The film contains rare and unique footage of de Kooning, the great abstract expressionist painter, at work in his studio as well as a 1959 round-table discussion with Franz Kline, Harold Rosenberg and Fairfield Porter. There is also a selection of 31 paintings spanning his career from 1938-1986 woven into the fabric of the film.

“I’m a professional inspirationalist – that’s what I live by… It seems that you have to be rather innocent; if you are too advanced or learned, you won’t be able to paint.” – de Kooning

WILLEM DE KOONING: ARTIST (32 minutes)

“Y’know the real world, this so-called real world is just something you put up with, like everybody else.  I’m in my element when I’m a little bit out of this world: Then I’m in the real world - I’m on the beam.  Because when I’m falling, I’m doing all right; when I’m slipping, I say, ‘hey, this is interesting!’ It’s when I’m standing upright that bothers me:  I’m not doing so good; I’m stiff.  As a matter of fact, I’m really slipping most of The time, into that glimpse.  I’m a slipping glimpser.”

“It seems that you have to be rather innocent; if you are too advanced or learned, you won’t be able to paint.  I mean, didn’t Baudelaire say you have to be a little stupid to sit around writing poetry all the time, no? I’m a professional inspirationalist - that’s what I live by.”