Willem de Kooning a portrait

In 1967 the Dutch author Bert Schierbeek flew to New York to portray painter Willem de Kooning. They talked for a few days and nights, after which Schierbeek wrote an extensive account in English. Fragments were published in the catalog of the first retrospective of De Kooning in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1968. The full text was never published, due to all sorts of complications and disagreements. The typescript disappeared in a desk drawer and was consequently even untraceable for decades. Recently however, the lost folder suddenly emerged. Although Schierbeek’s portrayal has lost its immediate actuality, it remains a personal document that deserves publication after all.