This book, a decade in the making, could not have been written with-out the help of many people, beginning with de Kooning's immedi-ate family. Lisa de Kooning provided assistance whenever calledupon, adding the unique, sometimes wry perspective of the daughter of acelebrated father. De Kooning's wife, Elaine, died before we began ourresearch, but her brother, Conrad Fried, and sister, Marjorie Luyckx, pro-vided much information about this remarkable woman's history, motiva-tion, and character. They were also acute observers of de Kooning himself.Lisa's mother, Joan Ward, responded to innumerable questions over manyyears with patience, good cheer, and insight, and gave us access to muchvaluable information,- her ongoing assistance and encouragement werekey to the book. Without exception, the other women with whom deKooning had serious, long-term relationships—notably Virginia (Nini)Diaz, Ruth Kligman, Susan Brockman, and Emilie Kilgore—aided theauthors in important ways. Each was determined to help us understand afascinating and nuanced man. In particular, Emilie Kilgore not only con-veyed to the authors the character of her relationship with de Kooning butalso showed us portions of the many remarkable love letters that he wroteto her.

The book has benefited from a succession of strong editors. CharlesMichener and Deborah Futter were early and enthusiastic supporters ofthe project. At Random House, Katie Hall did a superb job of editing themanuscript, providing it with the kind of illuminating attention that, onesometimes hears, is no longer found in the publishing world. After KatieHall left Random House, Erroll McDonald was instrumental in bringingthe book to Knopf, as was our agent, Molly Friedrich, who has watchedover the project for many years and offered unstinting support. At Knopf,Shelley Wanger gave us many valuable suggestions and firmly, patiently,and deftly shepherded the book through to publication. She exhibited, atall times, an unflagging commitment to the highest possible standards.Iris Weinstein, Ken Schneider, and Romeo Enriquez each gave the bookmuch thoughtful attention.

Acknowledgments

We owe a number of critics and scholars special thanks. Thomas B.Hess and Harold Rosenberg were the artist's earliest and most influentialcritics. Today, the scholarship of the art historian Judith Wolfe is essentialto any understanding of de Kooning's early years; the authors thank her forher generosity and support. Sally Yard, Richard Shiff, Judith Zilczer,Robert Storr, Gary Garrels, Lynne Cooke, and Diane Waldman have eachconducted important research into de Kooning's life and art that we havedrawn upon. The authors are also grateful to David Sylvester and PeterSchjeldahl, both of whom have brought a special liveliness and insight totheir frequent writing upon de Kooning's art. The scholar and author Hay-den Herrera put her graduate paper on John Graham at our disposal, whichwas helpful not only about Graham but also about de Kooning and ArshileGorky. Like everyone interested in this period, the authors owe a particu-lar debt to the treasure chest known as The Archives of American Art,Smithsonian Institution. We are also grateful to the former Newsweekeditor Maynard Parker, who gave us access to valuable unpublished back-ground files. At The Willem de Kooning Foundation, David RogerAnthony and Amy Schichtel were consistently patient, helpful, andinformative. We are grateful to them as well as to the Artists Rights Soci-ety for their help in acquiring art for the book.

In Holland, several individuals assisted us in our research. In the earlystages, Rene Dessing did background reporting. Until her death, Dr. Han-neke Peters helped guide the authors through the Dutch archives andsources,- subsequently, the writer and artist Hendrik van Leeuwen pro-vided invaluable help in conducting follow-up interviewing with the deKooning family and in translating personal letters. We are also grateful toMark Lynton for translating numerous articles for us. Among the deKooning family in Holland, the artist's half-brother Leendert proved veryhelpful, as did the children of de Kooning's half-brother Jacobus Lassooy,especially his daughter Cornelia (Cory) Hendrika Maria. The artist'snephew, Antonie Breedveld, and Mr. and Mrs. Henk Hoffman, his secondcousin and wife, gave us the family's perspective on de Kooning's youth.Jan and Monique Gidding were important sources on Gidding & Zonen,and Mr. R. van Bergen and Ms. Nora Schadee of the Historical Museum ofRotterdam brought to life for the authors turn-of-the-century Rotterdam.With regard to the last years of de Kooning's life, when the artist sufferedfrom an Alzheimer's-like disease, Dr. Donald Douglas of Lenox Hill Hos-pital in New York provided essential information on dementias. We arealso grateful to Dr. Anna Fels for giving us access to the medical library atNew York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center.

Acknowledgments / xl

This book depends, above all, upon dozens of interviews with peoplewho knew de Kooning well. The authors are grateful to all of them. Sev-eral who submitted to more than one interview—and, in some cases, toextensive interviewing over many years—deserve particular thanks. Thepainter Joop Sanders, like de Kooning a Dutch-American, provided a won-derfully subtle perspective on his fellow immigrant and upon the down-town world of the 1940s and 1950s. Tom Ferrara, who lived and workedwith de Kooning from 1980 to 1987, provided essential information fromthat period. The authors value his friendship and support. John Eastmanand his father Lee—both students of the artist's character in addition toserving as his lawyers—were unfailingly helpful about his financial andlegal history. The authors are also very grateful to the following for thetime and information they provided: L. Alcopley, Mary Abbott, MollyBarnes, Jim Bohary, Nicholas Carone, Robert Chapman, Robert Dash,Pepe del Negro, Michael Goldberg, Bernard Krisher, Joan Levy, MeraMcAlister, Priscilla Morgan, Pat Passlof and Milton Resnick, DavidPorter, Heidi Raebeck, Florence Rubenfeld, Esteban Vicente, MichaelWright, and David Young. Among the "old-timers," as de Kooning calledthem, we were fortunate enough to interview at length Leonard Bocour,Rudy Burckhardt, Herzl Emanuel, Tully Filmus, Liesl Jonas, Ibram andErnestine Lassaw, and Joseph Solman, whose recollections and insights,dating back to the 1930s, were remarkable.

For occasional help in research, the authors wish to thank DanielleClemons, Lisa Greissinger, and Jennifer Doll. The photo researcher EricaAckerberg was indefatigable in finding photos and artwork and unscram-bling difficulties when they arose. Among those who generously providedus with photos we would like particularly to thank Judith Wolfe, JoanWard, Conrad Fried, Marjorie Luyckx, Emilie Kilgore, Antonie Breedveld,Jan and Monique Gidding, Liesl Jonas, The Charles Campbell Gallery inSan Francisco, and jan van der donk—rare books, inc., in New York. Vari-ous friends offered particular help over the years, notably Jean Strouse andJonathan Galassi, as well as Ann Banks, Carol Hill, Diane McWhorter,Ellen Pall, Laura Shapiro, and Elizabeth Stone. The photographer andwriter John Gruen made available to us his extensive interviews from theperiod, for which we are very grateful.

Biographies provide, at best, only a glancing kind of truth. It should gowithout saying that all failures of fact, emphasis, and insight belong to theauthors alone.