Arts & Culture
Portfolio: Richard Merkin
Richard Merkin
Richard Merkin’s lively, colorful illustrations and paintings riff on the classic cultural figures of 20th-century New York—from movie stars to jazz musicians, from sports heroes to literary figures, he captures the spirit of an age that has now largely passed. Mixing such immediately recognizable cultural references with his own, idiosyncratic personal content, Merkin generates a vivid, humorous, and sometimes bizarre vision of modern cosmopolitan life.
A graduate of Syracuse University, Merkin taught at the Rhode Island School of Design for 42 years, commuting for most of that time from New York City. In addition to having work in the collections of prominent museums such as the Whitney and the Museum of Modern Art, he has regularly contributed illustrations to magazines including Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. A retrospective exhibition of his work will be on view at the Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson from September 20 through October 28, with an opening reception on September 22 from 6 to 8pm.
—Beth E. Wilson
Formative experiences
I was born in Brooklyn. It was a wonderful, wonderful time—New York was a grand, grand place. I was born in 1938. It had all the things that a boy needed, starting with baseball, and going out to Coney Island and to museums. I actually wasn’t a Dodgers fan, but that was just me being contrary. I liked the St. Louis Cardinals because I liked the red uniform, with the bird on it.
I recall that going to burlesque shows was enormously important in my life. Fortunately, I was tall, so even though I was probably 15 or 16 I was able to get into burlesque shows. They were in New Jersey at that time. Burlesque—it was an introduction to sex! It was a whole world I didn’t know about. Also, it was a show-business sort of thing. I liked it a lot, and I went quite often.
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