Rauschenberg, Robert 1925-

RAUSCHENBERG, ROBERT 1925-

Artist

Representative Artist

One of the most respected and representive artists of the 1960s, Robert Rauschenberg experimented with a variety of new styles during the decade. Like those of Jasper Johns, Rauschenberg's works bridge the transition from abstract expressionism to pop art and beyond. He was among a handful of contemporary artists to have work presented in a retrospective. At the Jewish Museum of New York in 1963 many of his "combine" paintings, which feature assorted materials such as photographs, newspapers, clocks, and stuffed animals, were displayed to an appreciative public. Similarly, an exhibition of his work at Whitechapel Gallery in London broke previous attendance records. The following year he won two mil-lion lire in the prestigious Venice Biennale. He was the first American to win the prize.

Pioneering New Styles

During the 1960s Rauschenberg also helped to design sets for experimental modern dances staged by Merce Cunningham to the equally experimental music of John Cage, and in the late 1960s he became identified as one of the artists involved in a new style called luminal art, which featured movement and light as integral aspects of the work. In 1968, when "environments" were all the rage in the art world, Rauschenberg was praised for his efforts, particularly one in which people walked through a thirty-six-foot-long room as the sounds they made triggered the projection of a series of images onto a wall.

Later Career

In the 1970s Rauschenberg became involved with performance art and other experimental styles, and he continued to influence many young artists.

Sources:

Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg, Art and Life (New York: Abrams, 1990);

Calvin Tomkins, Off the Wall: Robert Rauschenberg and the Art World of Our Time (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1980).