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Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the
Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his
Combines (1954–1964), a group of artworks which incorporated everyday objects as art materials and which blurred the distinctions between painting and sculpture. Rauschenberg was primarily a painter and a sculptor, but he also worked with
photography
Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...
,
printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...
,
papermaking
Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is Pulp and paper industry, made using industrial machinery, while handmade pape ...
and performance.
[
]
Rauschenberg received numerous awards during his nearly 60-year artistic career. Among the most prominent were the International Grand Prize in Painting at the 32nd
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
in 1964 and the
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
in 1993.
Rauschenberg lived and worked in New York City and on
Captiva Island, Florida, until his death on May 12, 2008.
Life and career
Rauschenberg was born Milton Ernest Rauschenberg in
Port Arthur, Texas
Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. ...
, the son of Dora Carolina (née Matson) and Ernest R. Rauschenberg. His father was of German and his mother of Dutch descent. Rauschenberg incorrectly claimed that his paternal grandmother Tina “Tiny” Jane Howard was Cherokee. His father worked for Gulf States Utilities, a light and power company. His parents were
Fundamentalist Christians.
He had a younger sister named Janet Begneaud.
At 18, Rauschenberg was admitted to the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
where he began studying
pharmacology
Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...
, but he dropped out shortly after due to the difficulty of the coursework—not realizing at this point that he was
dyslexic
Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, writ ...
—and because of his unwillingness to dissect a frog in biology class.
[Patricia Burstein (May 19, 1980)]
In His Art and Life, Robert Rauschenberg Is a Man Who Steers His Own Daring Course
''People
The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
''. He was drafted into the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
in 1944. Based in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, he served as a neuropsychiatric technician in a Navy hospital until his discharge in 1945 or 1946.
Rauschenberg subsequently studied at the
Kansas City Art Institute
The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. The institute ...
and the in Paris, France, where he met fellow art student
Susan Weil. At that time he also changed his name from Milton to Robert. In 1948 Rauschenberg joined Weil in enrolling at
Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College was a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The coll ...
in
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
.
[
][
]
At
Black Mountain, Rauschenberg sought out
Josef Albers
Josef Albers ( , , ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born American artist and Visual arts education, educator who is considered one of the most influential 20th-century art teachers in the United States. Born in 1888 in Bottrop, Westp ...
, a founder of the
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, whom he had read about in an August 1948 issue of
''Time'' magazine. He hoped that Albers' rigorous teaching methods might curb his habitual sloppiness.
Albers' preliminary design courses relied on strict discipline that did not allow for any "uninfluenced experimentation."
Rauschenberg became, in his own words, "Albers' dunce, the outstanding example of what he was not talking about".
Although Rauschenberg considered Albers his most important teacher, he found a more compatible sensibility in
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
, an established composer of avant-garde music. Like Rauschenberg, Cage had moved away from the teachings of his instructor,
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...
, in favor of a more experimentalist approach to music. Cage provided Rauschenberg with much-needed support and encouragement during the early years of his career, and the two remained friends and artistic collaborators for decades to follow.
From 1949 to 1952 Rauschenberg studied with
Vaclav Vytlacil and
Morris Kantor at the
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may study f ...
,
where he met fellow artists
Knox Martin and
Cy Twombly.
Rauschenberg married
Susan Weil in the summer of 1950 at the Weil family home in Outer Island,
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
. Their only child, Christopher, was born July 16, 1951. The two separated in June 1952 and divorced in 1953. Thereafter, Rauschenberg had romantic relationships with fellow artists
Cy Twombly and
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...
, among others. His partner for the last 25 years of his life was artist Darryl Pottorf,
[Ella Nayor,"The Pine Island Eagle, "Bob Rauschenberg, art giant, dead at 82", May 13, 2008] his former assistant.
In the 1970s he moved into
NoHo
NoHo, short for "North of Houston Street, Houston Street" (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by Mercer Street (Manhattan), Mercer Street to the west, the Bowery ...
in Manhattan in New York City.
[Kenneth T. Jackson, Lisa Keller, Nancy Flood (2010)]
''The Encyclopedia of New York City''
, Second Edition, Yale University Press.
Rauschenberg purchased the Beach House, his first property on
Captiva Island, on July 26, 1968. However, the property did not become his permanent residence until the fall of 1970.
Rauschenberg died of heart failure on May 12, 2008, on
Captiva Island, Florida.
Artistic contribution
Rauschenberg's approach was sometimes called "
Neo-Dada
Neo-Dada was an art movement with audio, visual and literary manifestations that had similarities in method or intent with earlier Dada artwork. It sought to close the gap between art and daily life, and was a combination of playfulness, iconoclas ...
ist," a label he shared with the painter
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...
. Rauschenberg famously stated that "painting relates to both art and life," and he wanted to work "in the gap between the two."
[Rauschenberg, Robert; Miller, Dorothy C. (1959)]
Sixteen Americans [exhibition
/nowiki>">xhibition">Sixteen Americans [exhibition
/nowiki> . New York: Museum of Modern Art. p. 58. . OCLC (identifier)">OCLC
OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...
748990996. "Painting relates to both art and life. Neither can be made. (I try to act in that gap between the two.)" Like many of his Dadaist predecessors, Rauschenberg questioned the distinction between art objects and everyday objects, and his use of readymade materials reprised the intellectual issues raised by Marcel Duchamp's ''
Fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were o ...
'' (1917). Duchamp's Dadaist influence can also be observed in
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...
' paintings of targets, numerals, and flags, which were familiar cultural symbols: "things the mind already knows."
At
Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College was a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The coll ...
, Rauschenberg experimented with a variety of artistic mediums including printmaking, drawing, photography, painting, sculpture, and theatre; his works often featured some combination of these. He created his ''Night Blooming'' paintings (1951) at Black Mountain by pressing pebbles and gravel into black pigment on canvas. In the very same year he made full body blueprints in collaboration with Susan Weil in his New York apartment, which "they hope to turn
..into screen and wallpaper designs".
From the fall of 1952 to the spring of 1953, Rauschenberg traveled in Italy and
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
with his fellow artist and partner
Cy Twombly. There, he created collages and small sculptures, including the ''Scatole Personali'' and ''Feticci Personali'', out of found materials. He exhibited them at galleries in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
and
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
.
To Rauschenberg's surprise, a number of the works sold; many that did not he threw into the river
Arno
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.
Source and route
The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a sou ...
, following the suggestion of an art critic who reviewed his show.
Upon his return to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1953, Rauschenberg began creating sculpture with found materials from his Lower Manhattan neighborhood, such as scrap metal, wood, and twine.
Throughout the 1950s, Rauschenberg supported himself by designing storefront window displays for
Tiffany & Co. and
Bonwit Teller, first with Susan Weil and later in partnership with Jasper Johns under the pseudonym Matson Jones.
In a famously cited incident of 1953, Rauschenberg requested a drawing from the
Abstract Expressionist
Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...
painter
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning ( , ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married pa ...
for the express purpose of erasing it as an artistic statement. This conceptual work, titled ''
Erased de Kooning Drawing,'' was executed with the elder artist's consent.
In 1961, Rauschenberg explored a similar conceptual approach by presenting an idea as the artwork itself. He was invited to participate in an exhibition at the
Galerie Iris Clert in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where artists were to present portraits of
Clert, the gallery owner. Rauschenberg's submission consisted of a telegram declaring "This is a portrait of Iris Clert if I say so."
By 1962, Rauschenberg's paintings were beginning to incorporate not only found objects but found images as well. After a visit to
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
's studio that year, Rauschenberg began using a
silkscreen
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke" ...
process, usually reserved for commercial means of reproduction, to transfer photographs to canvas. The silkscreen paintings made between 1962 and 1964 led critics to identify Rauschenberg's work with
Pop art.
Rauschenberg had experimented with technology in his artworks since the making of his early Combines in the mid-1950s, where he sometimes used working radios, clocks, and electric fans as sculptural materials. He later explored his interest in technology while working with Bell Laboratories research scientist
Billy Klüver. Together they realized some of Rauschenberg's most ambitious technology-based experiments, such as ''Soundings'' (1968), a light installation which responded to ambient sound. In 1966, Klüver and Rauschenberg officially launched
Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), a non-profit organization established to promote collaborations between artists and engineers.
In 1969,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
invited Rauschenberg to witness the launch of
Apollo 11. In response to this landmark event, Rauschenberg created his ''Stoned Moon Series'' of
lithographs
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
. This involved combining diagrams and other images from NASA's archives with his own drawings and handwritten text.
From 1970, Rauschenberg worked from his home and studio in
Captiva, Florida. The first works he created in his new studio were ''Cardboards'' (1971–72) and ''Early Egyptians'' (1973–74), for which he relied on locally sourced materials such as cardboard and sand. Where his previous works had often highlighted urban imagery and materials, Rauschenberg now favored the effect of natural fibers found in fabric and paper. He printed on textiles using his solvent-transfer technique to make the ''Hoarfrost'' (1974–76) and ''Spread'' (1975–82) series; the latter featured large stretches of collaged fabric on wood panels. Rauschenberg created his ''Jammer'' (1975–76) series using colorful fabrics inspired by his trip to
Ahmedabad, India, a city famous for its textiles. The imageless simplicity of the Jammer series is a striking contrast with the image-filled Hoarfrosts and the grittiness of his earliest works made in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
International travel became a central part of Rauschenberg's artistic process after 1975. In 1984, Rauschenberg announced the start of his Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI) at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
. Almost entirely funded by the artist, the ROCI project consisted of a seven-year tour to ten countries around the world. Rauschenberg took photographs in each location and made artworks inspired by the cultures he visited. The resulting works were displayed in a local exhibition in each country. Rauschenberg often donated an artwork to a local cultural institution.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, Rauschenberg focused on silkscreening imagery onto a variety of differently treated metals, such as steel and mirrored aluminum. He created many series of so-called "metal paintings," including: ''Borealis'' (1988–92), ''Urban Bourbons'' (1988–1996), ''Phantoms'' (1991), and ''Night Shades'' (1991). In addition, throughout the 1990s, Rauschenberg continued to utilize new materials while still working with more rudimentary techniques. As part of his engagement with the latest technological innovations, in his late painting series he transferred digital inkjet photographic images to a variety of painting supports. For his ''Arcadian Retreats'' (1996) he transferred imagery to wet fresco. His ''Love Hotel
nagram (A Pun)' from 1998, and made out of vegetable dye transfer on polylaminate, is included in the permanent collection of the
Pérez Art Museum Miami, in Florida, the artist's home state for nearly forty years. In keeping with his commitment to the environment, Rauschenberg used biodegradable dyes and pigments, and water rather than chemicals in the transfer process.
[Robert Rauschenberg](_blank)
Guggenheim Collection.
The ''White Paintings'', black paintings, and ''Red Paintings''
In 1951 Rauschenberg created his ''White Painting'' series in the tradition of
monochromatic painting established by
, who reduced painting to its most essential qualities for an experience of aesthetic purity and infinity.
The ''White Paintings'' were shown at Eleanor Ward's
Stable Gallery
The Stable Gallery, originally located on West 58th Street in New York City, was founded in 1953 by Eleanor Ward. The Stable Gallery hosted early solo New York exhibitions for artists including Marisol Escobar, Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol.
His ...
in New York in fall 1953. Rauschenberg used everyday white house paint and paint rollers to create smooth, unembellished surfaces which at first appear as blank canvas. Instead of perceiving them to be without content, however,
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
described the ''White Paintings'' as "airports for the lights, shadows and particles"; surfaces which reflected delicate atmospheric changes in the room.
Rauschenberg himself said that they were affected by ambient conditions, "so you could almost tell how many people are in the room."
Like the ''White Paintings'', the black paintings of 1951–1953 were executed on multiple panels and were predominantly single color works. Rauschenberg applied matte and glossy black paint to textured grounds of newspaper on canvas, occasionally allowing the newspaper to remain visible.
By 1953 Rauschenberg had moved from the ''White Painting'' and black painting series to the heightened expressionism of his ''Red Painting'' series. He regarded red as "the most difficult color" with which to paint, and accepted the challenge by dripping, pasting, and squeezing layers of red pigment directly onto canvas grounds that included patterned fabric, newspaper, wood, and nails. The complex material surfaces of the ''Red Paintings'' were forerunners of Rauschenberg's well-known Combine series (1954-1964).
Combines
Rauschenberg collected discarded objects on the streets of New York City and brought them back to his studio where he integrated them into his work. He claimed he "wanted something other than what I could make myself and I wanted to use the surprise and the collectiveness and the generosity of finding surprises.
..So the object itself was changed by its context and therefore it became a new thing."
Rauschenberg's comment concerning the gap between art and life provides the departure point for an understanding of his contributions as an artist.
He saw the potential beauty in almost anything; he once said, "I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly, because they're surrounded by things like that all day long, and it must make them miserable."
His
Combine series endowed everyday objects with a new significance by bringing them into the context of fine art alongside traditional painting materials. The Combines eliminated the boundaries between art and sculpture so that both were present in a single work of art. While "Combines" technically refers to Rauschenberg's work from 1954 to 1964, Rauschenberg continued to utilize everyday objects such as clothing, newspaper, urban debris, and cardboard throughout his artistic career.
His transitional pieces that led to the creation of Combines were ''Charlene'' (1954) and ''Collection'' (1954/1955), where he collaged objects such as scarves, electric light bulbs, mirrors, and comic strips. Although Rauschenberg had implemented newspapers and patterned textiles in his black paintings and ''Red Paintings'', in the Combines he gave everyday objects a prominence equal to that of traditional painting materials. Considered one of the first of the Combines, ''Bed'' (1955) was created by smearing red paint across a well-worn quilt, sheet, and pillow. The work was hung vertically on the wall like a traditional painting. Because of the intimate connections of the materials to the artist's own life, ''Bed'' is often considered to be a
self-portrait
Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...
and a direct imprint of Rauschenberg's interior consciousness. Some critics suggested the work could be read as a symbol for violence and rape, but Rauschenberg described Bed as "one of the friendliest pictures I've ever painted."
[Tomkins, Calvin (February 29, 1964). "Profiles: Moving Out". The New Yorker 40, no. 2. p. 64.] Among his most famous Combines are those that incorporate taxidermied animals, such as
''Monogram'' (1955–1959) which includes a stuffed
angora goat
The Angora or Ankara is a Turkish breed
A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the sa ...
, and
''Canyon'' (1959), which features a stuffed
golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...
. Although the eagle was salvaged from the trash, Canyon drew government ire due to the 1940 Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
Critics originally viewed the Combines in terms of their formal qualities: color, texture, and composition. The formalist view of the 1960s was later refuted by critic
Leo Steinberg, who said that each Combine was "a receptor surface on which objects are scattered, on which data is entered." According to Steinberg, the horizontality of what he called Rauschenberg's "flatbed picture plane" had replaced the traditional verticality of painting, and subsequently allowed for the uniquely material-bound surfaces of Rauschenberg's work.
Performance and dance
Rauschenberg began exploring his interest in dance after moving to New York in the early 1950s. He was first exposed to avant-garde dance and performance art at Black Mountain College, where he participated in John Cage's ''Theatre Piece No. 1'' (1952), often considered the first
Happening
A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events.
History
Origins
Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...
. He began designing sets, lighting, and costumes for
Merce Cunningham
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
and
Paul Taylor. In the early 1960s he was involved in the radical dance-theater experiments at
Judson Memorial Church in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
, and he choreographed his first performance, ''Pelican'' (1963), for the Judson Dance Theater in May 1963. Rauschenberg was close friends with Cunningham-affiliated dancers including
Carolyn Brown,
Viola Farber
Viola Farber (February 25, 1931 – December 24, 1998) was an American choreographer and dancer.
Biography
Viola Farber was born on February 25, 1931, in Heidelberg, Germany. In Germany, Farber began dancing. However, at the age of six she was ...
, and
Steve Paxton, all of whom featured in his choreographed works. Rauschenberg's full-time connection to the
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
ended following its 1964 world tour. In 1966, Rauschenberg created the ''Open Score'' performance for part of ''9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering'' at the
69th Regiment Armory
The 69th Regiment Armory (also known as the 165th Infantry Armory and the Lexington Avenue Armory) is a historic armory for the U.S. Army National Guard at 68 Lexington Avenue, between East 25th and 26th Streets, in the Rose Hill neighborho ...
, New York. The series was instrumental in the formation of
Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.).
In 1977 Rauschenberg, Cunningham, and Cage reconnected as collaborators for the first time in thirteen years to create ''Travelogue'' (1977), for which Rauschenberg contributed the costume and set designs.
Rauschenberg did not choreograph his own works after 1967, but he continued to collaborate with other choreographers, including
Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown (November 25, 1936 – March 18, 2017) was an American choreographer and dancer, and one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and the postmodern dance movement. Brown’s dance/movement method, with which she and her danc ...
, for the remainder of his artistic career.
Commissions
Throughout his career, Rauschenberg designed numerous posters in support of causes that were important to him. In 1965, when ''
Life
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' magazine commissioned him to visualize a modern Inferno, he did not hesitate to vent his rage at the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and other contemporary sociopolitical issues, including racial violence,
neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
, political assassinations, and ecological disaster.
In 1969 the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
in New York City commissioned Rauschenberg to create a piece in honor of its centennial. He learned that the museum's original goals were detailed in a certificate from 1870 and created his 'Centennial Certificate' based on that object, with images of some of the best-known pieces in the museum and the signatures of the board at that time. Copies of the Centennial Certificate exist in numerous museums and private collections.
On December 30, 1979, the ''
Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...
'' printed 650,000 copies of ''
Tropic,'' its Sunday magazine, with a cover designed by Rauschenberg. In 1983, he won a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for his album design of
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.[Talking Heads](_blank) ' album ''
Speaking in Tongues
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid voc ...
''. In 1986 Rauschenberg was commissioned by
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
to paint a full size
BMW 635 CSi for the sixth installment of the famed
BMW Art Car Project. Rauschenberg's car was the first in the project to feature reproductions of works from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, as well as his own photographs.
In 1998, the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Geography
* Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy
* Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City
* Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome
* Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
commissioned a work by Rauschenberg in honor of the
Jubilee year 2000 to be displayed in the
Padre Pio Liturgical Hall, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Working around the theme of the
Last Judgement
The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism.
Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...
, Rauschenberg created ''The Happy Apocalypse'' (1999), a twenty-foot-long
maquette
A ''maquette'' is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture or work of architecture. The term is a loanword from French. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', a diminutive of the Italian word for a sketch.
Sculpture
A maquette ...
. It was ultimately rejected by the Vatican on the grounds that Rauschenberg's depiction of God as a satellite dish was an inappropriate theological reference.
Works
File:Robert Rauschenberg exposeert in Stedelijk Museum, Bestanddeelnr 921-0999.jpg, Robert Rauschenberg with ''Estate'' (1963), in a photograph at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. , February 1968
Exhibitions
Rauschenberg had his first solo exhibition at the
Betty Parsons Gallery in spring 1951. In 1953, while in Italy, he was noted by
Irene Brin and Gaspero del Corso and they organized his first European exhibition in their famous gallery in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
In 1953,
Eleanor Ward invited Rauschenberg to participate in a joint exhibition with Cy Twombly at the
Stable Gallery
The Stable Gallery, originally located on West 58th Street in New York City, was founded in 1953 by Eleanor Ward. The Stable Gallery hosted early solo New York exhibitions for artists including Marisol Escobar, Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol.
His ...
. In his second solo exhibition in New York at the
Charles Egan Gallery in 1954, Rauschenberg presented his ''Red Paintings'' (1953–1953) and Combines (1954–1964). Leo Castelli mounted a solo exhibition of Rauschenberg's Combines in 1958. The only sale was an acquisition by Castelli himself of ''Bed'' (1955), now in the collection of the
Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...
.
Rauschenberg's first career retrospective was organized by the
Jewish Museum
A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area.
Notable Jewish museums include:
Albania
* Solomon Museum, Berat
Australia
* Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...
, New York, in 1963. In 1964 he became one of the first American artists to win the International Grand Prize in Painting at the
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
(
James Whistler and
Mark Tobey had previously won painting prizes in 1895 and 1958 respectively). A mid-career retrospective was organized by the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...
), Washington, D.C., and traveled throughout the United States between 1976 and 1978.
In the 1990s a retrospective was held at the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...
, New York (1997), which traveled to museums in Houston, Cologne, and Bilbao through 1999. An exhibition of Combines was presented at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York (2005; traveled to
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...
,
Centre Georges Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
, Paris, and
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, through 2007). Rauschenberg's first posthumous retrospective was mounted at
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...
(2016; traveled to Museum of Modern Art, New York, and
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...
through 2017).
Further exhibitions include: ''Robert Rauschenberg: Jammers,''
Gagosian Gallery, London (2013); ''Robert Rauschenberg: The Fulton Street Studio'', ''1953–54'', Craig F. Starr Associates (2014); ''A Visual Lexicon,'' Leo Castelli Gallery (2014); ''Robert Rauschenberg: Works on Metal'', Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills (2014); ''Rauschenberg in China'',
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2016); and ''Rauschenberg: The 1/4 Mile'' at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum).
LACMA was founded in 1961 ...
(2018–2019).
Legacy
Rauschenberg believed strongly in the power of art as a catalyst for social change. The Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI) began in 1984 as an effort to spark international dialogue and enhance cultural understanding through artistic expression. A ROCI exhibition went on view at the National Gallery of Art, D.C., in 1991, concluding a ten-country tour: Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, China, Tibet, Japan, Cuba, U.S.S.R., Germany, and Malaysia.
In 1970, Rauschenberg created a program called Change, Inc., to award one-time emergency grants of up to $1,000 to visual artists based on financial need. In 1990, Rauschenberg created the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (RRF) to promote awareness of the causes he cared about, such as world peace, the environment and humanitarian issues. In 1986, Rauschenberg received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
.
He was awarded the
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
by
President Bill Clinton in 1993. In 2000, Rauschenberg was honored with
amfAR's Award of Excellence for Artistic Contributions to the Fight Against AIDS.
RRF today owns many works by Rauschenberg from every period of his career. In 2011, the foundation presented ''The Private Collection of Robert Rauschenberg'' in collaboration with
Gagosian Gallery, featuring selections from Rauschenberg's personal art collection. Proceeds from the exhibition helped fund the foundation's philanthropic activities. Also in 2011, the foundation launched its "Artist as Activist" project and invited artist
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989, he designed the " Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campa ...
to focus on an issue of his choice. The editioned work he made was sold to raise funds for the
Coalition for the Homeless
Coalition for the Homeless is a not-for-profit advocacy group focused on homelessness in New York. The coalition has engaged in landmark litigation to protect the rights of homeless people, including the right to shelter and the right to vote, ...
. RRF continues to support emerging artists and arts organizations with grants and philanthropic collaborations each year. The RRF has several residency programs that take place at the foundation's headquarters in New York and at the late artist's property in
Captiva Island, Florida.
In 2013, Dale Eisinger of
''Complex'' ranked ''Open Score'' (1966) seventh in his list of the all-time greatest performance art works.
The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at
Florida Southwestern State College was renamed in 2004 (from The Gallery of Fine Art, founded 1979) in Rauschenberg's honor and with his blessing.
Art market
In 2010 ''Studio Painting'' (1960‑61), one of Rauschenberg's Combines originally estimated at $6 million to $9 million, was bought from the collection of
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavil ...
for $11 million at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
, New York. In 2019, Christie's sold the silkscreen painting ''Buffalo II'' (1964) for $88.8 million, shattering the artist's previous record.
Lobbying for artists' resale royalties
In the early 1970s, Rauschenberg lobbied
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...
to pass a bill that would compensate artists when their work is resold on the secondary market. Rauschenberg took up his fight for artist resale royalties (
droit de suite
''Droit de suite'' ( French for "right to follow") or Artist's Resale Right (ARR) is a right granted to artists or their heirs, in some jurisdictions, to receive a fee on the resale of their works of art. This should be contrasted with policies su ...
) after the taxi baron
Robert Scull sold part of his collection of Abstract Expressionist and Pop art works for $2.2 million. Scull had originally purchased Rauschenberg's paintings ''Thaw'' (1958) and ''Double Feature'' (1959) for $900 and $2,500 respectively; roughly a decade later Scull sold the pieces for $85,000 and $90,000 in a 1973 auction at
Sotheby Parke Bernet in New York.
Rauschenberg's lobbying efforts were rewarded in 1976 when California governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...
signed into law the
California Resale Royalty Act of 1976.
[Jori Finkel (February 6, 2014)]
Jori Finkel: Lessons of California's droit de suite debacle
''The Art Newspaper
''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments i ...
''. The artist continued to pursue nationwide resale royalties legislation following the California victory.
See also
*
Combine painting
References
Further reading
*Busch, Julia M.
''A Decade of Sculpture: the New Media in the 1960s'' (The Art Alliance Press: Philadelphia
Associated University Presses London, 1974) , .
* Marika Herskovic
''New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists,''(New York School Press, 2000.) . p. 8; p. 32; p. 38; p. 294–297.
* Fugelso, Karl. "Robert Rauschenberg's ''Inferno'' Illuminations." In: ''Postmodern Medievalisms''. Ed. Richard Utz and Jesse G. Swan (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2004). pp. 47–66.
*Sweeney, Louise M
The Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...
, May 20, 1991.
External links
Robert Rauschenberg FoundationRobert Rauschenberg: The BroadOral history interview with Robert Rauschenberg, 1965, Smithsonian Archives of American ArtRobert Rauschenberg: MoMARauschenberg Research Projectat
SFMOMA
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rauschenberg, Robert
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2008 deaths
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