Kooning

She was part of the group of postwar artists — Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan and Elaine de Kooning — written about in the book “Ninth Street Women,” which details how abstract expressionism was born in this country and how women were a crucial part of it.

Benjamin’s home was filled with art catalogs and past editions of Art in America, where Mathieu was introduced to his earliest artistic inspirations, including de Kooning, Luc Tuymans and Francis Bacon.

Willem de Kooning had never been to Italy when he traveled to Venice for an amorous rendezvous in September 1959.

Those whirlwind jaunts are the focus of “Willem de Kooning and Italy,” a new exhibition that opened on Wednesday at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice.

In parallel to the Biennale, there are dozens of exhibitions timed to coincide with it — including the de Kooning show.