Willem de Kooning. 

In 1926 the 22-year-old Dutchman Willem de Kooning (1904 ‒ 1997) arrived in the USA without papers, hidden in the engine room of a British cargo vessel. The young art student kept his head above water as a house painter, sign painter, and fa ade painter, before finally being able to dedicate himself exclusively to painting as an artist after eight years.