Overview
The Willem de Kooning Academy is the art school of Rotterdam and part of the Hogeschool Rotterdam, a university of applied sciences. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious art schools in the country and No. 1 in advertising and copywriting. Previously called the Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (Academy of Visual Arts), it has since 1998 carried the name of alumnus Willem de Kooning (1904–1997). Willem de Kooning was born in north Rotterdam and graduated in decoration art (now styling). He went to New York at the age of 22 and became a frontman of the Abstract Expressionism painting movement of the 1940s and 1950s.
The Academy's postgraduate programs are in the Piet Zwart Institute, named after faculty alumnus Piet Zwart (1885–1977), who in the 1920s designed stamps, print advertising, books, interiors, furniture (including the Bruynzeel kitchen) and also spent time photographing and painting. He has been officially awarded the title Dutch Designer of the 20th Century.
The Academy is proud of de Kooning and Zwart, two artists far ahead of their time, and who inspire every artist at the Academy, both students and faculty.
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