One hundred years after Willem de Kooning secretly boarded a cargo ship in Rotterdam bound for New York, three of his monumental bronze sculptures have returned to the very quays where his extraordinary journey began.
Fenix, Rotterdam’s museum devoted to migration, has installed Seated Woman (1969–1981), Standing Figure (1969–1984) and Reclining Figure (1969–1982) on the waterfront outside the museum to mark the centenary of the artist’s departure on 18 July 1926. As a 22-year-old aspiring artist, De Kooning hid aboard the cargo ship SS Shelley, eventually arriving in New York where he would become one of the defining figures of Abstract Expressionism.
The installation reframes De Kooning’s story not simply as that of a celebrated painter, but as that of a migrant whose life was transformed by a perilous journey across the Atlantic. It also reflects Fenix’s mission to explore migration through personal stories, placing one of Rotterdam’s most famous artists back within the context of his own departure.
The three bronze sculptures, created between the late 1960s and early 1980s, have been temporarily relocated from Rotterdam’s Hofplein while the square undergoes redevelopment. A smaller model of Standing Figure is also on display inside Fenix, linking the outdoor presentation with the museum’s collection.
Although De Kooning is best known for his gestural paintings, sculpture became an increasingly important part of his practice from the late 1960s onwards. The expressive, tactile surfaces of these bronzes retain the same energetic movement that characterises his paintings, translating his painterly language into three-dimensional form.
The museum is publishing the bilingual book Willem de Kooning – Rotterdam – New York, which traces the artist’s early years in Rotterdam alongside his arrival in New York as an immigrant. The publication features contributions from Fenix director Anne Kremers, Wim Pijbes and Rijksmuseum curator Ludo van Halem.
The presentation forms part of a wider reappraisal of De Kooning’s Dutch roots. This autumn, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago, will stage the largest Willem de Kooning retrospective ever presented in the Netherlands, offering a fresh perspective on the artist as both an American icon and a Dutch-born émigré whose influence reshaped post-war art.
The sculptures will remain outside Fenix until 2027, when they are due to return to the redesigned Hofplein.
About
Fenix is an international art museum devoted to migration, housed in a restored historic waterfront warehouse overlooking Rotterdam’s harbour. It was from the quays around the warehouse that millions of emigrants departed for destinations such as America and Canada during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fenix gives space to migration stories from around the world – stories of love and farewell, of coming home and finding belonging. Stories from past and present, told through the work of more than one hundred artists from every direction. The museum also features a labyrinth of suitcases filled with stories, photography that takes visitors on a journey, and kitchens that invite visitors to taste the world. @fenix
