Image: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
Willem de Kooning’s 'Abstracción' (1949–1950) has traveled from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum’s collections to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is included in an exhibition. The museum announced the work’s loan on 15 July 2026, noting that the painting is now part of the Chicago presentation.
The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, based in Madrid, framed the loan in terms of de Kooning’s position in postwar art history. In its message, the museum described him, together with his studio companion Arshile Gorky, as one of the initiators of American Abstract Expressionism. That context places 'Abstracción' within the artist’s early development of the gestural, highly charged painting style that would become associated with the movement.
The work itself dates to 1949–1950, a period that sits near the emergence of de Kooning’s mature abstract language. While the museum’s announcement does not provide further curatorial details about the Chicago exhibition, it confirms that the painting has left the Thyssen-Bornemisza collections specifically to form part of the Art Institute of Chicago’s display.
'Abstracción' is one of the works through which de Kooning’s contribution to abstraction can be read in relation to broader transatlantic modernism. By sending the painting to Chicago, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is placing a collection piece into an international institutional setting where it can be viewed alongside other works selected by the Art Institute for the exhibition.
The museum’s post identifies the destination as the Art Institute of Chicago, and the loan underscores the ongoing movement of major modern paintings between collections and exhibitions. No additional dates, venue details, or exhibition title were provided in the source material beyond the fact that the work has traveled to Chicago for inclusion in the show.
De Kooning remains a central figure in the history of American postwar painting, and 'Abstracción' represents an early moment in that career as the artist’s abstract practice took shape. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum’s announcement offers a concise update on the painting’s travel from Madrid to Chicago and its role in the current exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.
