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What was unique about Robert Rauschenberg's art?
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What was unique about Robert Rauschenberg's art was that it incorporated everyday objects and straddled the line between painting and sculpture. The American artist is best known for the complex assemblages of found objects he termed “combines.” Rauschenberg was drawn to the visual landscape of popular culture and mined its imagery for inspiration. Early in his career during the 1950s, he used unorthodox materials like house paint and tried novel techniques in his studio, like running paper over with a car after inking its wheels. In the 1960s, Rauschenberg turned his attention to silkscreening, creating prints that feature iconic figures of the day, very much in line with the style and content of Pop art. One such work, 1965's CORE, which was created to commemorate the Congress of Racial Equality, combines photographs of President Kennedy, an unidentified Native American man and a statue of a Civil War soldier with images of highways, amusement parks, street signs and other features of the built environment. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, Rauschenberg experimented with printing on unusual materials, such as Plexiglas, clothing and aluminum. Shop a range of Robert Rauschenberg art on 1stDibs.
1stDibs ExpertAugust 8, 2024
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Shop for Robert Rauschenberg Art on 1stDibs
“After Homage to Picasso“
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in Warren, NJ
This is a rare lithograph only 45 made. There is some foxing and toning, but it should be able to fix that. Still a great picture.
Measurements
imag...
Category
1970s Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
Quarry
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Robert Rauschenberg
Title: Quarry
Medium: Offset lithograph in colors
Year: 1968
Edition: 500
Frame Size: 41 1/2" x 33"
Sheet Size: 35 1/2" x 26 1/2"
Signature: Signed in the...
Category
1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Robert Rauschenberg 'Night Shades + Urban Bourbons' 1995
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This exhibition poster commemorates Robert Rauschenberg's "Night Shades + Urban Bourbons" showcase, held in Denmark in 1995. Known for his groundbreaking work in mixed media and coll...
Category
20th Century Pop Art Prints and Multiples
Materials
Offset
Charms against harms, Robert Rauschenberg
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008)
Title: Charms against harms
Year: 1993
Medium: Lithograph on wove paper
Edition: H.C. 8/15, 100, plus proofs
Size: 40.5 x 28 inches
Condition:...
Category
1990s Pop Art Abstract Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$8,400 Sale Price
20% Off
Historic Galleria Lucio Amelio, Naples poster - rarely found collectors item
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in New York, NY
Robert Rauschenberg
Lucio Amelio Napoli poster, 1987
Offset lithograph poster
Plate signed
39 × 21 inches
Unframed
This poster was published for the exh...
Category
1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph, Offset
Why You Can Tell #2
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Why You Can Tell #2" from the suite "Nine Prints" is an original serigraph with offset lithograph and collage on Wove paper by American artist Robert Rauschenberg, 1925-2008. It is hand signed and numbered 36/100 in pencil by the artist. Published by Multiples, New York and Printed by Styria Studio, New York. With the blind stamp of the printer at lower left corner. The sheet size is 22.75 x 30 inches, framed is 43 x 34.25 inches. This particular artwork is held in several museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. It is beautifully framed in a wooden gold frame, with fabric matting and color bevel.
About the artist.
Born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1925, Robert Rauschenberg imagined himself first as a minister and later as a pharmacist. It wasn't until 1947, while in the U.S. Marines, that he discovered his aptitude for drawing and his interest in the artistic representation of everyday objects and people. After leaving the Marines, he studied art in Paris on the G.I. Bill, but quickly became disenchanted with the European art scene.
Rauschenberg's enthusiasm for popular culture and his rejection of the angst and seriousness of the Abstract Expressionists led him to search for a new way of painting. He found his signature mode by embracing materials traditionally outside of the artist's reach. He would cover a canvas with house paint, or ink the wheel of a car and run it over paper to create a drawing, while demonstrating rigor and concern for formal painting. By 1958, at the time of his first solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery, his work had moved from abstract painting to drawings like "Erased De Kooning" (1953) (which was exactly as it sounds) to what he termed "combines." These combines (meant to express both the finding and forming of combinations in three-dimensional collage) cemented his place in art history.
As Pop Art emerged in the 1960s, Rauschenberg turned away from three-dimensional combines and began to work in two dimensions, using magazine...
Category
Late 20th Century Pop Art Abstract Prints
Materials
Mixed Media