“Whenever I ponder making art, I think of Rauschenberg, who simply threw out the textbook and wrote a new one.” – Michael Hall
Michael Hall and Laurie Cumbo
Artists Mark Rothko, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, Donald Judd, Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock all passed through the halls of the Art Students League. For the League’s 150th anniversary at the Rainbow Room, the crowd is filled with artists, alumni, patrons, and supporters. I am seated at dinner next to John Varriano, a painting and sculpture instructor. “There’s a sense of pride in passing on traditions to the next generation for those of us who were students and now instructors,” Varriano tells me. Michael Hall announces an honorary award to the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, accepted by Francine Snyder. “Robert [Rauschenberg] was a personal artist. He opened our minds, challenging our understand of what art could be,” Hall says. “A formidable presence in the mind of so many young artists and art students, me included. Rauschenberg had an immeasurable impact on so many artists practices. Whenever I ponder making art, I think of Rauschenberg, who simply threw out the textbook and wrote a new one.” – ALEXANDER HANKIN
Megan Gabrielle Harris and Elian AlmeidaDiana FrankRandy Richard MoralesDiego MoraDavid RothschildJacqueline Towers-PerkinsAlexander HankinEric ShinerEfrosiniay Bondareva
