Robert Rauschenberg

b. October 22, 1925 and died May 12, 2008

Rauschenberg was born in Port Arthur, Texas. While in the U.S. Marines he discovered his artistic interest. After leaving the Marines, Rauschenberg studied art in Paris but later prefered to move back to North Carolina in the United States. In 1953 Rauschenberg attained one of Williem de Koonings works and erased part of the drawing as an act of art which Rauschenberg titled Erased De Kooning Similar to Duchamp's Fountain the erased drawing brought controversy to the art culture on what was acceptable, what was considered art, and the art business.

Rauschenberg developed the idea of combining and of noticing combinations of objects and images. One of his first famous pieces was titled Monogram, 1959. In the 60's Rauschenberg turned away from three-dimensional combines and began to work in the flat medium of magazine photographs of current events to create silk-screen prints. Rauschenberg transferred familiar icons onto to canvases and overlapped them with painted brushstrokes such as JFK or baseball games. The collages were Rauschenbergs way of bringing ingenuity and creativity to mix with his love of painting.

In the mid 60's Rauschenberg continued the prints, but changed the surfaces they were printed onto. He tried a variety of surface materials including aluminum, plexiglass, and clothes. He challenged the accepted ideology of the artist indvidually creating each piece individuallly by assembling engineers to help in the production process. Rauschenburg wanted to incorporate the viewer as an active participant. He incorporated dancers on roller-skates for Pelican, 1963 and the sound of a gong hit by tennis balls for Open Score, 1966.

Throughout the ’80s and ’90s Rauschenberg continued experementing. He focused on collage and new ways to transfer photographs. The Gugenheim Museum hosted a show in 1998 with over 400 of Rauschenbergs work.