Untitled (Remnant from 18 Happenings in 6 Parts)
Samaras participated in many of the most important Happenings, radical theatrical events produced by artists such as Allan Kaprow, Robert Whitman, and Claes Oldenburg. He performed in Kaprow’s best-known Happening, 18 Happenings in 6 Parts, which took place at the Reuben Gallery in New York’s East Village and included Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Following Kaprow’s instructions, Johns painted one side of the cloth with stripes, and Rauschenberg covered the opposite side in circles, using a can dipped in paint. Samaras, who rescued this ephemeral work, later recalled, "Being in a Happening was like being in something that had never existed before."
Artwork Details
- Title: Untitled (Remnant from 18 Happenings in 6 Parts)
- Artist: Robert Rauschenberg (American, Port Arthur, Texas 1925–2008 Captiva Island, Florida)
- Artist: Jasper Johns (American, born Augusta, Georgia, 1930)
- Artist: Allan Kaprow (American, Atlantic City, New Jersey 1927–2006 Encinitas, California)
- Date: 1959
- Medium: Oil on unbleached cotton muslin
- Dimensions: 56 1/4 × 49 7/8 in. (142.9 × 126.7 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Lucas Samaras, 2014
- Object Number: 2014.39a, b
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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