The death of the irrepressibly innovative artist Robert Rauschenberg on Monday marks a loss for the entire world of art. Tyler Green rounds up a list of obituaries and more for accounts on the man. In D.C., the loss is acutely felt, owing to his many fine works in the national collections this city hosts, but that should also serve as a warm reminder about his life and works.
District viewers were very recently graced with a show of Rauschenberg’s work: “Let the World In”, a collection of the artist’s prints, which ran through March. One point underscored by that show is that Rauschenberg was fiercely inventive even working within one genre. He was, of course, comfortable using traditional techniques like lithography, but he also dabbled in digital image manipulation. He combined so many sorts of printmaking techniques to arrive at a single piece that in many cases “print” is the only accurate way to describe the work.
For viewers who’d like to see a Rauschenberg now — or at least to know where his work is likely to pop up in the future — here are some resources:
» The National Gallery of Art: The nation’s chief art museum has an enormous collection of works by Rauschenberg. The museum’s holdings include two drawings, three portfolios, seven paintings, a couple dozen sculptures, many dozen photographs, and more prints than you could shake a stick at.
“We remember his international project called the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange, which culminated in a colorful multimedia exhibition here at the Gallery in 1991,” said Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery of Art. “And we just closed Let the World In, a comprehensive show of his prints, the title of which came from a statement by art historian Leo Steinberg referring to the artist’s integration of everyday objects and representation at a time when abstraction dominated.”
Image of Robert Rauschenberg’s 1988 photogravure, Soviet/American Array III, published by Universal Limited Art Editions (Bay Shore, New York) and courtesy of the National Gallery of Art.
