The largest ever exhibition of Willem de Kooning’s drawings is taking over the Art Institute of Chicago this fall

Most people know Willem de Kooning as one of the primary figures of art’s Abstract Expressionist movement. But what few people realize is that before de Kooning ever really touched paint, there was always a pencil.

This fall, the Art Institute of Chicago will pull back the curtain on that side of the artist with Willem de Kooning Drawing, the largest exhibition ever dedicated to his drawing practice. Opening on June 14 and running through September 20, the show brings together more than 200 works from museums, institutions and private collections around the world, many of which have never been displayed together before. The exhibition also marks the first solo presentation of de Kooning's work at the Art Institute since 1969.

While de Kooning is often associated with monumental paintings and the rise of New York's postwar art scene, the exhibition argues that drawing was the foundation of everything he did. Visitors will encounter sketches and works on paper along with paintings, sculptures and prints that reveal how drawing informed every stage of his creative process across more than 70 years.

De Kooing was born in Rotterdam in 1904 and immigrated to the United States in 1926 with ambitions of becoming an illustrator. After working as a house painter, commercial artist and window display designer, he eventually became one of the central figures of the movement that would come to define American modern art alongside Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner and Mark Rothko.

The exhibition shows some of his earliest surviving drawings through his late-career works, highlighting an artist who was constantly experimenting. At various points, de Kooning worked with unconventional techniques (like drawing with his eyes closed) and blurred the line between drawing and painting itself.

According to the museum, years of research conducted in partnership with the Willem de Kooning Foundation helped uncover new insights into the artist's process, many of which are reflected throughout the show.

For anyone who thinks they already know de Kooning, this exhibition offers an important reminder that even the most celebrated artists often leave their biggest clues in the margins. And in this case, those margins fill more than 200 works—and an entire exhibition.