WHEN ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG DESTROYED HIS OWN ART. In a comment here on my post about Annalisa taking a sledgehammer to one of her sculptures, Jane called attention to a work of art by Robert Rauschenberg entitled “Erased de Kooning Drawingâ€. This wikipedia entry says that: “It took Rauschenberg approximately two months to obliterate as much of de Kooning drawing as he could, using a variety of different erasers.” (De Kooning had given Rauschenberg for the project “a densely worked drawing in crayon, ink, pencil and charcoal”.)
Elmer was reminded that once when Rauschenberg exhibited in Florence, a Florentine critic criticized his art objects and said that Rauschenberg should throw them into the River Arno. Rauschenberg then threw them into the Arno. (This excerpt from page 147 of FLORENCEWALKS on Google Books describes the destruction.)
Rauschenberg is of great interest to students of art law. “Canyon,” which features a taxidermied bald eagle, was the subject of an intense dispute between the IRS and the original owner’s heirs. The IRS put the value of the piece at millions, whereas the heirs claimed it was worthless because to sell the painting would be a felony! Now it’s part of MoMa’s permanent collection and I always like to say hello to it when I’m there.