Woman, painted in 1950 by Willem de Kooning, from his survey at the Museum of Modern Art, next to Afternoon Feeding, a new painting by Lisa Yuskavage from her solo show at David Zwirner gallery in New York .
De Kooning and Yuskavage—artists two generations and a gender apart, both showing now in New York and both offering up painful pictures of women. Rather than dismiss them as simple woman-haters, writes Daily Beast art critic Blake Gopnik, we ought to see what their paintings tell us about the misogyny we all live with.
Courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art, New York (left); Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
Lisa Yuskavage, Afternoon Feeding (2011). Oil on linen, 86" x 71".
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
Willem de Kooning, Woman I (1950-52). Oil on canvas, 6' 3 7/8" x 58". The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Lisa Yuskavage, The Mound (2011). Oil on linen, 84" x 72".
Willem de Kooning, Pink Angels (c. 1945). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 52" x 40". Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles.
Willem de Kooning, Woman (1951). Charcoal and pastel on paper, 21 1/2" x 16". Private collection.
Private collection / The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Lisa Yuskavage, Fireplace, (2010). Oil on linen, 77 1/4" x 65".
Lisa Yuskavage, Edge of Towners (2011). Oil on linen, 55" x 66".
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
Willem de Kooking, Woman (1950). Oil, cut and pasted paper on cardboard, 14 3/4" x 11 5/8" . The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. From the Collection of Thomas B. Hess / The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Lisa Yuskavage, Outskirts (2011). Oil on linen, 86" x 120".
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
