Artist. Considered by many as a pioneer of abstract expressionism, an art movement that catapulted New York City's art scene to international acclaim in the years following World War II. His works include paintings, sketches, murals, lithography, and sculptures. His artwork can be found in the permanent collections of such U.S. art institutions as the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution's Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Art Institute of Chicago, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Internationally, his works can be found in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Tate Modern in London and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. For his contributions to the American artworld, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Born April 24, 1904 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, de Kooning emigrated to New York City in 1927. In 1936 he was hired as a muralist for the Works Project Administration (WPA). His first one-man exhibition was in 1948, and in 1950 he received the Logan Medal and Purchase Prize from the Art Institute of Chicago for his painting, "Excavation," which some argue is among the most important paintings of the 20th century. He remained active through the 1980s, often experimenting with new mediums. On March 19, 1997, he passed away at the age of 92. His artwork has been sold for record prices in the 2000s and 2010s. In 2006, his 1955 oil painting, "Police Gazette," sold for $63.5 million. In 2016, his 1977 painting, "Untitled XXV," sold for $66.3 million. His 1953 oil painting, "Woman III," sold in 2006 for $137.5 million. In 2015, his 1955 oil painting, "Interchange," originally sold by the artist for $4,000, sold for $300 million, the highest price paid for a painting at the time.