Erased de Kooning Drawing
Erased de Kooning Drawing, Robert Rauschenberg, 1953, SFMOMA
First Look
I wanted to discuss my most recent favorite piece of art, which I came across while preparing for my Modern and Contemporary Art exam. I really enjoy art that doesn't make sense at first glance. Therefore, this could be a nice place to start when describing this work.
Photograph of Robert Rauschenberg
Erased de Kooning Drawing by Robert Rauschenberg in 1953 is a provocative artwork. On paper it shows nothing, except for a few patches of color and unclear lines. It looks like a double framed yellowed paper. However, we are aware that artworks are no longer lets us appreciate solely visual aspect or the aestheticism of the work. As spectators, it is expected from us to look beyond the canvas. But not in a sense we see in Lucio Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale more similar to the Fountain by Marcel Duchamp. He challenged the existing art forms and converted the way we approach art, shifting from art as in pure aesthetic to art as reflection of idea and use of thought. Pioneer of Neo-dada in the 1950s, Robert Rauschenberg has demonstrated authentic dadaist approaches in his artwork by contrasting absurdist with popular imagery.
White Painting, 1951
Robert Rauschenberg have created White Paintings (1951) feature varying modular panels all painted completely white. His goal was to create paintings that appeared untouched, as if they emerged pure and fully formed. Initially seen as shocking and a swindle when exhibited in 1953, the White Paintings have become important for Minimalism and Conceptualism. Notably, Rauschenberg intended these works to be remakeable,viewing them primarily as a concept, allowing for repainting and refabrication without his direct involvement.
However, he was not pleased with the outcome, believed that he needed some alternative representation of absence. It is known that the absence of something that existed before has higher impact on the perception rather than just absence. Here, with the Erased de Kooning Drawing we see exactly that, Willem de Kooning gifts a drawing to Rauschenberg. A drawing that is hard to erase which took him a month to completely empty the surface. The point we are addressing with this “absence” is similar to the passing of someone in our life; when you lose a close person, you feel the absence more compared to hearing the death news of someone you have never met.
Who is de Kooning ?
Willem de Kooning is a Dutch-American artist and a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement, which emerged in New York in the 1940s and 1950s. Known for his dynamic, gestural style, de Kooning blended abstraction and figuration in his work, creating emotionally charged and often chaotic compositions. His most known artwork is Women Series (1950s) demonstrates bodies of distorted, aggressive female figures, blending with expressive details. His way of making art is similar to Jackson Pollock with gestural and autonomous art style. They both utilizes action painting as an expressive use of body results in art.
What is the point ?
Created through a meticulous process of reduction and erasure, where every trace of the original work is systematically eliminated to create new meaning through absence. The revolutionary idea of erasure as an artistic act emerges at this precise historical moment through Rauschenberg, marking a turning point in contemporary art. It is one of the first and most significant works of his artistic maturity, already demonstrating his ability to subvert traditional art conventions. His way of working, characterized by this conceptual approach to creation through subtraction.
In conclusion, the Erased de Kooning Drawing finalizes the series and significantly contributes to the idea of erasure within art. I firmly believe that without this particular and distinctive piece, the white series would be impactful, but not quite in the same profound way as it is now.
Sources:
Huge thanks to Shawn Greiner who helped me to understand this artwork way better. Check out his video!
