This large 4-color lithograph with vibrant and fresh colors is classic Rauschenberg. Appropriating iconic imagery from various media sources, such as a giant Metropolitan Police Badge, Rauschenberg uses color and composition to give the images an entirely new meaning. While at first glance the imagery may seem haphazard, it becomes clear upon closer inspection that his choice of subject was actually very deliberate, shrouded in meaning, often socially and politically charged. His work never failed to provide viewers with a message, and yet the dynamism and grace of his work as a purely formal composition is just as powerful; function and form are always perfectly balanced.
American artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) was one of the most influential and prolific artists of the 20th century. Credited with bridging the movements of Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dadaism, and Pop Art, the artist strove to undermine the illusion that art has an one exclusive or definitive meaning. Rauschenberg experimented with innovative approaches to art, challenging viewers and artists alike with his ambitious creations. From his ‘Erased de Kooning’ (1953), which was literally an erased de Kooning drawing, to his ‘Open Score’ (1966), which playfully exemplified the concept of chance, Rauschenberg knew no limits with his work. Often stating that he wanted to work “in the gap between art and life,” Rauschenberg deconstructed notions of high and low art, blurring the boundaries between fine art and the mere everyday objects. In 1993, Rauschenberg was awarded the National Medal of the Arts and has had numerous retrospectives at renowned institutions including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Arts (Los Angeles).
Selected Public Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, NY)
Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY)
Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY)
National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)
Tate Gallery (London, UK)
Please excuse glare and reflection.
Unexamined outside of the frame.
