
Untitled, 1987, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60"
Blue Square, 1987, acrylic, 72 x 60"
Mountain Lake No. 1, 1989, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 in.
Following a trip to Japan, he explored more architectural forms, utilizing a darker palette of black, bronze, and silver. Relying on his personal lexicon of color, shape, and movement, de Looper’s innovation continued throughout the 1990s as he introduced more complex compositions of saturated color.
Untitled, 1985, acrylic on canvas, 73 x 71"
Untitled, 1988, acrylic on board, 72 x 47 in.
Brooklyn Bridge, 1990, acrylic, 80 x 60.5"
Indian Dancer, 1991, acrylic, 60 x 60 in.
Untitled, Ca. 1995, acrylic, 72 x 72 in.