In 1953, Rauschenberg decided to make a drawing through erasing. After experimenting with erasing works of his own, Rauschenberg resolved that he needed to start with something that was undeniably art. Steeling his courage, he knocked on Willem de Kooning's studio door to ask him for a work to erase. De Kooning agreed, and selected a work that he felt would be difficult to erase; according to Rauschenberg, it took nearly a month and over 40 erasers to complete. The drawing stayed tucked away in Rauschenberg's studio for two years, until Jasper Johns placed it in a gilded frame and made the label, which reads "Erased de Kooning Drawing / Robert Rauschenberg / 1953."