The first study of de Koonings works on paper and clay sculpture from his formative sojourns in ItalyThe DutchAmerican giant of abstraction Willem de Kooning 190497 enjoyed two long sojourns in Italy in the fall of 1959 and in the summer of 1969. These trips profoundly impacted his workthe first generated a significant body of blackandwhite works on paper while the second inspired the artist to experiment with clayyet they have yet to receive their due scholarly attention. Willem de Kooning and Italy is the first monograph to explore these two chapters in de Koonings life and career as reflected in the development of his work from the end of the 50s to his last works of the 80s.In addition to essays by the two curators and editors this lavishly illustrated volume includes contributions from the art historians Jeremy Bleeke Ester Coen Anna Coliva and Patrick Elliott.