By MILES KNIGHT

Willem de Kooning often painted just on the edge of a style, making it easy to shift to a new look and experiment with his works. Excavation is a prime example of his experimentation of style. He contrasts the ideas of abstraction and figuration through the use of short jumbled lines and recognizable shapes. While Excavation is more on the abstract side of the spectrum, many objects can be found such as mouths, human noses, and other body parts. 

Excavation takes a turn from the abstract figure painting he was doing at the time. In fact, Excavation was painted the same he started one of his most famous paintings, Woman I.  De Kooning used a technique that many other painters used at the time. The process includes building up layers of paint and then scraping them off to achieve a flat, monotone texture. This technique is an intense and time-consuming process that shows De Kooning's attention to detail even in a painting that can seem hectic.