User:73.157.99.132/gap analysis

Gap analysis

 * What is the title of the article in which you identified a gap. If no article exists at all, what should the title be?

William de Kooning


 * Document the gap you found, describe how you identified it, and analyze its impact on knowledge.

Both Willem de Kooning and Elaine de Kooning were notable figures in Abstract Expressionism during the post-World War II era. Despite spending much of their married life separated or in casual affairs, the couple had considerable influence on each other: Willem offered Elaine art instruction, while Elaine helped inspire Willem’s female figures and promote his artwork. However, Elaine and Willem’s mutual influence on each other is not accurately documented by Wikipedia: only Elaine de Kooning’s Wikipedia page has a section about her relationship with Willem (titled “Marriage to Willem de Kooning”) and the ways in which they influenced each other; whereas, Willem de Kooning’s Wikipedia page only mentions Elaine once in a list of painters included in the New York School, neglecting to mention their marriage or her influence on his artwork, career, and life. To find the gap between Elaine de Kooning’s and Willem de Kooning’s Wikipedia pages, I searched Google for lists of famous artist couples with the understanding that two prominent artists in a highly emotional relationship with each other should most likely influence their partner’s artwork in some way or another, and should most likely be considered of equal status and skill level in the art community, if not close. One of the couples I came across was Elaine and Willem de Kooning. When I compared their Wikipedia pages, I noted how Willem’s page failed to sufficiently reference Elaine though Elaine’s documented her marriage with Willem and his influence on her. This gap structures power along the axis of gender: by only acknowledging Willem’s influence on Elaine, the gap makes Elaine’s artistic success seem dependent on Willem’s instructional help, thus, offering justification for male dominance within art. In other words, the gap makes it seem as if women are only successful or talented with the assistance of men, therefore rationalizing why there are far less female artists acknowledged and exhibited.


 * Propose a paragraph of new or substantially edited content based on reliable sources. (If you are editing existing content, post the current version along with your edited version, and clearly mark which is which.)

My new section should be made between the “Work” and “Individual works” sections on the Willem De Kooning page under a new section titled “Marriage to Elaine de Kooning”

NEW CONTENT Willem de Kooning married Elaine de Kooning (formerly Elaine Fried) in New York City in December 1943, five years after their first meeting in 1938. The couple entered into an open marriage, which resulted in a daughter, Lisa de Kooning, by way his affair with Joan Ward. The pair separated in 1957 due to struggles with alcoholism, though they eventually reunited in 1976. Despite the couple’s sizeable age difference and long period of separation, their relationship influenced each other’s art work. Upon meeting and during their marriage, Willem supplemented Elaine’s interests in portraits and landscapes by instructing her in painting and drawing techniques. During the 1940s, Elaine’s presence led to “a definitive turning toward the female figure in de Kooning’s work,” as well as the emergence of the color pink. Additionally, her affairs with Harold Rosenberg, art critic who coined the term “action painting,” Charles Egan, owner of Charles Egan Gallery, and Thomas B. Hess, managing editor for Art News and advocate for Abstract Expressionism, during their open marriage helped promote his art work. While Elaine de Kooning is well known solely as Willem de Kooning’s wife, she was also prominent in her own right. Like Willem, she was an Abstract Expressionist painter, however, she also became highly regarded for her work as an art critic and editorial associate for Art News magazine. During their separation, Elaine taught at numerous post-secondary institutions, including Rhode Island Institute of Design, Yale University, Pratt Institute, the New York Studio School, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Georgia.


 * List the reliable sources that could be used to improve this gap. (You can use the Cite tool from the editing toolbar above to input and format your sources.)


 * Hall, Lee. Elaine and Bill: Portrait of a Marriage. Harper Collins Publishers, 1993.
 * Manoguerra, Paul Andrew. “Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989)”. Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press, 2004.
 * Middlebrook, Diane. “What did the Women Want?: Review”. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 2005.
 * Stevens, Mark, San, Annalyn. De Kooning: An American Master. Random House, Inc., 2004.
 * Strahl, Lisa Beth. “Gender Construction and Manifestation in the Art of Elaine De Kooning”. ProQuest LLC, 2009.