Comments on: Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:20:04 -0800

Robert Rauschenberg was one of the great American artists of the 20th Century. Born in Texas, Rauschenberg studied art in Paris and North Carolina before moving to New York to "make it" as a painter. He developed a signature style which he called "combines" in which he combined paint, collage, and scupture in one piece. His work has been showcased at The National Gallery of Art, Washington, MoMA, and The Guggenheim among others

By: Guy Smiley

Guy Smiley — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:26:44 -0800

Yeah, but can he play bass?

By: kozad

kozad — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:55:48 -0800

I saw a huge show of his (well, I guess they're all huge) at the Chicago Institute of Art many years ago, and walked out to a world that looked different. That is one of the marks of a great artist...he makes you look at everything around you differently.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 10:01:58 -0800

Guy Smiley : I don't know... but he did give up ministry because the church doesn't allow dancing! How bad can he be?

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 11:27:06 -0800

If only he was in Foreigner, then I might like his art better...

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:16:03 -0800

WAS??? Isn't he still alive? Or did i miss something?

By: luriete

luriete — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:35:13 -0800

Yeah, I'm confused. Rauschenberg is still alive, and still IS one of the great American artists of the 20th or any other century. What's all this WAS business?

By: shoepal

shoepal — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 13:15:45 -0800

I think he lives in Florida. On an island.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 13:57:45 -0800

I didn't mean to imply that Rauschenberg is dead, sorry for any confusion. I suppose that since biographies are in general written in the past tense, I got sucked into it myself. As far as I know (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), he hasn't done any new work since his retrospective in 1998. I suppose that's also why I used past tense as opposed to writing about someone who has a new show coming up next week. And yes. He lives on an island in Florida.

By: monkey!knife!fight!

monkey!knife!fight! — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 14:01:55 -0800

I just love him, and you gave me quite a scare. Glad to know he's not dead, and thanks for the links!

By: the_savage_mind

the_savage_mind — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 02:30:43 -0800

Rauschenberg suffered a savage stroke and has been teaching himself to paint with his left hand. The results are interesting. When I was back in DC in January, I went to a talk on him, both a retrospective and a lookg at his new work. I think it's fair to say that as Picasso was the most significant (not necessarily best... that's so subjective) artist of the first half of the 20th Century, Rauschenberg was the most significant of the second half. A protean man with so much energy, who has just not stopped working. I think he was also lucky to be a man of his time... much that he did he got away with... meaning he probably wouldn't have in another time or place. But that doesn't take one bit away from such an amazing man. Oh, and he's spent an inordinate amount of time working on projects that promote tolerance and peace between nations. I am in a place where I'm getting online with dial-up, and I only have a few more minutes to monopolize the phone line. I'll try to find links to these things when I get home.