Have you ever walked into an art gallery or Art Museum and wasn’t quite sure what you were looking at?. Yes, I too have been puzzled by the things I seen. I started looking at other people faces and asking myself, “Do they honestly understand what this is? What it means?”. This great American artist began transforming art in the twentieth century. Robert Rauschenberg gave new meaning to art. Cited as an important forerunner of the American Pop Art, Robert was a painter, photographer, print maker, choreographer, onstage performer, set designer and even an composer.
Robert Rauschenberg died at the age of 82, but he leaves behind a timeline of events and the legacy of being a pioneer to new ideas and ways of creating art. Rauschenberg is known as the greatest artist of printmaking and for introducing the world an transformation from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. He inspired other artist to have freedom of possibility by finding beauty in everyday, he took ordinary everyday objects and added them into his work. This form of creation later paved the way to Pop Art and Conceptual Art. Robert Rauschenberg was most famous for his Combines, combined found objects and paintings. Although many people viewed them as trash, he declared that this was and still is a form of art. Robert Rauschenberg was not the only artist considered the greatest of printmaking and silk-screening, among him were Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, but Robert had the best creative mind out of them all.
Robert’s first and most famous combine was “Monogram”, it contained a stuffed goat, a tire, a police barrier, the heel of a shoe, a tennis ball and paint. This combining sparked the beginning of the Pop Art movement. “Canyon”, another example of an combined painting; which included oil, pencil, paper, wood, metal, buttons, photographs and fabric on a canvas. Then attached to the bottom of the canvas was a stuffed eagle, a pillow and a string. This painting was a remake of Rembrandt’s “ The Rape of Ganymede’ “ (1635), that depicted an young boy being abducted by an bald eagle. The pillow in Rauschenberg’s painting represented the young boys buttocks. Robert believed this piece bought out independence of the use of random materials. Robert then turned his attention back to two dimensional painting using magazine photographs of current events.
By the end of 1962, Robert Rauschenberg paintings included images that were transported as a photograph onto to a canvas, known as silk screening. Rauschenberg continued experimenting printmaking, but onto new surfaces such as clothes, plexiglass and aluminum. During this period, Robert also worked on costumes and on stage designs. In the 1970’s Rauschenberg built the graphic workshop “Untitled Press, Inc. that showcased his works.Throughout the 1980’s to the 1990’s Robert constantly thought of new ways to transfer photographs. Later a Foundation was founded for Robert Rauschenberg and he was later honored with a host of prizes for his artworks and social commitment. Exhibitions were held all over the world that showed the works of the great Robert Rauschenberg.
Not only was Robert a painter, he was photographer, print maker, choreographer, onstage performer, set designer and even an composer. His association with theater and dance begun around the 1950’s, when he started designing sets and costumes. In 1963, Robert choreographed “Pelican”, which he performed on stage on roller skates and while wearing a parachute and helmet. There was also a tape of colleagued sounds which he recorded. This collaboration of mixing technology and art started experiments in Art and Technology, a nonprofit foundation that fostered joint projects between artist and scientist. While Robert Rauschenberg was expanding on his new found ideas and career other artist of his time were also expanding on their techniques.
Andy Warhol, known as the the “Prince of Pop”, was famous for painting objects of mass production such as Campbell soup cans and coca cola bottles. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, in 1962, Andy started making silk screen paintings of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Although Andy Warhol was a great artist he wasn’t as creative as Robert. Rauschenberg used a far more variety of material when creating his masterpieces, he used abandoned items he found on streets; such as buttons, metal scraps, different types of oils and paints and most importantly photographs. Andy kept his paintings two dimensional never stepping out of his box. Steinberg, from the Chicago University Press reports Jasper John as saying that: “Rauschenberg was the man who in this century had invented the most since Picasso”. Rauschenberg’s creativity on the use of mediums (tools) were way better than Andy Warhol, majority of his works consisted of photographs that he simply transported onto a canvas then painted over. In this sense, Rauschenberg was far more open minded to using new things. He was unique and not afraid to take on a challenge.
Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter and major figure in Abstract Expressionism. Jackson was known for his “drip and splash” style. Instead of the traditional easel usage, Pollock placed his canvas on the floor and dripped paint from a can, rather than using an brush, Pollock used sticks and knives. Pollock’s sense of painting was rather different from most, he had an all-over style painting that avoided points of emphasis. In the 1960’s Pollock was named one of the most important figures of the important movement in American painting, but to a movement that was already established. Robert Rauschenberg created his own movement during his time of painting, he was considered a pioneer for developing new ideas. Robert’s style was just as different as Pollock but even more interesting. Pollock took the real labor out of actually painting a piece, to just dripping it onto the canvas and then afterwards cutting the edges to produce fine lines. Robert put in more labor, working hard from start to finish, not always did he know exactly how he would place the random items that he used. Dripping paint sounds like something anybody can do and whatever the outcome its a masterpiece, that is why I don’t believe Jackson Pollock was such an exceptional artist. His work was interesting but not as amazing and well thought out as Robert Rauschenberg pieces were.
Another great artist, Willem de Kooning, a Dutch/ American of Abstract Expressionism, was known for his large and vibrant paintings. In 1926, Willem worked as a commercial artist, window dresser, sign painter and carpenter. Through 1935 and 1939, de Kooning worked for the Federal Art Project where he painted murals. In the mid 1950’s he started the Woman series which made him famous, The Woman series was a collection of paintings that portrayed naked Woman. Once again Rauschenberg overshadowed the artist, “creating the analogy between the colleagued information and human subjectivity or consciousness was an “invention” indeed, one into Picasso himself had not entered”. Chicago University Press, 2007 (1972), pg 84. Rauschenberg even erased one of Willem de Kooning artworks and it was entitled “Erased de Kooning”. Robert became very famous for this, at first many thought it was a way of protesting against Abstract Expressionism and taking away from history, but later many learned to understand and love it. Willem’s paintings were very “childlike”, from a far it looks like random colors and shapes that were somewhat forming into a figure, but you couldn’t tell right away. It was hard to understand exactly what was being viewed. Its only until you get a closer to the painting that you can see what was created but you still get lost in the colors. Rauschenberg paintings were always clear to view, not always clear to understand but the viewer still had an idea of what was being expressed. Robert’s style of painting was always clear to the naked eye.
Although Rauschenberg had a stroke that paralyzed his right side, he learned to continue to work with just his left hand. His success gave support to other upcoming artist. His foundations allowed artist works help to pay for their medical bills. Robert Rauschenberg also brought property from his neighbors, then allowed them to live rent free, while he maintained their homes. Rauschenberg was more than just an artist, he was real genuine person. Although I have never met him, I feel that he is based upon reading about him. I would’ve loved to see Rauschenberg create a masterpiece in person and then explain what it meant, why he created such a thing. In the article: Robert Rauschenberg, American Artist, Dies at 82, in the New York Times, By Michael Kimmelman, Rauschenberg quotes: “Anything you do will be an abuse of somebody else’s aesthetics. I think you’re born an artist or not. I couldn’t have learned it. And I hope I never do because knowing more only encourages your limitations.”
Works Cited
- Gaymede, The Rape of (1635), by Rembrandt van Rijn
- Kimmelman, Micheal. “ Robert Rauschenberg, American Artist Dies at 82” The New York Times 14 May 2008 <<http://www.nytimes.com>>
- Steinberg, Leo. University of Chicago Press, 2007
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