Robert Rauschenberg
Biography
Robert Rauschenberg was born Milton Ernest Rauschenberg in Port Arthur, Texas in October of 1925.
Rauschenberg began his study of pharmacology at the University of Texas at Austin before being drafted into the United States Navy, where he served as a neuropsychiatric technician in the Navy hospital corps in San Diego. In 1947, he enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute and traveled to Paris to study at the Académie Julian the following summer, and then entered into the Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where he would often return to. Between 1949 and 1952 he mainly studied at the Arts Students League in New York.
While taking classes at the Art Students League, Rauschenberg was offered his first solo exhibition at the Betty Parsons Gallery. Some of the works from this period included blueprints, monochromatic white paintings, and black paintings. From the fall of 1952 to the Spring of 1953, he traveled to Europe and North Africa with Cy Twombly, whom he had met at the Art Students League. During his travels, Rauschenberg worked on a series of small collages, hanging assemblages, and small boxes filled with found elements, which he exhibited in Rome and Florence.
Upon his return to New York in 1953, Rauschenberg completed his series of black paintings, using newspaper as the ground, and began work on sculptures created from wood, stones, and other materials found on the streets; paintings made with tissue paper, dirt, or gold leaf. The main idea of these works was the combination of reality and art through the use of fragments of everyday objects. The incorporation of these found objects eventually evolved into the integration of "Combines", a term Rauschenberg used for the materials used in his painting and which could include objects as a stuffed goat, tire, or blanket. In late 1953, he met Jasper Johns, and the two artists had neighboring studios, regularly exchanging ideas and discussing their work, until 1961.
In 1970 Robert Rauschenberg moved from New York to Captiva Island, Florida, where he built up the graphic workshop 'Untitled Press, Inc.' together with Robert Petersen. Between 1985 and 1991 he organised in co-operation with the United Nations the culture interchange program ROCI ("Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Exchange"), which also showed his works. In 1990 the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation was founded, with which the artist sponsored scientific and socio-political projects. Rauschenberg was honoured with numerous prizes for his art and his social commitment. Retrospective exhibitions express all over the world the appreciation of his works, but seem to be quite early in view of the artist's lasting productivity. Robert Rauschenberg lived and worked in New York and on Captiva Island, Florida until his death in 2008.
Gallery Exhibitions
Robert Rauschenberg, Paintings, Screenprints and Lithographs - July 15 - August 28, 2004
Press
Photos, paintings, odd objects find home with Rauschenberg, San Francisco Chronicle Download PDF (67 K)