[1] Rankine was born on July 27, 1920, and raised in Boston.
[1][2] Rankine attended the Ozenfant School of Fine Arts [Wikidata], where she studied with Arshile Gorky.
[6] This was followed by study at Black Mountain College, where she met and study with Elaine de Kooning, Willem de Kooning, and Josef Albers.
[2] Her work is included in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum,[7] the American University Museum[8] and the Phillips Collection.
[9] Her personal papers are included in the Archives of American Art.