Willem de Looper

Willem Johan de Looper (October 30, 1932 – January 30, 2009) was an American abstract artist, and chief curator at The Phillips Collection. At American University de Looper studied with Robert Gates, Sarah Marindah Baker, and Ben Summerford. (De Looper considered Summerford his greatest mentor.) De Looper continued to live with his brother during his university years and his brother financed his education. He traveled frequently home to visit his parents as well as Dutch art museums. After graduating from American University in 1957, de Looper served two years in the United States Army in Germany at Flak-Kaserne Ludwigsburg as a clerk typist following basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

During his tour in Europe, in 1958, he attended the Brussels World's Fair and saw Abstract Expressionist paintings for the first time in the American Pavilion. He traveled as much as he could throughout the continent to see art and collected and studied art magazines and journals. He also married during this time, Lili Mentrop, a childhood friend, but the marriage was brief.

He died January 30, 2009, of emphysema.

Exhibitions 2008 American University Art Museum 2002 The Phillips Collection 1996 The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland 1966 Jefferson Place Gallery