Fun Fact Friday - The Erased Masterpiece

For this week‘s fun fact friday, learn about how Robert Rauschenberg created a famous work of art simply by erasing another artist‘s drawing. The piece is called ”Erased de Kooning Drawing” from 1953.  This work is often misunderstood as an act of aggression or disrespect as Rauschenberg figuratively and quite literally erases Willem de Kooning‘s work, but actually this work was meant to be a celebration of de Kooning. Rauschenberg knew that the piece would only work if he were erasing a significant work by a great artist. De Kooning reluctantly agreed and gave a drawing for the younger artist to erase. Over the course of 2 months, Rauschenberg meticulously wore through numerous erasers until all that was left were a few smudges on an otherwise blank paper. Ultimately, we will never know what was originally on that paper, but de Kooning indicated it was a high quality piece and something he would miss. He felt that was important to the project. Now viewers are left to imagine what great drawing was once on that paper. The erased drawing creates an an absence or a loss that is somehow more empty than a new white page and in doing so it has elevated de Kooning‘s drawing to a space of legend freed from the page to now live inside the viewer‘s imagination.

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