Rainbow: Thelonious Monk, Devil at the Keyboard, Willem de Kooning1976

Artist: Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) Title: Rainbow: Thelonious Monk, Devil at the Keyboard Year: 1976 Medium: Color lithograph on cream wove Beckett paper Edition: 125, plus proofs Size: 35.5 x 24.5 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed and numbered 125/125 in blue crayon, lower margin Notes: de Kooning produced this work, an image of Thelonius Monk, for the Rainbow Art Foundation, a group that was started by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Bill Caldwell and De Kooning himself, to assist young, underprivileged artists. Published by Rainbow Art Foundation, New York. WILLEM DE KOONING (1904–1997) was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and arrived in the United States in 1926 via Hoboken, New Jersey, where he worked as a housepainter. After arriving in the United States in 1926, he quickly became part of the vibrant art scene in New York, forging friendships with artists and critics such as Arshile Gorky, Thomas Hess, Robert Motherwell, and Harold Rosenberg. In 1963 de Kooning took up full-time residence on the east end of Long Island, New York, a rural location that significantly impacted his painting from that point forward.