His portraitist, Elaine de Kooning, was most often identified with the abstract expressionist school. But much of her work contained strong figurative elements, endowing her portraits with both the representational vision and the gestural brushwork of abstract expressionism.

In 1953, Rauschenberg photographed Merce Cunningham (1919–2009) dancing alone, as part of a duo, and in a group at Cunningham’s 224 West Fourth Street studio in New York.

Portrait of Merce Cunningham is an Expressionist Oil on Canvas Painting created by Elaine de Kooning in 1962. It lives at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington in the United States. The image is © Elaine de Kooning Trust, and used according to Educational Fair Use, and tagged Portraits.

Mar 24, 2021 · Today, researching another aspect of the connection between Merce Cunningham and the painter-critic Elaine de Kooning, I chanced upon this 1962 portrait of him by her.

This subject of this photograph by Annie Leibovitz, a famous portrait photographer of celebrities, is Merce Cunningham (1919-2009). He was an American dancer and choreographer who uniquely collaborated with artists of other disciplines,such as musicians, painters, designers and architects, and had a profound influence on modern dance.

Measuring 36 x 30 inches, the photograph is a close-up portrait of the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham. Known for his hyper-realistic portraiture, Close captures every detail of Cunningham’s face—his weathered skin, gentle eyes, and the texture of his curly hair—offering an intimate and unfiltered view of the subject.

Rauschenberg portrayed Merce on a bright yellow background with abstracted shapes and textures. Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925-2008) worked as a stage manager for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and had a close relationship with Cunningham himself.

From RoGallery, Robert Rauschenberg, Portrait of Merce Cunningham (1984), Serigraph with hand-coloring and collage, 28 × 18 3/4 in

A seminal choreographer of the twentieth century, Merce Cunningham revolutionized dance by embracing everyday movement and devising new ways to integrate choreography, music, and visual...

In retrospect, Cunningham designated that summer as the founding of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, as it was the first time he was able to work with a group of dancers for a concentrated time and create a coherent body of work.