Drawing 2 Part 3: Contextual focus point source material Contextual focus point: Erased De Kooning In 1953, Robert Rauschenberg asked Willem De Kooning for one of his drawings. Amazingly, he agreed. Rauschenberg then proceeded to rub out De Kooning s drawing and exhibit the resulting near blank sheet. This is such a beautiful moment in art history as it brings together the mood of the time and the lasting legacy of both Abstract Expressionism and what would later become post modernism. Find a reproduction of this drawing on the web and make notes on how you feel about it at first sight. Then look a little into the background and try to get an understanding of why Rauschenberg might have done this. There are video interviews online with both artists. Use Google to find the videos and make notes on your thoughts about what happened. Willem de Kooning Woman Sitting, Willem de Kooning, 1943 44 (oil & charcoal on board) [Course notes]. Online sources I researched de Kooning back in 2014 as part of my studies for Painting 1: Part 5 research point 2 Abstract expressionism and action painting. Willem de Kooning gestural abstract expressionist New York School. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/willem-de-kooning-1433 [Accessed: 26 October 2014]. 1
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/abstract-exp-nyschool/abstractexpressionism/a/abstract-expressionism-an-introduction [Accessed: 11 November 2014]. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abex/hd_abex.htm [Accessed: 26 October 2014]. https://youtu.be/e6kivi_knty De Kooning interview [Accessed: 18 May 2018] Robert Rauschenberg Rauschenberg, R. (1953) Erased de Kooning drawing. Available at: https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/98.298# [Accessed: 18 May 2018]. https://youtu.be/ngrnqer16do Rauschenberg interview [Accessed: 18 May 2018] Text sources Not a negation, rather a celebration of mark making by erasure. Progenitor of conceptual art? Faint residues of ink and crayon streaking the paper. Anti-Abstract Expressionism - a reaction to the idea that the painted mark is a unique trace of the individual who made it, as well as the entire conceptual baggage of authenticity, spontaneity, and risk 2
accompanies this ideology of the mark In: Foster, H., Krauss, R.E. and Bois, Y.-A. (2004) Art since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism and Postmodernism. London: Thames & Hudson, p. 368. the Erased de Kooning makes it clear that nothing could be more contrary to this ethos [ the uniqueness of the artist s touch ] than the repeated strokes of the eraser, the trace of which does not register the imprint of the worker s identity but is instead a mechanised effacement of both the drawing s marks and its own counterstrokes. [ibid.p.368]. - a critique of action painting? White Painting (seven panel) (1951) by Robert Rauschenberg - neither narrative nor any other frame of reference. Available at: http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2015/march/02/when-johncage-met-robert-rauschenberg/ [Accessed: 30 June 2018]. When the White Paintings were exhibited at the Stable Gallery in New York in the autumn of 1953, Cage wrote a statement for them: No subject/ No Image/No taste/no object/no beauty/no message/ No talent/no technique /No idea Composer John Cage took inspiration from the White Paintings to produce his 1952 non-composition 4 33 of ambient auditorium noise. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/genteel-iconoclasm [Accessed: 30 June 2018]. John Cage referred to the White Pintings as landing strips for dust particles, and Ruaschenberg spoke of them as: the white paintings that would pick up the shadows. (Foster, Krauss, and Bois, 2004, p.370). 3
Something I m going to miss de Kooning Digitally enhanced infrared scan of Robert Rauschenberg s Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953, showing traces of the original drawing by Willem de Kooning. Visible light scan by Ben Blackwell, 2010. Infrared scan and processing by Robin D. Myers, 2010. Courtesy of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-robert-rauschenberg-erasedde-kooning [Accessed: 30 June 2018]. 4
View of Robert Rauschenberg s Erased de Kooning Drawing (verso, framed) showing handwritten note about the frame and exhibition labels. Available at: https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/98.298/essay/erased-de-kooning-drawing/ [Accessed: 30 June 2018]. Essay by Sarah Roberts, July 2013. Sarah Roberts serves as Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at SFMOMA, where she has directed research initiatives on the museum s permanent collection since 2004. [SFMOMA Rauschenberg Research Project] Available at: https://www.sfmoma.org/author/sarahroberts/ [Accessed: 30 June 2018]. Stephen Marshall The artist Stephen Marshall has an exuberant and creative studio practice. In this exhibition of his work he has installed his drawings in a way which seems to retain some of the fluidity and opportunity for a kind of dialogue between the drawings themselves that is often lost when work is transferred out of the studio and into a gallery. http://www.stephenmarshall.co.uk/ Use: http://stephenmarshall.blogspot.co.uk [https://www.oca-tudent.com/system/files/ocacontent/course-erratas/drawing_2_investigating_drawing_errata_0_0.doc] 5
Stephen Marshall (photography by Katy Bootland) [Course notes]. Stephen Marshall (photography by Katy Bootland) [Course notes]. I was somewhat confused by the reference to Stephen Marshall. A web search threw up at least three artists of that name, including the Manchester artist s blog http://stephenmarshall.blogspot.co.uk. And some of his work appearing in 2009 edition of the online blog - Available at: http://goodvsevilzine.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-12-02t16:27:00-08:00&max-results=20&start=100&by-date=false [Accessed 7 July 2018]. 6
The others were: http://www.stevenmarshall.org.uk [Accessed: 18 May 2018]. Amid; 40cm x 40cm; enamel on board 7
http://www.artnet.com/galleries/tag-fine-arts/artist-steven-marshall/ [Accessed: 18 May 2018]. Steven Marshall Glasswork (Festival), 2015 https://www.saatchiart.com/art/installation-glory-fruit-five-trees-penblwydd- Hapus/718579/2085223/view [Accessed: 30 June 2018]. Glory fruit, five tees, Penblwydd Hapus! installation by Stephen Marshall. [Paint, clay, and wood on ceramic and wood]. Edinburgh College of Art graduate - both Stephen Marshall and Katie Bootland were MFA Contemporary Art Practice graduates in 2014. 8
Stephen Marshall Untitled [Andrew Grant Bequest Major Award 2014] Available at: http://www.degreeshow.eca.ed.ac.uk/2014/portfolio/untitled-8 [Accessed: 7 July 2018]. Stuart Brownlee 512319 7 July 2018] 9