The Art World Pays Its Final Respects

Willem de Kooning's funeral service at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Hampton on Saturday was both stately and simple. The church was full, but not uncomfortably so. The music and readings were familiar, but strong.

The master painter, who died of the complications of Alzheimer's disease on March 19 at the age of 92, would have liked the colors - blue, yellow, and white, colors reminiscent of his painting in the mid-'50s.

His casket, of pine, was draped in white brocade marked by a blue ribbon; massed yellow tulips and roses were complemented by blue delphinium.

Among those who gathered were many who had been a part of de Kooning's world for a long time and some who had been a part of it a long time ago - family, friends, lovers, colleagues, assistants, nurses. A few undoubtedly were surprised to recognize each other.

The Rev. Thomas Pike of St. George's Episcopal Church in Manhattan, who officiated, read from the Old and New Testaments and offered personal remarks. Mr. Pike described himself as being daunted to be chosen to speak before a group that represented "so much history, relationship, community, and time."

He had become acquainted with the family only as the "shadows were darkening," he said, referring to de Kooning's long decline, but he stressed the artist's "inner light, the twinkle in his eye," and his place in art history.

The "shapes and forms, lines . . . colors were an entrance into possibilities that we never would have had without Bill de Kooning," he said. "His work endures."

Edward Carroll, a trumpeter who, like de Kooning, comes from the Netherlands, interrupted a tour to take part. Among other pieces, he played the hymn "Morning Has Broken," "The Prayer of St. Gregory" by Hovhaness, and the Triumphal March from "Aida." He also accompanied the church organist, Jane Wood.

There was no graveside service.

The guests at a reception at the artist's studio on Woodbine Drive in Springs, which followed the funeral, moved from drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the living room with reverence into the two-story glass-walled space where the artist had worked and where a few of his later works remain, along with the brushes and tools he used.

His three small grandchildren were there too. One of them, picking up a dry brush, was seen daubing at a canvas. The family has suggested contributions in de Kooning's memory to the East Hampton Day Care Center.

Joan Ward of Springs, Lisa de Kooning's mother, who had stood by the artist until the end, also spoke at the service.

"He knew he had lost a battle," she said. "Like an old soldier with a mortal wound, he was retreating step by stubborn step, no breaking of ranks, no wild scattering of troops, but a measured withdrawal, marked by the iron control and discipline of a lifetime. He surrounded his beloved paintings, and slowly moved them back, and back, and back. His flags are still flying, his ranks standing firm, his status, though challenged, unconquered to the end."