Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg (born Milton Ernst Rauschenberg; October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950's transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art.
Rauschenberg is perhaps most famous for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations. While the Combines are both painting and sculpture, Rauschenberg also worked with photography, printmaking, papermaking, and performance. Rauschenberg picked up trash and found objects that interested him on the streets of New York City and brought these back to his studio where they could become integrated 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. And if it wasn't a surprise at first, by the time I got through with it, it was. So the object itself was changed by its context and therefore it became a new thing."
In 1953 in a famously cited incident, Rauschenberg erased a drawing by de Kooning. In 1964, Rauschenberg was the first American artist to win the Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale (Mark Tobey and James Whistler had previously won the Painting Prize). After that time, he enjoyed a rare degree of institutional support. Rauschenberg lived and worked in New York City and on Captiva Island, Florida until his death on May 12, 2008, from heart failure.
BIOGRAPHY
1925
Born on October 22 in Port Arthur, Texas
1948
Studied at the Académie Julian, Paris
1946-1949
Studied at the Kansas City Art Institute
1949
Studied at the Black Mountain College in North Carolina under Josef Albers where he meets Merce Cunningham and John Cage
1949-1952
Meets Cy Twombly at the Art Students League in New York
1952-1953
Travels to Europe and North Africa with Cy Twombly
1953
Creates Automobile Tire Print (with John Cage) and Erased de Kooning Drawing
Meets Jasper Johns with whom he is considered the most influential of artists who reacted against Abstract
Expressionism. The two artists had neighboring studios, regularly exchanging ideas and discussing their work, until 1961
1958-1960
Illustrations based on Dante's Inferno
1964
Grand prize in painting at the Venice Biennale
1985-1991
"ROCI" - Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2008
Robert Rauschenberg: Runts, PaceWildenstein, New York City, NY
Robert Rauschenberg, Artist-Citizen: Posteres for a Better World, Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, Ft. Myers, FL
2007
"Selected Works 1974 - 1999", Michael Schultz Gallery, Berlin (catalogue)
"Rauschenberg. Express," Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
"Nothing and everything," Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Robert Rauschenberg: Cardboards and Related Pieces," The Menil Collection, Houston, TX
"Robert Rauschenberg," Moderna Museet, Stockholm
2006
"Robert Rauschenberg," Centre Pompidou - Musée National d´Art Moderne, Paris
"Robert Rauschenberg," Gallery Hyundai, Seoul
"Robert Rauschenberg," MOCA THE GEFFEN CONTEMPORARY, Los Angeles, CA; MOCA Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA
"Robert Rauschenberg: Spread and Scale," Galerie Jamileh Weber, Zurich
"Art from Life: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg," Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, CA
"Focus Room. Robert Rauschenberg," Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, England
"Robert Rauschenberg: Scenarios and Short Stories," Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, GA
"Rauschenberg: Prints," Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY
2005
"Rauschenberg - Rosenquist - Lichtenstein," Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, England
"Robert Rauschenberg," Galerie Terminus, Munich
"Dialogues: Duchamp, Cornell, Johns, Rauschenberg," Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
"Robert Rauschenberg: on and off the wall," MUSÉE D'ART MODERNE ET D'ART CONTEMPORAIN-NICE, Nice
"Combines" organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
2004
"Robert Rauschenberg: Current Scenarios," Wadsworth Museum of Art, Hartford
"Mostly Photography - Art since 1980 from the Collection," Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
"What's modern? Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY
"Made in USA popart," Galerie Laurent Strouk, Paris
"Robert Rauschenberg," Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, England
"15 Minutes of Fame: 20 Years of Pop Prints," National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
"Robert Rauschenberg," John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003
"Popular, Pop & Post-Pop: Color Screenprints 1930s to Now," Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
"Robert Rauschenberg - Prints & Unique Work," Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY
2002
"X-LARGE - Borofsky, Burden, Johns, Kelly, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, Serra, Ste," Brooke Alexander Editions, New York, NY
"An American Legacy, A Gift to New York," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
"Robert Rauschenberg - Les dix dernières années," Musée Maillol - Fondation Dina Vierny, Paris
"Robert Rauschenberg - Short Stories," Waddington Galleries, London (England)
"Robert Rauschenberg: Recent Work," The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2001
"Modernism & Abstraction: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum," Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA
"ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG - RUMINATIONS," völcker & freunde gallery, Berlin
"Robert Rauschenberg: Marrakech," La Caja Negra, Madrid
"Robert Rauschenberg: Short Stories," Galerie Jamileh Weber, Zurich
2000
"Robert Rauschenberg - Darryl Pottorf," Galerie Tanit, Munich
"Robert Rauschenberg - Synapsis Shuffle," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
"Highlights of Late 20th-Century Art from the Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
1999
"Robert Rauschenberg - Malerei," Galleri Faurschou, Copenhagen
"Robert Rauschenberg - Obra gráfica (1967-1979)," Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, Cuenca
"Robert Rauschenberg - The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece," Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA
"Robert Rauschenberg - Photographs," Galleria Rubin, Milano
1998
"Robert Rauschenberg. Obra gráfica 1967-1979," Museu d'Art Español Contemporani (Fundación Juan March), Palma de Mallorca
"Robert Rauschenberg - Retrospectiva," Museo Guggenheim de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Bilbao
"Robert Rauschenberg - Anagrams (A Pun)," Galerie Jamileh Weber, Zurich
1997
Retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, New York in collaboration with the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, exhibition travels to the Museum Ludwig, Cologne and the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
1990
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1987
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
1963
First retrospective organized by the Jewish Museum, New York
1951
First solo exhibition at the Betty Parsons gallery, New York