Richard Merkin
1938–2009

Introduction

Richard Marshall Merkin (October 9, 1938 – September 5, 2009) was an American painter, illustrator and arts educator. Merkin's fascination with the 1920s and 1930s defined his art and shaped his identity as a professional dandy. Many of his works depict the interwar years, painting narrative scenes in bright colors of jazz musicians, film stars, writers, and sports heroes. Merkin was as well known for his outré sense of clothing style and collections of vintage pornography (in particular Tijuana bibles) as he was for his painting and illustration work.

Wikidata identifier

Q7327785

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Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Accessed November 10, 2024.

Country of birth

United States

Roles

Artist, painter

ULAN identifier

500007013

Names

Richard Merkin, Richard Marshall Merkin

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Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed November 10, 2024.



On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

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Learn more at whitney.org/artport

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