[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":24036},["ShallowReactive",2],{"globals:footer":3,"page:home:sanity":40},{"address":4,"info":5,"links":17,"phone":26,"socialMediaLinks":27},"381 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10003\ncr@rauschenbergfoundation.org",[6],{"_key":7,"_type":8,"children":9,"markDefs":15,"style":16},"599e2a9f6700","block",[10],{"_key":11,"_type":12,"marks":13,"text":14},"bed078f5368d","span",[],"The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation builds on the legacy of artist Robert Rauschenberg, emphasizing his belief that artists can drive social change. Rauschenberg sought to act in the “gap” between art and life, valuing chance and collaboration across disciplines. As such, the Foundation celebrates new and even untested ways of thinking.",[],"normal",[18,22],{"_key":19,"label":20,"url":21},"fa4381e0935e","Terms and Conditions","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Ffoundation\u002Fterms-and-conditions",{"_key":23,"label":24,"url":25},"9384c6a8f419","Join Mailing List","https:\u002F\u002Frauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fjoin-our-mailing-list","212.228.5283",[28,32,36],{"_key":29,"label":30,"url":31},"a261f817c586","Facebook","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.facebook.com\u002FRauschenbergFoundation",{"_key":33,"label":34,"url":35},"7b0ed283daed","Instagram","https:\u002F\u002Finstagram.com\u002Frauschenbergfoundation",{"_key":37,"label":38,"url":39},"2a80bf504b70","Vimeo","https:\u002F\u002Fvimeo.com\u002Frauschenbergfoundation",{"_createdAt":41,"_id":42,"_rev":43,"_system":44,"_type":42,"_updatedAt":47,"desktopPlaybackId":48,"desktopVideo":49,"featuredArtworkThumbnails":55,"mobileAspect":73,"mobilePlaybackId":74,"mobileVideo":75,"tableOfContents":78,"essays":78,"thumbnails":24001},"2026-08-05T17:40:11Z","homepage","AT3m2ak6bZ701LMshpsguz",{"base":45},{"id":42,"rev":46},"fB7dObOrBlqwGHZVHGM40n","2026-10-22T16:33:05Z","IwYcBiWwfIlcXwmZN011Q8qFyy00tW00CWjxA00e01kqpdnM",{"_type":50,"asset":51},"mux.video",{"_ref":52,"_type":53,"_weak":54},"41ebdeb1-b025-4b11-b7f0-b127376bbc80","reference",true,[56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72],"48.001","49.008","49.005","50.001","50.003","52.016","52.011","51.003","50.007","52.008","52.009","52.014","53.010","53.D001","53.041","53.021","53.027","16:9","Pdk7Y3cqEw3f7ATA8pog02rwyjfYbEp9FV8OnyK2zEt8",{"_type":50,"asset":76},{"_ref":77,"_type":53,"_weak":54},"1f417bfb-fc4d-41ab-8f13-7b6fda275f6e",[79,426,1609,6311,7608,8484,10121,11980,13048,15077],{"_createdAt":80,"_id":81,"_rev":82,"_system":83,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":87,"author":88,"authorBio":89,"citeAs":103,"essayType":121,"paragraphStyle":122,"textOnlyBody":123,"title":408,"tocPreviewTitle":417,"uid":423},"2026-08-05T17:05:00Z","178307cf-9e75-406a-8e6f-fe4be505b30a","GgMg6vQPkGA1lTsJn4cWZt",{"base":84},{"id":81,"rev":85},"kC0HNR2GXmwmAbxNFM7xLT","essay","2026-10-22T15:27:21Z","Courtney J. Martin",[90],{"_key":91,"_type":8,"children":92,"markDefs":102,"style":16},"ca21441bf3bd",[93,98],{"_key":94,"_type":12,"marks":95,"text":97},"380f5e5e99e6",[96],"strong","Courtney J. Martin ",{"_key":99,"_type":12,"marks":100,"text":101},"c0f16efed131",[],"is the Executive Director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York",[],[104],{"_key":105,"_type":8,"children":106,"markDefs":120,"style":16},"b4f2f6adb068",[107,111,116],{"_key":108,"_type":12,"marks":109,"text":110},"1cd8261665be",[],"Courtney J. Martin, “Foreword,” ",{"_key":112,"_type":12,"marks":113,"text":115},"e29372d2a81a",[114],"em","Robert Rauschenberg: Paintings and Sculptures, 1948–1953",{"_key":117,"_type":12,"marks":118,"text":119},"75e2d0fc18bd",[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fforeword.",[],"text-only","indents",[124,141,165,173,240,324,377,385,400],{"_key":125,"_type":8,"children":126,"markDefs":140,"style":16},"63cc05715b14",[127,132,136],{"_key":128,"_type":12,"marks":129,"text":131},"14bb42e77307",[130],"forceUnindent","As this publication went live, on October 22, 2026, the yearlong celebration of the centennial of Robert Rauschenberg’s birth drew to a close. From its onset, upward of thirty exhibitions took place around the world, from Des Moines to East Hampton to Madrid to Kuala Lumpur, focusing on widely disparate aspects of Rauschenberg’s practice. Scores of articles were published, in mainstream outlets and the art press, reflecting on his career and its impact on generations of artists. The 2025 edition of miart, the Milan-based modern and contemporary art fair, took Rauschenberg as its curatorial inspiration. His work sparked a runway collection, by the American fashion designer Jason Wu. Choreography the artist created in 1963 for two dancers on roller skates (and one ",{"_key":133,"_type":12,"marks":134,"text":135},"63977a71d08d",[114,130],"en pointe",{"_key":137,"_type":12,"marks":138,"text":139},"2d035dec5c9a",[130],") was presented for the first time since 1966, in Brooklyn.",[],{"_key":142,"_type":8,"children":143,"markDefs":164,"style":16},"6998012524fe",[144,148,152,156,160],{"_key":145,"_type":12,"marks":146,"text":147},"9127874953a8",[],"Despite all that, and more, the release of this online publication is a unique milestone in Rauschenberg’s centennial year. In October 2025, Yale University Press, in association with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, published ",{"_key":149,"_type":12,"marks":150,"text":151},"807188a04790",[114],"I Don’t Think About Being Great: Selected Writings",{"_key":153,"_type":12,"marks":154,"text":155},"ae9e074503ca",[],", a collection of one hundred texts by the artist that greatly expands our understanding of what and how he thought not only about his own work but also more broadly, about the social and political issues of his day. In its pages, Rauschenberg is revealed to have been an engaged activist as well as an unstinting and humorous friend to many of his peers. This first installment of the Rauschenberg catalogue raisonné can be seen almost as a foil to that book—rather than his own ideas, here we get the scholarly summation of what, essentially, ",{"_key":157,"_type":12,"marks":158,"text":159},"eeb659ccf65c",[114],"others",{"_key":161,"_type":12,"marks":162,"text":163},"5ba6327c674a",[]," have thought and written in response to Rauschenberg’s earliest paintings and sculptures, created between the years 1948 and 1953. Here is a record of all the attempts art historians, critics, journalists, and writers of all stripes have made to comprehend the radical, chameleonic gestures Rauschenberg made in his art of this period, and of all the exhibitions, then and since then, that have granted the public a glimpse of the diverse output of Rauschenberg’s churning young mind.",[],{"_key":166,"_type":8,"children":167,"markDefs":172,"style":16},"138dde27cbfd",[168],{"_key":169,"_type":12,"marks":170,"text":171},"f64e73005615",[],"In other words, here is what the field of art history deems a “reasoned catalogue” of the work of the consummate master of “random order” (to borrow the title of a photo essay Rauschenberg published in 1963). A significant number of the works are published here for the first time, and the meticulously researched catalogue entries, in conjunction with seven newly commissioned essays, encourage a fresh consideration of all the artist’s early production, without the distraction of the better-known series that would soon follow and gain the artist international renown. Moreover, many of the works—more than a third—are no longer extant, whether lost, destroyed (intentionally or unintentionally), or painted over by the artist. These are the works that emerged from Rauschenberg’s earliest encounters with the serious art world, after a youth spent sketching for his peers’ amusement and designing clothes for his women friends and costumes for theater productions. Here, his imagination and ambition rub up against the formidable influences and anti-models he confronted in Kansas City, Paris, rural North Carolina, and, finally, New York. Far from cowed, he dipped and he dove, producing works that challenged the conventions not only of academic practice but also of the ascendant, now-canonical modernism that surrounded him first at Black Mountain College, in the person and philosophy of Josef Albers, and then in Manhattan, ruled by its phalanx of Abstract Expressionists.",[],{"_key":174,"_type":8,"children":175,"markDefs":237,"style":16},"9fc1835f697c",[176,180,184,188,193,197,201,205,209,213,217,221,225,229,233],{"_key":177,"_type":12,"marks":178,"text":179},"c2c049066221",[],"Some of the work may look familiar, or at least not unexpected, to those acquainted with Rauschenberg’s later oeuvre, particularly the early sculptures made of found materials, starting with ",{"_key":181,"_type":12,"marks":182,"text":183},"7d1defd21b30",[114],"Greenhouse",{"_key":185,"_type":12,"marks":186,"text":187},"96a12a16e594",[]," (1950; ",{"_key":189,"_type":12,"marks":190,"text":192},"a4eb0856fb77",[191],"b70eb69a2001","11",{"_key":194,"_type":12,"marks":195,"text":196},"ce37d40c86b1",[],"), and the early paintings with layered, collaged surfaces, often incorporating fragments of text and stray environmental matter, such as gravel and tar. The latter include his ",{"_key":198,"_type":12,"marks":199,"text":200},"e19e63869b95",[114],"Night Blooming",{"_key":202,"_type":12,"marks":203,"text":204},"479a0f8e5504",[]," and ",{"_key":206,"_type":12,"marks":207,"text":208},"c37fbff759c1",[114],"Black Painting",{"_key":210,"_type":12,"marks":211,"text":212},"2f9578474a69",[]," series, executed mostly between 1951 and 1953 at Black Mountain and in Rauschenberg’s first proper New York studio, at 61 Fulton Street, far downtown, near the seaport and fish market. These paintings and sculptures fit comfortably in the artist’s canon, revealing, it would seem, the same fascination with materials beyond traditional art media, with materials ",{"_key":214,"_type":12,"marks":215,"text":216},"b820a376fcb3",[114],"as",{"_key":218,"_type":12,"marks":219,"text":220},"273b422a3890",[]," materials, that so many of his later works do. But sometimes the staunch association of Rauschenberg with materials occludes other aspects of his practice—aspects that are, fundamentally,",{"_key":222,"_type":12,"marks":223,"text":224},"c37bcb5333fd",[114]," immaterial",{"_key":226,"_type":12,"marks":227,"text":228},"acbe1b05ce02",[],". I am speaking of his contrivance of strategies that can only be described as “conceptual,” very much ",{"_key":230,"_type":12,"marks":231,"text":232},"a22c0338d10e",[114],"avant la lettre",{"_key":234,"_type":12,"marks":235,"text":236},"11170bf49274",[],".",[238],{"_key":191,"_type":239,"crNo":64},"crLink",{"_key":241,"_type":8,"children":242,"markDefs":314,"style":16},"01fd17b5e154",[243,247,251,255,260,264,269,272,277,280,285,288,293,297,302,306,310],{"_key":244,"_type":12,"marks":245,"text":246},"da58c976845f",[],"Take the ",{"_key":248,"_type":12,"marks":249,"text":250},"62bd807395c2",[114],"White Paintings",{"_key":252,"_type":12,"marks":253,"text":254},"95cf89459e14",[],". These five works (",{"_key":256,"_type":12,"marks":257,"text":259},"f79cf2d6cbc1",[258],"1fe78d401c57","32",{"_key":261,"_type":12,"marks":262,"text":263},"59412710f81e",[],", ",{"_key":265,"_type":12,"marks":266,"text":268},"60ffa9897074",[267],"39774b9781c0","33",{"_key":270,"_type":12,"marks":271,"text":263},"33921e797d26",[],{"_key":273,"_type":12,"marks":274,"text":276},"4d7b95788389",[275],"10571f59e8dc","34",{"_key":278,"_type":12,"marks":279,"text":263},"1d1e19d2002e",[],{"_key":281,"_type":12,"marks":282,"text":284},"251f3648adaa",[283],"e09a9454a1db","35",{"_key":286,"_type":12,"marks":287,"text":263},"e09a3c112836",[],{"_key":289,"_type":12,"marks":290,"text":292},"97e77c737ae0",[291],"1c32bf2afb3a","36",{"_key":294,"_type":12,"marks":295,"text":296},"80b64a8a3aa5",[],"), created in 1951, consist of white house paint applied to one or more rectangular or square canvases with as little trace of the painter’s hand as possible. From the beginning, Rauschenberg did not insist on his own physical fabrication of the works; Cy Twombly helped paint the original examples at Black Mountain. In a letter to the gallerist Betty Parsons in October 1951, Rauschenberg wrote, “It is completely irrelevant that I am making them—",{"_key":298,"_type":12,"marks":299,"text":301},"14bd1f620039",[300],"underline","Today",{"_key":303,"_type":12,"marks":304,"text":305},"bb0d0281ea15",[]," is their creator.” Describing the moment of their inception, he told an interviewer in 1966, “After I painted one, two, three, and four of the white ones, I jumped to an arbitrary large number, which would imply that they could just go on and on.” These are highly conceptual gestures, before we even get to the fact that the artist, in the interest of keeping the works pristine, repainted and had others repaint them multiple times over the years, always keeping 1951 as their date of creation. In 1965, for an exhibition at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Rauschenberg sent a page of diagrams and written instructions to the museum’s director, Pontus Hultén, so that the works could be fabricated in Sweden rather than shipped from the United States. ",{"_key":307,"_type":12,"marks":308,"text":309},"3017ce6f889a",[114],"Instructions",{"_key":311,"_type":12,"marks":312,"text":313},"c272186247fc",[],"—the conceptual gesture par excellence.",[315,316,318,320,322],{"_key":258,"_type":239,"crNo":63},{"_key":291,"_type":239,"crNo":317},"51.002",{"_key":267,"_type":239,"crNo":319},"51.006",{"_key":275,"_type":239,"crNo":321},"51.005",{"_key":283,"_type":239,"crNo":323},"51.004",{"_key":325,"_type":8,"children":326,"markDefs":372,"style":16},"8e15372bc285",[327,331,335,339,344,348,353,357,360,364,368],{"_key":328,"_type":12,"marks":329,"text":330},"6e6768ff1899",[],"Other works of this period are equally conceptual in nature. ",{"_key":332,"_type":12,"marks":333,"text":334},"8b84c57b3bc3",[114],"Erased de Kooning Drawing",{"_key":336,"_type":12,"marks":337,"text":338},"db4c24d39e30",[]," (",{"_key":340,"_type":12,"marks":341,"text":343},"4cb9222f21db",[342],"fa55bc7a90c7","105",{"_key":345,"_type":12,"marks":346,"text":347},"86a4e53a63f3",[],") is probably the most famous example. As Helen Molesworth recounts in detail in ",{"_key":349,"_type":12,"marks":350,"text":352},"b08fef51489e",[351],"ec84efcc78e3","her essay",{"_key":354,"_type":12,"marks":355,"text":356},"b7667fdd2ea2",[],", Rauschenberg knocked on Willem de Kooning’s door one evening and asked the older artist to give him a drawing, free of charge, for the express purpose of erasing it. While there is clearly an intense materiality to the careful erasing process that followed, there is no denying that, in this case, the idea was the thing. Decades later, Rauschenberg countered the suggestion that ",{"_key":358,"_type":12,"marks":359,"text":334},"156d7c00c3e5",[114],{"_key":361,"_type":12,"marks":362,"text":363},"2c357c5c574a",[]," was a “kind of negation” by saying, “No. Like, neither is the ",{"_key":365,"_type":12,"marks":366,"text":367},"6721f4658864",[114],"White Painting",{"_key":369,"_type":12,"marks":370,"text":371},"583d2f68e891",[],". It’s not a negation, it’s a celebration. It’s just the idea.” Rauschenberg did not need anyone to lay the groundwork for him to engage in such conceptual operations and call them art. He had the courage of his convictions, despite being so young, so green, in that Manhattan milieu. Somehow he came up with this stuff. He was not an early adopter but a pioneer—not unlike his heroes the Wright brothers, or the astronauts he admired from the 1960s on.",[373,374],{"_key":342,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":351,"_type":375,"href":376},"link","https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Ferased-de-kooning",{"_key":378,"_type":8,"children":379,"markDefs":384,"style":16},"233a02608ec0",[380],{"_key":381,"_type":12,"marks":382,"text":383},"da01a111432a",[],"It is necessary revisions such as the foregoing, to the received wisdom of art history, that catalogues raisonnés are singularly positioned to support. We can see all the work laid out, and we can weigh it in the scales supplied by the latest developments in and best practices of our field of study, as well as those afforded by our own intellectual and political principles, our particular time and place. Concurrently, the catalogue raisonné equips us, as closely as possible, to understand the discursive context in which an artist produced their work—what ideas its audience brought to bear on it, what other works were brought into conversation with it (whether the artist was paying attention or not)—and the contexts in which the work was received in later periods.",[],{"_key":386,"_type":8,"children":387,"markDefs":399,"style":16},"fdf132ab822a",[388,392,395],{"_key":389,"_type":12,"marks":390,"text":391},"c5afdc117aac",[],"A catalogue raisonné also shows, to the degree that can be firmly traced, who or what has owned an artist’s works from the time of their inception to the present day. In the case of these early Rauschenbergs, so many have been lost that the repositories of the surviving examples tell a story in themselves. That the Cy Twombly Foundation still owns four of the works (of the thirteen Twombly himself owned at one point or another during his lifetime) is a direct reflection of the two artists’ intimate personal and working relationship during the years covered by this publication. The Menil Collection, Houston, which owns five of the works and is promised two more, owes its cache to the early championing of Rauschenberg by John and Dominique de Menil, who met the artist in person and purchased their first work by him in the early 1960s. About twenty years later, Dominique hired Walter Hopps, a curator deeply committed to Rauschenberg, as their museum’s inaugural director. The retrospective Hopps organized in 1976 for the National Collection of Fine Arts (now Smithsonian American Art Museum), Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., traveled the following year to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), which had been given its first work by Rauschenberg five years earlier. The museum acquired a number of works over the next two decades, mostly editions on paper and photographs; then, in 1998, it purchased fourteen seminal works from the artist’s own collection, largely through a gift from a longtime trustee, Phyllis C. Wattis. Six of those works, including ",{"_key":393,"_type":12,"marks":394,"text":334},"20b1a7822554",[114],{"_key":396,"_type":12,"marks":397,"text":398},"a53b7ef8b222",[],", appear in this catalogue. Besides the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, SFMOMA holds the largest collection of the artist’s pre-1954 paintings and sculptures.",[],{"_key":401,"_type":8,"children":402,"markDefs":407,"style":16},"ab6e02a0fcf2",[403],{"_key":404,"_type":12,"marks":405,"text":406},"f2584e281502",[],"All of this is to say that these early works by Rauschenberg ended up in particular places for particular reasons, often very personal ones. Some—those now cared for by the Foundation—he kept his entire life. Then again, some he may or may not have thrown into the Arno, after a badly reviewed exhibition in Florence. In the 1963 essay mentioned earlier, “Random Order,” Rauschenberg referred to an “extrem[e]ly complex random order that cannot be described as accidental.” Random, but not accidental—here perhaps is the true through line of this publication.",[],[409],{"_key":410,"_type":8,"children":411,"markDefs":416,"style":16},"444bd9cdee17",[412],{"_key":413,"_type":12,"marks":414,"text":415},"c896705b9c4a",[],"Foreword",[],[418],{"_key":410,"_type":8,"children":419,"markDefs":422,"style":16},[420],{"_key":413,"_type":12,"marks":421,"text":415},[],[],{"_type":424,"current":425},"slug","foreword",{"_createdAt":427,"_id":428,"_rev":429,"_system":430,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":433,"author":434,"authorBio":435,"citeAs":447,"essayType":121,"paragraphStyle":122,"textOnlyBody":459,"title":1592,"tocPreviewTitle":1601,"uid":1607},"2026-08-05T17:05:47Z","47134af0-552d-4c78-add8-adf0a82a460a","WIUUZOluhqkP3f7SXYGlBX",{"base":431},{"id":428,"rev":432},"fB7dObOrBlqwGHZVHF86on","2026-10-22T16:20:04Z","Julia Blaut",[436],{"_key":437,"_type":8,"children":438,"markDefs":446,"style":16},"debd8816561f",[439,442],{"_key":440,"_type":12,"marks":441,"text":434},"46e990b4d8dc",[96],{"_key":443,"_type":12,"marks":444,"text":445},"5e49db07c88e",[]," is Senior Curator at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York. Since 2013, she has led many of the Foundation’s curatorial, research, and scholarly initiatives, including collaborations with graduate students in art history and conservation. She was formerly Assistant Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, where she worked on Rauschen­berg’s late-career retrospective (1997–99). She has curated, taught, and published widely in the field of postwar American art.",[],[448],{"_key":105,"_type":8,"children":449,"markDefs":458,"style":16},[450,453,455],{"_key":108,"_type":12,"marks":451,"text":452},[],"Julia Blaut, “Introduction,” ",{"_key":112,"_type":12,"marks":454,"text":115},[114],{"_key":117,"_type":12,"marks":456,"text":457},[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fintroduction.",[],[460,484,530,553,598,651,705,770,903,973,1158,1217,1309,1390,1461,1521,1576],{"_key":461,"_type":8,"children":462,"markDefs":472,"style":16},"ae9b2f99f93e",[463,468],{"_key":464,"_type":12,"marks":465,"text":467},"34761f877df2",[466,130],"7810347f8495","Robert Rauschenberg’s earliest artistic endeavors are far less known than his Combines (1954– 64) or his silkscreen paintings (1962–64), the works that brought him international acclaim when he won the grand prize for painting by a foreign artist at the Venice Biennale in 1964.",{"_key":469,"_type":12,"marks":470,"text":471},"07a6d2542d33",[130]," With hindsight, however, it is evident that the characteristics celebrated in those renowned works were percolating in the paintings and sculptures Rauschenberg made between 1948, when, on the G.I. Bill, he attended three art schools—the Kansas City Art Institute, Académie Julian in Paris, and Black Mountain College in North Carolina—and 1953, when he returned from his travels in Europe and North Africa and moved into a studio on Fulton Street in Lower Manhattan. Already apparent are his insatiable curiosity, his openness to a range of artistic possibilities, and his method of generative collaboration. Rauschenberg’s early works exhibit in nascent form a challenge to the traditional demarcations between artistic media—not only painting and sculpture, but also drawing, printmaking, and performance. The works included in the present catalogue, made during this formative period, anticipate the expansive career that lay ahead of him.",[473],{"_key":466,"_type":474,"text":475},"footnote",[476],{"_key":477,"_type":8,"children":478,"markDefs":483,"style":16},"359014f5045e",[479],{"_key":480,"_type":12,"marks":481,"text":482},"6cbcad587ab7",[],"The official name of the prize was the Premio Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri per un Artista Straniero (Prime Minister’s Prize for a Foreign Artist). It has commonly been referred to in the Rauschenberg literature and elsewhere as the “international grand prize in painting.”",[],{"_key":485,"_type":8,"children":486,"markDefs":509,"style":16},"a6fd5e1363ac",[487,491,496,500,505],{"_key":488,"_type":12,"marks":489,"text":490},"480a581a4d94",[],"When Rauschenberg enrolled at Black Mountain College, the experimental art school, in fall 1948, just before his twenty-third birthday, he “hardly knew what a painting was,” the artist Susan Weil recalled. ",{"_key":492,"_type":12,"marks":493,"text":495},"5f33bcee0e4a",[494],"aa315f6b3028","“He was very naive about art.”",{"_key":497,"_type":12,"marks":498,"text":499},"b9d178bbfc8c",[]," But this tells only part of the story. Born in 1925 in the oil refinery town of Port Arthur, Texas, Rauschenberg showed his creative bent early, drawing and participating in high school plays as a set and costume designer. Rauschenberg’s mother, Dora, was a skilled seamstress who instilled in him the appreciation for fabric that would be a mainstay of his art making. ",{"_key":501,"_type":12,"marks":502,"text":504},"60c20c5f5304",[503],"fd202b87a60a","After serving stateside in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Rauschenberg studied at the Kansas City Art Institute for a year and a half, focusing largely on fashion design.",{"_key":506,"_type":12,"marks":507,"text":508},"85f142f9a10a",[]," On June 2, 1948, he embarked on his first overseas trip to study at Académie Julian, a magnet for American artists who perceived France as the center of the art world. It was there that he met Weil, who, unlike Rauschenberg, had grown up in a sophisticated and affluent cultural milieu, attending a private high school in Manhattan where Rufino Tamayo taught art. More than any formal training he received in Paris, it was Weil who introduced Rauschenberg to modern art. And it was Weil whom Rauschenberg followed to Black Mountain in October 1948 for the first of two life-changing stints there.",[510,520],{"_key":494,"_type":474,"text":511},[512],{"_key":513,"_type":8,"children":514,"markDefs":519,"style":16},"aad2fe17a847",[515],{"_key":516,"_type":12,"marks":517,"text":518},"4fa7a2bcbe79",[],"Susan Weil, oral history interview by Karen Thomas, Jan. 5, 2011, transcript, p. 9, Oral History Project, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":503,"_type":474,"text":521},[522],{"_key":523,"_type":8,"children":524,"markDefs":529,"style":16},"1d49f023bd7d",[525],{"_key":526,"_type":12,"marks":527,"text":528},"fd5ecba9c1c0",[],"Kansas City Art Institute transcript, in Milton Ernest Rauschenberg file, BMC Records, series 506.4, box 37, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville.",[],{"_key":531,"_type":8,"children":532,"markDefs":542,"style":16},"493bb7d8b99c",[533,537],{"_key":534,"_type":12,"marks":535,"text":536},"ffd639163dac",[],"By contrast to the conventional instruction he received in Paris, Black Mountain’s unorthodox, interdisciplinary approach inspired Rauschenberg. From October 1948 to mid-June 1949, in addition to drawing and painting, he studied dance and textile construction and participated in student theater productions, making costumes and stage sets—all art forms that were integral to his later career. His primary purpose in attending Black Mountain, however, was to study with Josef Albers, who had brought with him to North Carolina the legendary, materials-based curriculum he had developed at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany. Although Rauschenberg described Albers’s criticism as “excruciating,” he considered the rigorous theorist his most important teacher: ",{"_key":538,"_type":12,"marks":539,"text":541},"98e7808c47dc",[540],"02297a6979b6","“What he taught me had to do with the entire visual world. He didn’t teach you how to ‘do art.’”",[543],{"_key":540,"_type":474,"text":544},[545],{"_key":546,"_type":8,"children":547,"markDefs":552,"style":16},"5063a4103903",[548],{"_key":549,"_type":12,"marks":550,"text":551},"34bfd075c011",[],"Rauschenberg, typed statement on Josef Albers, n.d. [ca. 1964], Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":554,"_type":8,"children":555,"markDefs":592,"style":16},"7a397899c971",[556,559,564,567,572,576,580,583,588],{"_key":534,"_type":12,"marks":557,"text":558},[],"It was two full years before Rauschenberg returned to Black Mountain. In the intervening time, he and Weil lived between Manhattan and her family’s home on Outer Island, Connecticut. During their first American summer together, Rauschenberg, in a letter to his parents, reported working on seven paintings, including a portrait of Weil with Aaron Kurzen, another of her high school art teachers, and one of Delores Fullman, her college roommate (",{"_key":560,"_type":12,"marks":561,"text":563},"345c699c8a0b",[562],"8f19233e4f06","5",{"_key":565,"_type":12,"marks":566,"text":263},"e2b7f4c60d7f",[],{"_key":568,"_type":12,"marks":569,"text":571},"d32ba324bc65",[570],"3a87923d4997","6",{"_key":573,"_type":12,"marks":574,"text":575},"028a5964ef7e",[],"). He also mentioned ",{"_key":577,"_type":12,"marks":578,"text":579},"e2cb8a5e0d01",[114],"Church Painting",{"_key":581,"_type":12,"marks":582,"text":338},"407c416ba2a2",[],{"_key":584,"_type":12,"marks":585,"text":587},"de8f5e852bdd",[586],"a000ba386153","7",{"_key":589,"_type":12,"marks":590,"text":591},"af06053f5520",[],"), a large work he was making at his mother’s behest for the baptistry of the newly built Church of Christ in Lafayette, Louisiana, where his family had moved in 1948. That summer of 1949, Weil taught Rauschenberg how to make cyanotypes, prints created by placing objects onto light-sensitive blueprint paper and exposing them to the sun. The couple worked on cyanotypes together through 1951. These early collaborations are indicative of Rauschenberg’s interest in indexicality and foretell his fascination with both photography and printmaking.",[593,595,597],{"_key":562,"_type":239,"crNo":594},"49.001",{"_key":570,"_type":239,"crNo":596},"49.007",{"_key":586,"_type":239,"crNo":57},{"_key":599,"_type":8,"children":600,"markDefs":644,"style":16},"a6d75f0fde1d",[601,605,610,613,618,621,626,630,633,636,640],{"_key":602,"_type":12,"marks":603,"text":604},"c7eb583fd117",[],"In the academic year 1949–50, Rauschenberg and Weil attended the Art Students League of New York, taking classes in life drawing, painting, and composition with Morris Kantor and Vaclav Vytlacil. Rauschenberg’s few extant paintings from this time (",{"_key":606,"_type":12,"marks":607,"text":609},"a02d82b18184",[608],"38e56064b1fc","8",{"_key":611,"_type":12,"marks":612,"text":263},"f8d606e4cff5",[],{"_key":614,"_type":12,"marks":615,"text":617},"b083ac81bf00",[616],"d7e23e60c984","9",{"_key":619,"_type":12,"marks":620,"text":263},"64e6d9081e1c",[],{"_key":622,"_type":12,"marks":623,"text":625},"cd010858f462",[624],"1d9996bd6f59","10",{"_key":627,"_type":12,"marks":628,"text":629},"d37665a0a3f5",[],") reveal a varied style responsive to the lessons he was absorbing from Cubism, Surrealism, and early Abstract Expressionism. The next summer, Rauschenberg created his first known sculptures. Among the surviving examples is ",{"_key":631,"_type":12,"marks":632,"text":183},"965ae183af58",[114],{"_key":634,"_type":12,"marks":635,"text":338},"9875a1aae811",[],{"_key":637,"_type":12,"marks":638,"text":192},"5ebe56b32a54",[639],"8fa11d5bb143",{"_key":641,"_type":12,"marks":642,"text":643},"7f3f9a8ccb09",[],"), consisting of found materials—twigs, a broken glass orb, and glass shards (possibly sea glass)—inserted into what appears to be a wire fishing trap to which he added white paint. This work is early evidence of the artist’s predilection for making evocative assemblages that combined discarded, mundane objects taken from his immediate surroundings with art materials.",[645,647,649,650],{"_key":608,"_type":239,"crNo":646},"49.004",{"_key":624,"_type":239,"crNo":648},"50.002",{"_key":639,"_type":239,"crNo":64},{"_key":616,"_type":239,"crNo":58},{"_key":652,"_type":8,"children":653,"markDefs":676,"style":16},"d89f40068458",[654,659,663,668,672],{"_key":655,"_type":12,"marks":656,"text":658},"1186905ca7ec",[657],"6353fb4e4ddd","In June 1950, Rauschenberg and Weil married; that fall, they moved into a ground-floor apartment on West 95th Street that served as a shared studio, where they often painted over each other’s canvases.",{"_key":660,"_type":12,"marks":661,"text":662},"9aa2a19ca12a",[]," During this period, Rauschenberg was exposed to many of the artists who would become his mentors and collaborators. In the late summer, he had attended a performance of dances by Merce Cunningham, accompanied by the composer John Cage. In the contemporary art galleries on 57th Street, which he frequented with Weil, he admired the work of the Abstract Expressionists. ",{"_key":664,"_type":12,"marks":665,"text":667},"b6b52010eaa1",[666],"34729ff1df5a","In the winter, he saw Marcel Duchamp’s readymade ",{"_key":669,"_type":12,"marks":670,"text":671},"0b4390ae0fc1",[114,666],"Bicycle Wheel ",{"_key":673,"_type":12,"marks":674,"text":675},"cbb63e165bbd",[666],"(1913; remade 1951), which he later declared “one of the most beautiful pieces of sculpture I’ve ever seen.”",[677,687],{"_key":657,"_type":474,"text":678},[679],{"_key":680,"_type":8,"children":681,"markDefs":686,"style":16},"5472ad2cb42e",[682],{"_key":683,"_type":12,"marks":684,"text":685},"46a9287d189f",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, Walter Hopps, and others, Dec. 21, 1985, transcript, p. [4], Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":666,"_type":474,"text":688},[689],{"_key":690,"_type":8,"children":691,"markDefs":704,"style":16},"69e71545b22e",[692,696,700],{"_key":693,"_type":12,"marks":694,"text":695},"7be3f70b1bec",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, “Profiles: Moving Out,” ",{"_key":697,"_type":12,"marks":698,"text":699},"50591c235407",[114],"New Yorker ",{"_key":701,"_type":12,"marks":702,"text":703},"48ecf1a4a718",[],"40, no. 2 (Feb. 29, 1964), p. 104.",[],{"_key":706,"_type":8,"children":707,"markDefs":761,"style":16},"1d183ef28c05",[708,712,717,720,725,728,733,736,741,745,749,752,757],{"_key":709,"_type":12,"marks":710,"text":711},"cddef86a856f",[],"When he returned to the Art Students League for another semester in spring 1951, he took the opportunity to show his recent paintings—mostly limited in color, with predominantly white grounds—to the dealer Betty Parsons. Parsons surprised Rauschenberg by offering him a show at her gallery that May. While the works he presented in that first solo exhibition displayed some of the characteristics of Abstract Expressionism, their layered surfaces, incorporating printed matter and detritus such as bits of mirror and the artist’s own hair (",{"_key":713,"_type":12,"marks":714,"text":716},"675d314f6dca",[715],"9e0f5a5d441a","16",{"_key":718,"_type":12,"marks":719,"text":263},"df390fa4326a",[],{"_key":721,"_type":12,"marks":722,"text":724},"ba0caa280812",[723],"023e0f4988ba","17",{"_key":726,"_type":12,"marks":727,"text":263},"3bf27a9a4bb6",[],{"_key":729,"_type":12,"marks":730,"text":732},"6e3dfb93d273",[731],"12f12e03fe4b","18",{"_key":734,"_type":12,"marks":735,"text":263},"6f1be6eeaeb7",[],{"_key":737,"_type":12,"marks":738,"text":740},"77d7ac63d269",[739],"280e0949b14f","21",{"_key":742,"_type":12,"marks":743,"text":744},"358561c45186",[],"), broke with that precedent. The Parsons exhibition was seen by the painter Jack Tworkov and the sculptor Philip Pavia, founding members of a vibrant society of artists and thinkers known as “The Club,” as well as by Cage. One painting, ",{"_key":746,"_type":12,"marks":747,"text":748},"50c9e9ea0a2a",[114],"22 The Lily White",{"_key":750,"_type":12,"marks":751,"text":338},"586ed6db384b",[],{"_key":753,"_type":12,"marks":754,"text":756},"dc868a451316",[755],"c3e5516cc6eb","14",{"_key":758,"_type":12,"marks":759,"text":760},"349eb59f0821",[],"), was removed from the exhibition early so that it could be included in the famous “9th Street Show,” where Rauschenberg met his future dealer Leo Castelli.",[762,764,766,768,769],{"_key":715,"_type":239,"crNo":763},"50.006",{"_key":739,"_type":239,"crNo":765},"51.008",{"_key":731,"_type":239,"crNo":767},"51.001",{"_key":755,"_type":239,"crNo":59},{"_key":723,"_type":239,"crNo":60},{"_key":771,"_type":8,"children":772,"markDefs":848,"style":16},"78391c9af4f2",[773,777,781,785,790,794,799,802,807,812,815,820,823,828,832,835,840,844],{"_key":774,"_type":12,"marks":775,"text":776},"7e30721057bc",[],"During this period of artistic ferment, Rauschenberg met Cy Twombly, a fellow student at the Art Students League; at some point, the two began an affair. When Rauschenberg returned to Black Mountain shortly after the birth of his son, Christopher, in July 1951, Twombly was already there. Their marriage faltering, Rauschenberg and Weil largely led independent lives from then on. In that critical summer, Rauschenberg and Twombly took painting tutorials with Ben Shahn and Robert Motherwell, and Rauschenberg began the ",{"_key":778,"_type":12,"marks":779,"text":780},"ee074fee64e6",[114],"Night Bloomings",{"_key":782,"_type":12,"marks":783,"text":784},"5303c677e066",[],", marking the beginning of a career-long practice of working in series. In these paintings, white celestial and plantlike forms contrast with tarry-black surfaces. ",{"_key":786,"_type":12,"marks":787,"text":789},"aba14f77c272",[788],"475f0f16da02","The artist described making them outdoors, with a palette of “red lead, black, and enamel white.”",{"_key":791,"_type":12,"marks":792,"text":793},"7c0d90900b59",[]," ",{"_key":795,"_type":12,"marks":796,"text":798},"60c016b41002",[797],"46d62eb124df","While the canvases were still wet, he turned them over onto the ground, so that gravel, dirt, and insects adhered to them.",{"_key":800,"_type":12,"marks":801,"text":793},"2bf06d737e52",[],{"_key":803,"_type":12,"marks":804,"text":806},"d8988f37d180",[805],"7cee49a8a5a5","Only three examples are extant (",{"_key":808,"_type":12,"marks":809,"text":811},"e1b7b6a609d5",[805,810],"f8c67611c19e","28",{"_key":813,"_type":12,"marks":814,"text":263},"b5e50f81a54d",[805],{"_key":816,"_type":12,"marks":817,"text":819},"42d28ffe9fe8",[805,818],"ab7a4e0231a0","29",{"_key":821,"_type":12,"marks":822,"text":263},"e7efdcd8ec15",[805],{"_key":824,"_type":12,"marks":825,"text":827},"9ae2797067c6",[805,826],"7a77bcafbaa5","30",{"_key":829,"_type":12,"marks":830,"text":831},"d239155bfe8f",[805],"); however, Rauschenberg later said that there had been at least twenty.",{"_key":833,"_type":12,"marks":834,"text":793},"7d7877069154",[],{"_key":836,"_type":12,"marks":837,"text":839},"86f80a96e131",[838],"efa3fec69b37","Some he repainted and incorporated into ",{"_key":841,"_type":12,"marks":842,"text":843},"f6d57cf7537f",[114,838],"Black Paintings",{"_key":845,"_type":12,"marks":846,"text":847},"993fda085c8a",[838],"; others were likely lost after the photographer Aaron Siskind drove a group of them to Chicago for an unrealized exhibition.",[849,859,877,887,897,899,901],{"_key":788,"_type":474,"text":850},[851],{"_key":852,"_type":8,"children":853,"markDefs":858,"style":16},"2b2661b9f48e",[854],{"_key":855,"_type":12,"marks":856,"text":857},"6d50384ee65d",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, untitled notes, n.d., Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 3, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":797,"_type":474,"text":860},[861],{"_key":862,"_type":8,"children":863,"markDefs":876,"style":16},"f634be52accc",[864,868,872],{"_key":865,"_type":12,"marks":866,"text":867},"2a97ed8ffd99",[],"Barbara Rose, ",{"_key":869,"_type":12,"marks":870,"text":871},"6ee24466bf3a",[114],"Rauschenberg",{"_key":873,"_type":12,"marks":874,"text":875},"6f70b4e23e47",[]," (New York: Vintage Books, 1987), p. 36; Rauschenberg, interview by Walter Hopps, Jan. 18–20, 1991, typed notes by Susan Davidson, annotations by Rauschenberg, p. 6, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":805,"_type":474,"text":878},[879],{"_key":880,"_type":8,"children":881,"markDefs":886,"style":16},"d5aaa3d2e0b2",[882],{"_key":883,"_type":12,"marks":884,"text":885},"ace280426f4a",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Hopps, Jan. 18–20, 1991, p. 7.",[],{"_key":838,"_type":474,"text":888},[889],{"_key":890,"_type":8,"children":891,"markDefs":896,"style":16},"83b91180fc73",[892],{"_key":893,"_type":12,"marks":894,"text":895},"ef2457171906",[],"The exhibition was to be presented at Seven Stairs Gallery, Chicago, where an exhibition of Twombly’s work was held in November 1951. Ibid., p. 6.",[],{"_key":826,"_type":239,"crNo":898},"51.013",{"_key":810,"_type":239,"crNo":900},"51.012",{"_key":818,"_type":239,"crNo":902},"51.016",{"_key":904,"_type":8,"children":905,"markDefs":948,"style":16},"b5d2afea660f",[906,910,913,917,920,924,927,931,936,940,944],{"_key":907,"_type":12,"marks":908,"text":909},"605ceb707cca",[],"In fall 1951, still at Black Mountain, Rauschenberg commenced the ",{"_key":911,"_type":12,"marks":912,"text":208},"23140cf8a004",[114],{"_key":914,"_type":12,"marks":915,"text":916},"01e5b6014c79",[]," series and completed the first iterations of the ",{"_key":918,"_type":12,"marks":919,"text":250},"07af5dca5358",[114],{"_key":921,"_type":12,"marks":922,"text":923},"ee208b701c71",[],". The latter are a series of five square or rectangular paintings comprising one, two, three, four, or seven panels and covered entirely in white house paint, devoid of any trace of gesture. Soon after their making, Rauschenberg approached Parsons to request that she exhibit them, but she declined. Afterward, the ",{"_key":925,"_type":12,"marks":926,"text":250},"1eedd1e06c5a",[114],{"_key":928,"_type":12,"marks":929,"text":930},"081f8c10ff2b",[]," took on another life. ",{"_key":932,"_type":12,"marks":933,"text":935},"493b92a6db26",[934],"346ee51303f5","The following August, at least one of them was suspended from the ceiling during Cage’s ",{"_key":937,"_type":12,"marks":938,"text":939},"6dc2070844d3",[114,934],"Theater Piece No. 1",{"_key":941,"_type":12,"marks":942,"text":943},"7dab1dfaf778",[934]," at Black Mountain, often described as the first Happening.",{"_key":945,"_type":12,"marks":946,"text":947},"5f4538c88ba3",[]," This was the genesis of Rauschenberg’s practice of untethering paintings from the wall.",[949],{"_key":934,"_type":474,"text":950},[951],{"_key":952,"_type":8,"children":953,"markDefs":972,"style":16},"1ef80f6e0d5c",[954,958,962,966,969],{"_key":955,"_type":12,"marks":956,"text":957},"55f9e133bb64",[],"Michael Kirby and Richard Schechner, “An Interview with John Cage,” ",{"_key":959,"_type":12,"marks":960,"text":961},"1953bdae5b3e",[114],"Tulane Drama Review",{"_key":963,"_type":12,"marks":964,"text":965},"9a81b90512fc",[]," 10, no. 2 (Winter 1965), pp. 52–53. Accounts of the event are varied but consistently cite the presence of at least one suspended ",{"_key":967,"_type":12,"marks":968,"text":367},"8a30fa4a817d",[114],{"_key":970,"_type":12,"marks":971,"text":236},"4dd7aa9c00ef",[],[],{"_key":974,"_type":8,"children":975,"markDefs":1039,"style":16},"77e036cc7c1c",[976,981,984,989,992,995,1000,1004,1007,1012,1015,1020,1023,1028,1032,1035],{"_key":977,"_type":12,"marks":978,"text":980},"eafce2f0402c",[979],"b1abfab9d514","Between 1953 and 1960, from “boredom or economic pressure,” Rauschenberg painted over all the original White Paintings.",{"_key":982,"_type":12,"marks":983,"text":793},"1820412e06af",[],{"_key":985,"_type":12,"marks":986,"text":988},"4a2dfde1cbf8",[987],"0b37b9f1f5a0","One became a three-panel ",{"_key":990,"_type":12,"marks":991,"text":208},"6fa860e3bd9f",[114,987],{"_key":993,"_type":12,"marks":994,"text":338},"ef43ca5b7e4f",[987],{"_key":996,"_type":12,"marks":997,"text":999},"03eb9368470f",[987,998],"b16f6e895f5d","86",{"_key":1001,"_type":12,"marks":1002,"text":1003},"cc813f002943",[987],"); others served as grounds for Combines.",{"_key":1005,"_type":12,"marks":1006,"text":793},"5c4543a67500",[],{"_key":1008,"_type":12,"marks":1009,"text":1011},"4e99c1a59ca3",[1010],"f73cf48818b8","Essential to Rauschenberg’s thinking about the White Paintings was that they were “never supposed to collect history or dirt”; indeed, they were “rebuilt and repainted many times.”",{"_key":1013,"_type":12,"marks":1014,"text":793},"07e98d745287",[],{"_key":1016,"_type":12,"marks":1017,"text":1019},"4ec47e24f303",[1018],"989bb33ff149","Although remade, the newer versions were not reproductions or copies; they were always dated 1951, the year they were originally conceived and executed, and only one of each was supposed to exist at a time.",{"_key":1021,"_type":12,"marks":1022,"text":793},"11e3d2657768",[],{"_key":1024,"_type":12,"marks":1025,"text":1027},"b164f169aa38",[1026],"ed23df5723be","The complete series was first exhibited in 1968, at Leo Castelli’s gallery on the Upper East Side.",{"_key":1029,"_type":12,"marks":1030,"text":1031},"4a47c766c82c",[]," At that time, Minimalism and Conceptual art were at their height, and the ",{"_key":1033,"_type":12,"marks":1034,"text":250},"9892e0739b30",[114],{"_key":1036,"_type":12,"marks":1037,"text":1038},"1d437fba75a7",[],"—modular works that prioritize the idea over the object, conceived nearly twenty years earlier—were understood by some critics as forerunners of those movements.",[1040,1058,1112,1122,1139,1156],{"_key":979,"_type":474,"text":1041},[1042],{"_key":1043,"_type":8,"children":1044,"markDefs":1057,"style":16},"13e7a7e2b46d",[1045,1049,1053],{"_key":1046,"_type":12,"marks":1047,"text":1048},"4340bd6dd524",[],"Rauschenberg, interview with BBC Radio, April 1998, edited by Tim Marlow for ",{"_key":1050,"_type":12,"marks":1051,"text":1052},"51d203d50268",[114],"Tate",{"_key":1054,"_type":12,"marks":1055,"text":1056},"401b54e68f22",[]," magazine in July 1998, transcript, p. 6, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":987,"_type":474,"text":1059},[1060],{"_key":1061,"_type":8,"children":1062,"markDefs":1111,"style":16},"fe78af26a384",[1063,1067,1070,1074,1077,1081,1085,1089,1093,1097,1101,1105,1108],{"_key":1064,"_type":12,"marks":1065,"text":1066},"cca1f97d15bf",[],"The three-panel ",{"_key":1068,"_type":12,"marks":1069,"text":367},"7385f4242d9e",[114],{"_key":1071,"_type":12,"marks":1072,"text":1073},"6c5daa76ed96",[]," had been painted black by 1953, when it was included in Rauschenberg’s solo Stable Gallery exhibition. The two-panel ",{"_key":1075,"_type":12,"marks":1076,"text":367},"fc230bb85c69",[114],{"_key":1078,"_type":12,"marks":1079,"text":1080},"77cba6dce386",[]," became ",{"_key":1082,"_type":12,"marks":1083,"text":1084},"31dd35c189e4",[114],"Yoicks",{"_key":1086,"_type":12,"marks":1087,"text":1088},"0e347dc3b833",[]," (1954; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York [71.210]; RRF 54.020); the four-panel became ",{"_key":1090,"_type":12,"marks":1091,"text":1092},"f78d751b8d8c",[114],"K24976S",{"_key":1094,"_type":12,"marks":1095,"text":1096},"6f5144c5bd19",[]," (1956; Philadelphia Museum of Art [1967-217-1]; RRF 56.002); and the seven-panel became ",{"_key":1098,"_type":12,"marks":1099,"text":1100},"a65550464678",[114],"Trophy II (for Teeny and Marcel Duchamp)",{"_key":1102,"_type":12,"marks":1103,"text":1104},"4c72b3119763",[]," (1960; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis [1970.1.1-4]; RRF 61.001). It is not known what happened to the original one-panel ",{"_key":1106,"_type":12,"marks":1107,"text":367},"b29cd7eade07",[114],{"_key":1109,"_type":12,"marks":1110,"text":236},"beee18fe4a75",[],[],{"_key":1010,"_type":474,"text":1113},[1114],{"_key":1115,"_type":8,"children":1116,"markDefs":1121,"style":16},"346cd234613d",[1117],{"_key":1118,"_type":12,"marks":1119,"text":1120},"bde21eeda7ea",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, “Re-doing White Paintings,” n.d., Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 38, MoMA Archives. Rauschenberg either remade them himself or enlisted others—often artists, including friends and, later, studio assistants, and eventually conservators—to remake or repaint them in his stead.",[],{"_key":1018,"_type":474,"text":1123},[1124],{"_key":1125,"_type":8,"children":1126,"markDefs":1138,"style":16},"5e07c17214b3",[1127,1131,1134],{"_key":1128,"_type":12,"marks":1129,"text":1130},"dbb0eeeeb05d",[],"Rauschenberg, instructions for ",{"_key":1132,"_type":12,"marks":1133,"text":250},"c137f005e0ef",[114],{"_key":1135,"_type":12,"marks":1136,"text":1137},"06d2a69ebf19",[],", 1965, and Billy Klüver to Pontus Hultén, Nov. 22, 1965 (The Museum of Modern Art, New York [1563.2018.a-b]); Rauschenberg, “Additional Notes on My White Paintings,” ca. 1968, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":1026,"_type":474,"text":1140},[1141],{"_key":1142,"_type":8,"children":1143,"markDefs":1155,"style":16},"ec63a4b9e73b",[1144,1148,1151],{"_key":1145,"_type":12,"marks":1146,"text":1147},"ba4226caaccf",[],"The full series was exhibited again in 1973, at Ace Gallery in Venice, Calif., and Vancouver. Prior to the show’s opening in Venice, Rauschenberg signed and inscribed the back of each panel and added a fingerprint to the stretchers. These are the ",{"_key":1149,"_type":12,"marks":1150,"text":250},"6f1393f412f2",[114],{"_key":1152,"_type":12,"marks":1153,"text":1154},"15ba1468d61e",[]," that exist today.",[],{"_key":998,"_type":239,"crNo":1157},"51.017",{"_key":1159,"_type":8,"children":1160,"markDefs":1198,"style":16},"f249e2650880",[1161,1165,1168,1172,1175,1179,1182,1186,1191,1194],{"_key":1162,"_type":12,"marks":1163,"text":1164},"57a78f60e1ad",[],"The ",{"_key":1166,"_type":12,"marks":1167,"text":843},"d3e3e3585d96",[114],{"_key":1169,"_type":12,"marks":1170,"text":1171},"ed0db8d68d1c",[],", by contrast to the uninflected surfaces of the ",{"_key":1173,"_type":12,"marks":1174,"text":250},"20460cad2119",[114],{"_key":1176,"_type":12,"marks":1177,"text":1178},"781886d458ce",[],", are textured, the paint applied generously and unevenly over collaged surfaces. Rauschenberg made the first group of ",{"_key":1180,"_type":12,"marks":1181,"text":843},"840d86513d5c",[114],{"_key":1183,"_type":12,"marks":1184,"text":1185},"a5c739798b8a",[]," at Black Mountain between fall 1951 and late August 1952, before he and Twombly embarked on a seven-month overseas trip. ",{"_key":1187,"_type":12,"marks":1188,"text":1190},"21f5dc7e50b1",[1189],"f55f25b15bd1","These earlier ",{"_key":1192,"_type":12,"marks":1193,"text":843},"817a5f015d81",[114,1189],{"_key":1195,"_type":12,"marks":1196,"text":1197},"95e9ed6f66f5",[1189]," have grounds of newspaper that is sometimes partially legible, sometimes torn into fragments; in 1959, the artist explained that he had begun using newspaper in his work “to activate a ground so that even the first strokes in a painting had [their] own unique position in a gray map of words.”",[1199],{"_key":1189,"_type":474,"text":1200},[1201],{"_key":1202,"_type":8,"children":1203,"markDefs":1216,"style":16},"8eee774d61d6",[1204,1208,1212],{"_key":1205,"_type":12,"marks":1206,"text":1207},"4e71ffafb0e9",[],"Rauschenberg, “How Important Is the Surface to Design?: Robert Rauschenberg; An Artist Explains,” ",{"_key":1209,"_type":12,"marks":1210,"text":1211},"ac56dced6ebe",[114],"Print",{"_key":1213,"_type":12,"marks":1214,"text":1215},"53cb4fe78046",[]," (New York) 13, no. 1 (Jan.–Feb. 1959), p. 31.",[],{"_key":1218,"_type":8,"children":1219,"markDefs":1254,"style":16},"1a075249cc86",[1220,1224,1229,1233,1237,1240,1245,1249],{"_key":1221,"_type":12,"marks":1222,"text":1223},"68e7480fe235",[],"Rauschenberg and Twombly’s trip to Italy, North Africa, and Spain from August 1952 to April 1953 was funded in part by a grant Twombly received from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Rauschenberg made no paintings during his travels, just portable works. ",{"_key":1225,"_type":12,"marks":1226,"text":1228},"a68b812d593c",[1227],"4139678d515c","His practice of combining disparate motifs and materials, later realized on a larger scale in the Combines, is already present in a series he made at this time, ",{"_key":1230,"_type":12,"marks":1231,"text":1232},"fb9afd57fad8",[114,1227],"Scatole e Feticci Personali",{"_key":1234,"_type":12,"marks":1235,"text":1236},"321a66e4723b",[1227]," (“personal boxes and fetishes”).",{"_key":1238,"_type":12,"marks":1239,"text":793},"fbe89c069a0a",[],{"_key":1241,"_type":12,"marks":1242,"text":1244},"802db650e654",[1243],"b72018f6af85","These sculptures comprise found materials chosen either for the “richness of their past: like bone, hair, faded cloth” or for “their vivid abstract reality: like mirrors, bells, watch-parts, bugs.”",{"_key":1246,"_type":12,"marks":1247,"text":1248},"9ae07a91cba9",[]," When they were shown at Galleria dell’Obelisco in Rome in March 1953, the artist left several compartments of the boxes empty “for you to add bits of your own choice, to rearrange the contents, or to leave them in their emptiness. … The order and logic of the arrangements are the direct creation of the viewer.” While nearly forty works in the series are known to have been made, relatively few are extant. Some returned to New York with the artist, who had sold enough to pay his passage home, but the majority are lost. ",{"_key":1250,"_type":12,"marks":1251,"text":1253},"86895224587e",[1252],"d560b2300c98","Rauschenberg later claimed to have followed the recommendation of a local Italian critic, in a scathing review of the Florence iteration of the show, to toss them into the Arno.",[1255,1265,1283],{"_key":1227,"_type":474,"text":1256},[1257],{"_key":1258,"_type":8,"children":1259,"markDefs":1264,"style":16},"adf88e5f7b6d",[1260],{"_key":1261,"_type":12,"marks":1262,"text":1263},"13e1b7346279",[],"While traveling, Rauschenberg made, in addition to extensive photographs, approximately thirty collages on Italian shirt boards, which incorporate printed papers, including antique book engravings, and introduce many of Rauschenberg’s recurrent motifs: fine art reproductions, modes of transportation, diagrams, and lettering.",[],{"_key":1243,"_type":474,"text":1266},[1267],{"_key":1268,"_type":8,"children":1269,"markDefs":1282,"style":16},"321dd5909b19",[1270,1274,1278],{"_key":1271,"_type":12,"marks":1272,"text":1273},"1e8c5e8881af",[],"Rauschenberg, typed statement with handwritten edits for the exhibition ",{"_key":1275,"_type":12,"marks":1276,"text":1277},"42336eaf002b",[114],"Bob Rauschenberg: Scatole e feticci personali",{"_key":1279,"_type":12,"marks":1280,"text":1281},"359e479203c8",[],", Galleria dell’Obelisco, Rome, 1953, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":1252,"_type":474,"text":1284},[1285],{"_key":1286,"_type":8,"children":1287,"markDefs":1308,"style":16},"1262a1250e41",[1288,1292,1296,1300,1304],{"_key":1289,"_type":12,"marks":1290,"text":1291},"5165c25ac00f",[],"Calvin Tomkins, “BIO-8,” n.d., Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 9, MoMA Archives; Carlo Volpe, “Mostre d’arte a Firenze: Alla Galleria d’Arte contemporanea,” ",{"_key":1293,"_type":12,"marks":1294,"text":1295},"21875b29bfc3",[114],"Il nuovo Corriere",{"_key":1297,"_type":12,"marks":1298,"text":1299},"ca7fd3605fb3",[],", March 25, 1953, p. 3. The exhibition in Florence, titled ",{"_key":1301,"_type":12,"marks":1302,"text":1303},"dde93cad2ee9",[114],"Scatole e costruzioni contemplative di Bob Rauschenberg",{"_key":1305,"_type":12,"marks":1306,"text":1307},"ff4bd9b5e864",[],", opened at Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea on Saturday, March 14, four days after the closing of the Rome exhibition.",[],{"_key":1310,"_type":8,"children":1311,"markDefs":1359,"style":16},"d718e20e8c57",[1312,1316,1320,1324,1327,1331,1334,1338,1341,1345,1350,1355],{"_key":1313,"_type":12,"marks":1314,"text":1315},"96168037e715",[],"On his return to New York in April 1953, Rauschenberg moved into a studio in an industrial building with no plumbing at 61 Fulton Street, where he began work on his ",{"_key":1317,"_type":12,"marks":1318,"text":1319},"feb84bb97e36",[114],"Elemental Sculpture",{"_key":1321,"_type":12,"marks":1322,"text":1323},"30635b96b770",[]," series and on the second campaign of ",{"_key":1325,"_type":12,"marks":1326,"text":843},"f48d0dd3c7e6",[114],{"_key":1328,"_type":12,"marks":1329,"text":1330},"46e56090433f",[],". 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",{"_key":1346,"_type":12,"marks":1347,"text":1349},"27a166685380",[1348],"e1ce9fdedae3","One example (",{"_key":1351,"_type":12,"marks":1352,"text":1354},"5efd1ef6688e",[1348,1353],"21f1ba724426","114",{"_key":1356,"_type":12,"marks":1357,"text":1358},"f43fdacd2ba6",[1348],") includes strips of newspaper dipped in black enamel that stand proud of the surface like thickly applied gestural brushstrokes, merging paint with collage.",[1360,1388],{"_key":1348,"_type":474,"text":1361},[1362],{"_key":1363,"_type":8,"children":1364,"markDefs":1385,"style":16},"1ed460e59eff",[1365,1369,1373,1377,1382],{"_key":1366,"_type":12,"marks":1367,"text":1368},"39027f4eb8f9",[],"Caitlin Haskell, “",{"_key":1370,"_type":12,"marks":1371,"text":1372},"691be494909d",[114],"Untitled",{"_key":1374,"_type":12,"marks":1375,"text":1376},"0c534b139205",[]," [glossy black painting],” Rauschenberg Research Project, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, July 2013, ",{"_key":1378,"_type":12,"marks":1379,"text":1381},"d98557976a2d",[1380],"23a62ae94e89","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sfmoma.org\u002Fessay\u002Funtitled-glossy-black-painting",{"_key":1383,"_type":12,"marks":1384,"text":236},"02617af753c3",[],[1386],{"_key":1380,"_type":375,"href":1387},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sfmoma.org\u002Fessay\u002Funtitled-glossy-black-painting\u002F",{"_key":1353,"_type":239,"crNo":1389},"51.018",{"_key":1391,"_type":8,"children":1392,"markDefs":1442,"style":16},"4b023ddc47f6",[1393,1397,1400,1404,1408,1412,1417,1421,1424,1428,1431,1435,1438],{"_key":1394,"_type":12,"marks":1395,"text":1396},"18feea3c8772",[],"Reminiscent of the ",{"_key":1398,"_type":12,"marks":1399,"text":1232},"701320fc74ed",[114],{"_key":1401,"_type":12,"marks":1402,"text":1403},"5bed090b567e",[],", the ",{"_key":1405,"_type":12,"marks":1406,"text":1407},"c34ade5b6c33",[114],"Elemental Sculptures",{"_key":1409,"_type":12,"marks":1410,"text":1411},"e9bc742b9c0f",[]," are made from local materials—such as lumber scavenged from Con Edison, the gas and electric company—and often invite the viewer to rearrange or otherwise activate them. ",{"_key":1413,"_type":12,"marks":1414,"text":1416},"5111cb85e1eb",[1415],"578deb345c06","This period of Rauschenberg’s work was, to a large degree, about “people getting involved and touching.”",{"_key":1418,"_type":12,"marks":1419,"text":1420},"6e4f7589db85",[]," In September 1953, most of the ",{"_key":1422,"_type":12,"marks":1423,"text":1407},"6ece50595c93",[114],{"_key":1425,"_type":12,"marks":1426,"text":1427},"de5674ba07da",[],", along with two ",{"_key":1429,"_type":12,"marks":1430,"text":250},"938ce59f11d6",[114],{"_key":1432,"_type":12,"marks":1433,"text":1434},"b220599ded7b",[]," and at least seven ",{"_key":1436,"_type":12,"marks":1437,"text":843},"f29fba5058c3",[114],{"_key":1439,"_type":12,"marks":1440,"text":1441},"4f2b3982c14e",[],", were shown in a solo exhibition at Eleanor Ward’s Stable Gallery concurrently with an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Twombly.",[1443],{"_key":1415,"_type":474,"text":1444},[1445],{"_key":1446,"_type":8,"children":1447,"markDefs":1460,"style":16},"ad51ba95f6e7",[1448,1452,1456],{"_key":1449,"_type":12,"marks":1450,"text":1451},"72b2682adac5",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Julia Brown Turrell, “Talking to Robert Rauschenberg,” in ",{"_key":1453,"_type":12,"marks":1454,"text":1455},"bad899ca9bb7",[114],"Rauschenberg Sculpture",{"_key":1457,"_type":12,"marks":1458,"text":1459},"17fc0d4ccdbd",[],", ed. Julia Brown Turrell, exh. cat. (Fort Worth, Texas: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1995), p. 66.",[],{"_key":1462,"_type":8,"children":1463,"markDefs":1515,"style":16},"5bbca9fd133e",[1464,1468,1472,1475,1480,1484,1487,1490,1494,1498,1502,1506,1511],{"_key":1465,"_type":12,"marks":1466,"text":1467},"916e7a37acbc",[],"Also in 1953, Rauschenberg made two collaborative works on paper that, because of their outsized importance in his artistic development, are included in the present catalogue, otherwise devoted to paintings and sculptures. The artist created ",{"_key":1469,"_type":12,"marks":1470,"text":1471},"9fd911b393b3",[114],"Automobile Tire Print",{"_key":1473,"_type":12,"marks":1474,"text":338},"18f6b1be7b90",[],{"_key":1476,"_type":12,"marks":1477,"text":1479},"6cb0caa0d011",[1478],"cdf0e92b3d6a","104",{"_key":1481,"_type":12,"marks":1482,"text":1483},"7cbfd693c035",[],") on a rainy Sunday outside his Fulton Street studio, with the assistance of Cage and his Ford Model A. Around the same time, when Willem de Kooning granted the younger artist’s request for a drawing of his to erase, Rauschenberg undertook ",{"_key":1485,"_type":12,"marks":1486,"text":334},"cde7e3ca7a84",[114],{"_key":1488,"_type":12,"marks":1489,"text":338},"19eb9fe41820",[],{"_key":1491,"_type":12,"marks":1492,"text":343},"7ce4b3fffc94",[1493],"8c75fc1e27ef",{"_key":1495,"_type":12,"marks":1496,"text":1497},"402b8c6b05d4",[],"). Preceding these was another work on paper: ",{"_key":1499,"_type":12,"marks":1500,"text":1501},"b9c1de40e8c8",[114],"This Is the First Half of a Print Designed to Exist in Passing Time",{"_key":1503,"_type":12,"marks":1504,"text":1505},"7ccb9f7c373e",[]," (ca. 1951–52; ",{"_key":1507,"_type":12,"marks":1508,"text":1510},"4e5ba661a713",[1509],"d329004ab0bd","37",{"_key":1512,"_type":12,"marks":1513,"text":1514},"f1c5cfc6df35",[],"), a bound series of fourteen woodcuts that Rauschenberg made during his second stint at Black Mountain. These singular works on paper—two monoprints and a drawing—transcend their media and represent many of the concerns the artist would take up consistently for the remainder of his career: seriality, collaboration, and performative gestures.",[1516,1518,1519],{"_key":1478,"_type":239,"crNo":1517},"53.E001",{"_key":1493,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":1509,"_type":239,"crNo":1520},"48.E001",{"_key":1522,"_type":8,"children":1523,"markDefs":1554,"style":16},"50f3f62f31ad",[1524,1528,1533,1538,1541,1546,1550],{"_key":1525,"_type":12,"marks":1526,"text":1527},"a9c5b1d9ab80",[],"The final paintings Rauschenberg made in 1953 again defied conventional methods and materials, redefining art in the process. Although the artist eventually called them “paintings,” most of them contained no paint at all. Each foregrounded a single material, such as clay, dirt, toilet paper, or gold leaf. While Rauschenberg claimed not to prioritize one material over another, history tells a different story. ",{"_key":1529,"_type":12,"marks":1530,"text":1532},"fdd31710d56d",[1531],"478596604664","Only one dirt and one clay painting from this period (",{"_key":1534,"_type":12,"marks":1535,"text":1537},"1cfaf1ca85d3",[1531,1536],"23387942f81e","109",{"_key":1539,"_type":12,"marks":1540,"text":263},"1679705a9196",[1531],{"_key":1542,"_type":12,"marks":1543,"text":1545},"b60bcacf6a3f",[1531,1544],"a212cfccc6ec","110",{"_key":1547,"_type":12,"marks":1548,"text":1549},"31f5e8770275",[1531],"), and none of the toilet paper examples, are extant; many gold ones, however, have survived.",{"_key":1551,"_type":12,"marks":1552,"text":1553},"a7a864f83531",[]," These were made with gold (and, more rarely, silver) leaf applied to an uneven ground of paper and, often, fabric on a canvas support. Most were set into handmade wood-and-glass frames left partially open on the sides to allow the gold leaf to move with the air currents.",[1555,1573,1575],{"_key":1531,"_type":474,"text":1556},[1557],{"_key":1558,"_type":8,"children":1559,"markDefs":1572,"style":16},"2e679905dab9",[1560,1564,1568],{"_key":1561,"_type":12,"marks":1562,"text":1563},"93db66d909bc",[],"Rauschenberg anticipated that it would be the ",{"_key":1565,"_type":12,"marks":1566,"text":1567},"7239c6595937",[114],"Gold Paintings",{"_key":1569,"_type":12,"marks":1570,"text":1571},"7de39c79a98b",[]," that were preserved: “For each one I did in gold, I did one [of the] approximate same size in toilet paper. I was testing the market. I knew this. Gold stays and toilet paper gets thrown away.” Rauschenberg, interview by Hopps, Jan. 18–20, 1991, p. 12.",[],{"_key":1544,"_type":239,"crNo":1574},"53.002",{"_key":1536,"_type":239,"crNo":70},{"_key":1577,"_type":8,"children":1578,"markDefs":1591,"style":16},"dbfb050651c1",[1579,1583,1587],{"_key":1580,"_type":12,"marks":1581,"text":1582},"c45975b48583",[],"In the early paintings and sculptures included in this catalogue and in two bodies of work that soon followed, the ",{"_key":1584,"_type":12,"marks":1585,"text":1586},"fadf1492db39",[114],"Red Paintings",{"_key":1588,"_type":12,"marks":1589,"text":1590},"20065cbcfd28",[]," and the Combines, Rauschenberg’s dialogue with Abstract Expressionism is revealed as a crucial springboard from which he developed a novel approach to art making, whether in collage, assemblage, painting, or sculpture. Undoubtedly, the naiveté Weil observed in him as a young art student, in tandem with his fierce self-determination, allowed him to shrug off early criticism and embark on a creative path uninhibited by the conventions of mid-twentieth-century painting. Throughout his sixty-year career, paramount to Rauschenberg’s art making was the drive to discover the artistry in non-art materials. The work of art, for him, was not stagnant but dynamic, always engaging with people and the world in which they, and it, exist.",[],[1593],{"_key":1594,"_type":8,"children":1595,"markDefs":1600,"style":16},"6ce790c9d01b",[1596],{"_key":1597,"_type":12,"marks":1598,"text":1599},"ff03af639fca",[],"Introduction",[],[1602],{"_key":1594,"_type":8,"children":1603,"markDefs":1606,"style":16},[1604],{"_key":1597,"_type":12,"marks":1605,"text":1599},[],[],{"_type":424,"current":1608},"introduction",{"_createdAt":1610,"_id":1611,"_rev":1612,"_system":1613,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":1616,"author":1617,"authorBio":1618,"body":1639,"citeAs":6237,"epigraph":6251,"essayType":6260,"notes":6261,"paragraphStyle":122,"subtitle":6274,"title":6290,"tocPreviewTitle":6297,"uid":6309},"2026-08-05T17:06:05Z","e53c7364-223a-4b5d-953c-7ada12151963","cLQ0OrCSSA0CjrDL02X8sQ",{"base":1614},{"id":1611,"rev":1615},"cLQ0OrCSSA0CjrDL02X4gQ","2026-10-22T16:49:11Z","Catherine Craft",[1619],{"_key":1620,"_type":8,"children":1621,"markDefs":1638,"style":16},"17098a9ce5f7",[1622,1626,1630,1634],{"_key":1623,"_type":12,"marks":1624,"text":1625},"a0e0751f9859",[96],"Catherine Craft ",{"_key":1627,"_type":12,"marks":1628,"text":1629},"b1b76a1539a3",[],"is Senior Curator at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, where she has organized exhibitions of the work of Jean (Hans) Arp, Nairy Baghramian, Carol Bove, Melvin Edwards, and Robert Rauschenberg. A scholar of the Dada and Neo-­ Dada movements, she is the author of ",{"_key":1631,"_type":12,"marks":1632,"text":1633},"49e8044c98e7",[114],"An Audience of Artists: Dada, Neo-Dada, and the Emergence of Abstract Expressionism ",{"_key":1635,"_type":12,"marks":1636,"text":1637},"b26df3d3e75b",[],"(2012) and of monographs on Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.",[],[1640,1753,2431,3013,3416,3864,4125,4726,5198,5935],{"_key":1641,"_type":1642,"content":1643,"images":1735},"732889d06756","textImage",[1644,1653,1662,1670],{"_key":1645,"_type":8,"children":1646,"markDefs":1651,"style":1652},"5d24abe554b6",[1647],{"_key":1648,"_type":12,"marks":1649,"text":1650},"4e788d27ef74",[130],"I am wondering many things about you, how you feel about your life, whether you have realized and attained as you had wished, any regrets—or whether you ever allow yourself the luxury of looking back? … Could any of it have been left out … or has it, like Thomas Wolfe (the earlier one, not the later one—the one from around Asheville, N.C.) who says we are the sum total of every single moment of our lives—is it true—or have there been lots of moments and hours which could have just as well been left out. Sounds as though I am philosophizing and perhaps I am wondering vainly and foolishly, because nothing really changes with the mulling over of it, all that seems to matter is the doing of it, whatever it is that we do.",[],"blockquote",{"_key":1654,"_type":8,"children":1655,"markDefs":1660,"style":1661},"b0d9cdf8d49f",[1656],{"_key":1657,"_type":12,"marks":1658,"text":1659},"1ec8b10b2dd5",[],"—Pat Pearman Ludington to Robert Rauschenberg, 1974",[],"attribution",{"_key":1663,"_type":8,"children":1664,"markDefs":1669,"style":16},"602545a27ec7",[1665],{"_key":1666,"_type":12,"marks":1667,"text":1668},"406a099f5c32",[130],"Given the apparently exhaustive documentation offered by biographies, monographs, exhibition catalogues, critical studies, journal articles, and oral histories, there would seem to be little to add to accounts of the early life of Robert Rauschenberg, one of the most celebrated artists of the last century. He became an internationally known public figure in the 1960s, and his early biography is well established, with information beyond basic facts provided largely by the artist himself in numerous interviews across nearly five decades. Nonetheless, since Rauschenberg’s death in 2008, archival sources have become available that enrich, complicate, and sometimes contradict previously accepted accounts of his artistic development and interests, as well as his biography.",[],{"_key":1671,"_type":8,"children":1672,"markDefs":1704,"style":16},"00282b3986c4",[1673,1678,1682,1687,1691,1696,1700],{"_key":1674,"_type":12,"marks":1675,"text":1677},"34ddc5e6cc6e",[1676],"5befb65678ce","Most pertinent to his activities in the 1940s are newly accessed records of his U.S. Navy service; applications and transcripts from the schools he attended during this period; correspondence with his parents; and letters, artworks, and ephemera from two additional sources.",{"_key":1679,"_type":12,"marks":1680,"text":1681},"80e78ac9167b",[]," Arthur Welton Frakes, Jr. (1925–2006; fig. 2) was a close friend of Rauschenberg’s from his hometown of Port Arthur, Texas, who went to high school with the artist and roomed with him while they both attended the University of Texas at Austin. ",{"_key":1683,"_type":12,"marks":1684,"text":1686},"be8f6db025ed",[1685],"bb87e78f14b6","Rauschenberg’s letters to Frakes offer a detailed portrait of his life in the Navy during and just after World War II, tapering off after his discharge and ending with his departure for France in late spring 1948.",{"_key":1688,"_type":12,"marks":1689,"text":1690},"9401716d2061",[]," While they are less extensive, materials held by the family of Marjorie Pearman Ludington (1922–1978) also provide important insights into another of Rauschenberg’s crucial friendships. ",{"_key":1692,"_type":12,"marks":1693,"text":1695},"de1f894f25a6",[1694],"beddce726140","Known in the artist’s literature by her nickname, Pat, and her maiden name, Pearman, she was the model for Rauschenberg and Susan Weil’s cyanotype ",{"_key":1697,"_type":12,"marks":1698,"text":1699},"85096094b2ad",[114,1694],"Female Figure",{"_key":1701,"_type":12,"marks":1702,"text":1703},"c8439b7f6032",[1694]," of about 1950 (fig. 6), and beginning in the late 1940s, Rauschenberg sent her artworks, postcards, and other materials that shed light on two less documented periods of his life: his brief sojourn in Los Angeles after his discharge from the Navy, and his studies at the Kansas City Art Institute.",[1705,1715,1725],{"_key":1676,"_type":474,"text":1706},[1707],{"_key":1708,"_type":8,"children":1709,"markDefs":1714,"style":16},"e26e57d17280",[1710],{"_key":1711,"_type":12,"marks":1712,"text":1713},"37a7577b852d",[],"Reference copies of Rauschenberg’s U.S. Navy records, of his Black Mountain College application and course cards, and of the letters to his parents in the Rauschenberg Family Collection are held in the RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":1685,"_type":474,"text":1716},[1717],{"_key":1718,"_type":8,"children":1719,"markDefs":1724,"style":16},"c5d049c7020c",[1720],{"_key":1721,"_type":12,"marks":1722,"text":1723},"22cc60799071",[],"Frakes was born in Missouri in 1925 and moved with his parents to Port Arthur before he turned five in 1930, when the U.S. Census shows them already settled there. It is not known whether he and Rauschenberg were acquainted before high school, but correspondence suggests that their mothers were also friends.",[],{"_key":1694,"_type":474,"text":1726},[1727],{"_key":1728,"_type":8,"children":1729,"markDefs":1734,"style":16},"2ae78e6386a9",[1730],{"_key":1731,"_type":12,"marks":1732,"text":1733},"f343ca68103c",[],"Pat Pearman married Harley Ludington in 1953 and assumed his surname. I use “Pearman” to refer to her prior to their marriage and “Ludington” in later references, such as the letter quoted in the epigraph.",[],[1736],{"_key":1737,"_type":1738,"alt":1739,"asset":1740,"caption":1744},"a42f1cac18de","textImageItem","A young man in a U.S. Navy uniform, smiling and posing for a portrait with a sailor hat and a dark navy jacket.",{"_type":1741,"asset":1742},"image",{"_ref":1743,"_type":53},"image-9edbaf904dfe6a3623bf5f894abdd08e626c9a7b-1956x3000-jpg",[1745],{"_key":1746,"_type":8,"children":1747,"markDefs":1752,"style":16},"7cfce0e1c766",[1748],{"_key":1749,"_type":12,"marks":1750,"text":1751},"3285bb9e2819",[],"Fig. 1. Robert Rauschenberg in his U.S. Navy uniform, ca. 1944",[],{"_key":1754,"_type":1642,"content":1755,"images":2415},"ef05e9ef3da2",[1756,1883,1940,1943,1970,2025,2081,2111,2130,2138,2169,2177,2204,2212,2244,2252,2271,2279,2304,2312,2346,2354,2385],{"_key":1757,"_type":8,"children":1758,"markDefs":1802,"style":16},"737bb24d9d08",[1759,1763,1768,1772,1776,1780,1785,1789,1794,1797],{"_key":1760,"_type":12,"marks":1761,"text":1762},"01a701ad0ba9",[],"Rauschenberg’s biography first took published form when he was in his late thirties. ",{"_key":1764,"_type":12,"marks":1765,"text":1767},"77fd5230f2ef",[1766],"8cbf346245d9","In 1963, he was the subject of a retrospective at the Jewish Museum, New York; the following year, he won the top prize for painting at the 32nd Venice Biennale, and Calvin Tomkins published a ",{"_key":1769,"_type":12,"marks":1770,"text":1771},"f860747801ee",[114,1766],"New Yorker",{"_key":1773,"_type":12,"marks":1774,"text":1775},"e7328fdaa612",[1766]," profile that offered the first thorough account of the artist’s early years.",{"_key":1777,"_type":12,"marks":1778,"text":1779},"66be6fc6655f",[]," In discussions with Tomkins and others about his time in school and in the Navy, Rauschenberg may have emphasized what seemed important in hindsight and downplayed, ignored, or perhaps even forgotten other elements. As a result, comparisons of his own accounts of this period with the archival sources mentioned above betray inconsistencies. ",{"_key":1781,"_type":12,"marks":1782,"text":1784},"8a8c0a28ea68",[1783],"e8b15542d6f2","Although his correspondence of the 1940s reveals a youthful version of the gregarious personality familiar from his maturity, Rauschenberg’s retrospective account of his early adulthood conveyed the impression of a rather shy, isolated loner with few friends.",{"_key":1786,"_type":12,"marks":1787,"text":1788},"4e6f578d9e72",[]," For example, a cornerstone of his early biography is that upon his discharge from the Navy in 1946, he returned to Port Arthur only to find that his family had moved to Lafayette, Louisiana, without telling him. ",{"_key":1790,"_type":12,"marks":1791,"text":1793},"448012ac9427",[1792],"3a94eaaccb66","Rauschenberg’s letters to Frakes, sent after his discharge and postmarked from Port Arthur, plainly contradict this: The family, in fact, moved to Lafayette in 1948.",{"_key":1795,"_type":12,"marks":1796,"text":793},"639321238587",[],{"_key":1798,"_type":12,"marks":1799,"text":1801},"9ac4f70ee160",[1800],"a21ac8e4dd4d","Confronted with such discrepancies, we might recall a 1986 interview in which Rauschenberg referred to the “typically Texan” tradition of the “tall tale” and explained that there is “an extraordinary amount of truth in exaggeration. It’s a way of dealing with the truth.”",[1803,1820,1830,1848],{"_key":1783,"_type":474,"text":1804},[1805],{"_key":1806,"_type":8,"children":1807,"markDefs":1819,"style":16},"53c365ff2d71",[1808,1812,1815],{"_key":1809,"_type":12,"marks":1810,"text":1811},"a92c944352fb",[],"Rauschenberg described himself to the critic Barbara Rose as “definitely antisocial” when he was growing up, claiming that “in those days I wasn’t even asked to parties.” Quoted in Barbara Rose, ",{"_key":1813,"_type":12,"marks":1814,"text":871},"fa05355444d1",[114],{"_key":1816,"_type":12,"marks":1817,"text":1818},"10fb4f13d230",[]," (New York: Vintage Books, 1987), p. 12.",[],{"_key":1792,"_type":474,"text":1821},[1822],{"_key":1823,"_type":8,"children":1824,"markDefs":1829,"style":16},"206797de451a",[1825],{"_key":1826,"_type":12,"marks":1827,"text":1828},"71fc2b631faf",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, June 26, 1946, FS 174, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":1800,"_type":474,"text":1831},[1832],{"_key":1833,"_type":8,"children":1834,"markDefs":1847,"style":16},"262a82e89abd",[1835,1839,1843],{"_key":1836,"_type":12,"marks":1837,"text":1838},"39ebec08ab3c",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Wendy Lin, “The Boy from Port Arthur,” ",{"_key":1840,"_type":12,"marks":1841,"text":1842},"b06b52441926",[114],"Art and Antiques",{"_key":1844,"_type":12,"marks":1845,"text":1846},"1fbe05c041bc",[],", Feb. 1986, p. 60.",[],{"_key":1766,"_type":474,"text":1849},[1850],{"_key":1851,"_type":8,"children":1852,"markDefs":1880,"style":16},"5f701c54c0b0",[1853,1857,1860,1864,1868,1872,1877],{"_key":1854,"_type":12,"marks":1855,"text":1856},"a305e28cf35a",[],"Calvin Tomkins, “Profiles: Moving Out,” ",{"_key":1858,"_type":12,"marks":1859,"text":699},"0b3d82232ca1",[114],{"_key":1861,"_type":12,"marks":1862,"text":1863},"d7d58dd75ff7",[],"40, no. 2 (Feb. 29, 1964), pp. 39–105. ",{"_key":1865,"_type":12,"marks":1866,"text":1867},"f388b59e32a1",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg",{"_key":1869,"_type":12,"marks":1870,"text":1871},"42142f4d0b09",[],", organized by Alan Solomon, the director of the Jewish Museum, New York, was on view from March 31 to May 12, 1963. For the Biennale prize, see ",{"_key":1873,"_type":12,"marks":1874,"text":1876},"a299d09e6f59",[1875],"74dcf8393bf3","Introduction (n .1)",{"_key":1878,"_type":12,"marks":1879,"text":236},"fcf1fd9e5012",[],[1881],{"_key":1875,"_type":375,"href":1882},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fintroduction#fn-1",{"_key":1884,"_type":8,"children":1885,"markDefs":1911,"style":16},"64ca5502973e",[1886,1891,1895,1899,1902,1907],{"_key":1887,"_type":12,"marks":1888,"text":1890},"77079d7c90c1",[1889],"6dc77a2f859e","This essay is the culmination of my research into Rauschenberg’s activities before his admission to Black Mountain College in 1948, which I began to consider shortly after the completion of ",{"_key":1892,"_type":12,"marks":1893,"text":1894},"2f916d715094",[114,1889],"An Audience of Artists",{"_key":1896,"_type":12,"marks":1897,"text":1898},"87882305f252",[1889],", my 2012 book on Dada, Abstract Expressionism, and Neo-Dada.",{"_key":1900,"_type":12,"marks":1901,"text":793},"bafbfdfa8d1b",[],{"_key":1903,"_type":12,"marks":1904,"text":1906},"cf4efa31d91e",[1905],"b65d31c1e9fd","The impact of World War I on participants in Dada is taken as a given in the literature on that movement, but there has been comparatively little examination of the role World War II may have played for American artists of Rauschenberg’s generation.",{"_key":1908,"_type":12,"marks":1909,"text":1910},"031df3805bde",[]," What follows began over a decade ago as a reckoning with Rauschenberg’s military service, but the sources that shed new light on his time in the Navy also provide unexpected insights that have changed my understanding of the years prior to his study at Black Mountain College and of the artist he eventually became. In the process, I have tried to take into account the “extraordinary amount of truth” that Rauschenberg prized in exaggeration.",[1912,1930],{"_key":1889,"_type":474,"text":1913},[1914],{"_key":1915,"_type":8,"children":1916,"markDefs":1929,"style":16},"121de1d424f3",[1917,1921,1925],{"_key":1918,"_type":12,"marks":1919,"text":1920},"4d05785de592",[],"Catherine Craft, ",{"_key":1922,"_type":12,"marks":1923,"text":1924},"a414254c729c",[114],"An Audience of Artists: Dada, Neo-Dada, and the Emergence of Abstract Expressionism",{"_key":1926,"_type":12,"marks":1927,"text":1928},"1f0b0e1e4ade",[]," (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012).",[],{"_key":1905,"_type":474,"text":1931},[1932],{"_key":1933,"_type":8,"children":1934,"markDefs":1939,"style":16},"95b03ad4546b",[1935],{"_key":1936,"_type":12,"marks":1937,"text":1938},"2cda92813837",[],"Scholars often consider the context of World War II in the study of Abstract Expressionism, even though none of that movement’s best-known practitioners, such as Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, served in the military. Military service was, by contrast, common among artists of Rauschenberg’s generation, including Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Edward Kienholz, Roy Lichtenstein, and Cy Twombly.",[],{"_key":1941,"_type":1942},"dbc658d23b9f","lineBreak",{"_key":1944,"_type":8,"children":1945,"markDefs":1959,"style":16},"8a075360b8c0",[1946,1950,1955],{"_key":1947,"_type":12,"marks":1948,"text":1949},"e5c4f580f83b",[130],"Rauschenberg began taking classes at the University of Texas at Austin in summer 1943, intending to major in pharmacy—a substitute for his initial plan to become a veterinarian. His parents had encouraged him to attend Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College (Texas A&M) in College Station, the practical choice for pursuing a degree in veterinary medicine in Texas at the time, but also a quasi-military school with a campus culture defined by the school’s Corps of Cadets. ",{"_key":1951,"_type":12,"marks":1952,"text":1954},"b0dd88d0972f",[1953,130],"73510c39b890","As Frakes and other high school friends were going to the University of Texas, Rauschenberg, not surprisingly, wanted to join them.",{"_key":1956,"_type":12,"marks":1957,"text":1958},"141deb2a09ed",[130]," Although he apparently stopped attending classes before the end of the fall semester, his aborted major in pharmacy may, paradoxically, have set him on the path that would determine the direction of his military service.",[1960],{"_key":1953,"_type":474,"text":1961},[1962],{"_key":1963,"_type":8,"children":1964,"markDefs":1969,"style":16},"cb1d7769c482",[1965],{"_key":1966,"_type":12,"marks":1967,"text":1968},"a978ed06fe94",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked March 8, 1943, FS 145, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":1971,"_type":8,"children":1972,"markDefs":1994,"style":16},"9573d1b38946",[1973,1978,1981,1986,1989],{"_key":1974,"_type":12,"marks":1975,"text":1977},"c1e18e026a76",[1976],"29901c7959a3","Upon his induction into the Navy and the accompanying medical exams in Houston in January 1944, Rauschenberg was classified USN-I (Special Assignment—Defective Vision): His eye exam had revealed a deficiency strong enough, even with glasses, to restrict his possible assignments.",{"_key":1979,"_type":12,"marks":1980,"text":793},"b08cfc550273",[],{"_key":1982,"_type":12,"marks":1983,"text":1985},"f7dbfa360e99",[1984],"8c73ce8681a7","His embarrassment about the classification is suggested by a letter to Frakes in which he wrote, “I guess your mother told you I can’t be sent into any actual combat area because of my eyes. Don’t tell anyone though, Arthur. I had just as soon people didn’t know.”",{"_key":1987,"_type":12,"marks":1988,"text":793},"82a697b34423",[],{"_key":1990,"_type":12,"marks":1991,"text":1993},"ce9fa7ec51f7",[1992],"ee95f366911b","For basic training, Rauschenberg was sent to Camp Scott at Farragut Naval Training Station in Farragut, Idaho—a site dedicated to, among other things, the testing of incoming inductees for possible service as hospital corpsmen responsible for treating the burgeoning ranks of wounded sailors, a specialization that may have been suggested by Rauschenberg’s pharmacy major.",[1995,2005,2015],{"_key":1976,"_type":474,"text":1996},[1997],{"_key":1998,"_type":8,"children":1999,"markDefs":2004,"style":16},"61bb4b751199",[2000],{"_key":2001,"_type":12,"marks":2002,"text":2003},"db48c489dbaa",[],"“Medical History,” military record of Milton Ernest [Robert] Rauschenberg, National Archives and Records Administration. Reference copy held in RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":1984,"_type":474,"text":2006},[2007],{"_key":2008,"_type":8,"children":2009,"markDefs":2014,"style":16},"ff5215095c2a",[2010],{"_key":2011,"_type":12,"marks":2012,"text":2013},"a7de3e459804",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked Feb. 2, 1944, FS 152, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":1992,"_type":474,"text":2016},[2017],{"_key":2018,"_type":8,"children":2019,"markDefs":2024,"style":16},"b902758049dc",[2020],{"_key":2021,"_type":12,"marks":2022,"text":2023},"ca69abf5f28c",[],"André B. Sobocinski, Deputy Historian and Publications Manager, Office of Medical History, Navy Medicine Institute for the Medical Humanities, to the author, email, Feb. 7, 2011.",[],{"_key":2026,"_type":8,"children":2027,"markDefs":2045,"style":16},"0312118eaada",[2028,2031,2036,2040],{"_key":1979,"_type":12,"marks":2029,"text":2030},[],"After Farragut, Rauschenberg went for training as a hospital corpsman at the Hospital Corps School at the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego, where he took classes in such subjects as anatomy, nursing, and first aid. ",{"_key":2032,"_type":12,"marks":2033,"text":2035},"9bf14d46375b",[2034],"3e9a861c2a51","He was afterward assigned to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Corona, California, where he worked for several months on a tuberculosis ward, and then was reassigned to the U.S. Naval Convalescent Hospital in Arrowhead Springs, California, for nearly three months—initially to give him work in the fresh air after the Navy discovered that he had a family history of tuberculosis and should never have been assigned to the ward in Corona.",{"_key":2037,"_type":12,"marks":2038,"text":2039},"2fae9425e7c6",[]," In late 1944, he returned to San Diego, where he worked in the medical laboratory and pharmacy at the U.S. Naval Repair Base, then received additional training at the U.S. Naval Hospital to become a neuropsychiatric technician. ",{"_key":2041,"_type":12,"marks":2042,"text":2044},"1a4f3ace3a8d",[2043],"1ece3f9ec4cb","He spent the last eleven months of his service, until his discharge in June 1946, at U.S. Navy hospitals in San Diego and at Santa Margarita Ranch in Oceanside, California, working with service members suffering from “combat fatigue,” or what today would be diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).",[2046,2063],{"_key":2034,"_type":474,"text":2047},[2048],{"_key":2049,"_type":8,"children":2050,"markDefs":2062,"style":16},"d413c5b330ec",[2051,2055,2058],{"_key":2052,"_type":12,"marks":2053,"text":2054},"f0f209593ad8",[],"Regarding his family’s history of tuberculosis, see Rose, ",{"_key":2056,"_type":12,"marks":2057,"text":871},"ea0bfc8ad0fd",[114],{"_key":2059,"_type":12,"marks":2060,"text":2061},"448313734650",[],", pp. 16–17.",[],{"_key":2043,"_type":474,"text":2064},[2065],{"_key":2066,"_type":8,"children":2067,"markDefs":2080,"style":16},"7202e0e1bc55",[2068,2072,2076],{"_key":2069,"_type":12,"marks":2070,"text":2071},"48e4024d454d",[],"“Combat fatigue,” also known as “battle fatigue” or “combat stress reaction,” replaced the World War I–era term “shell shock” during World War II. For a use of the term “combat fatigue” Rauschenberg may have encountered during active duty, see Kenneth C. Werner, “NP Rehabilitation,” ",{"_key":2073,"_type":12,"marks":2074,"text":2075},"0d10709d2d3d",[114],"Hospital Corps Quarterly",{"_key":2077,"_type":12,"marks":2078,"text":2079},"9530548f582a",[]," 18, no. 9 (Sept. 1945), p. 35.",[],{"_key":2082,"_type":8,"children":2083,"markDefs":2093,"style":16},"953a3ccb2bf4",[2084,2089],{"_key":2085,"_type":12,"marks":2086,"text":2088},"f76b68f41263",[2087],"6f051ee6f28c","Rauschenberg’s assignments as a neuropsychiatric technician included one to a “violent ward” in San Diego.",{"_key":2090,"_type":12,"marks":2091,"text":2092},"2ff04611ebae",[]," His letters have little to say about his duties there or at Santa Margarita Ranch during the last months of his service. Even before this posting, Rauschenberg wrote relatively little about his work with patients. What he omitted may be hinted at by an account he sent to Frakes of his first day on the tuberculosis ward, one of his only detailed descriptions of his medical duties:",[2094],{"_key":2087,"_type":474,"text":2095},[2096],{"_key":2097,"_type":8,"children":2098,"markDefs":2110,"style":16},"15ccd6e64701",[2099,2103,2106],{"_key":2100,"_type":12,"marks":2101,"text":2102},"124f029d0e5b",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Rose, ",{"_key":2104,"_type":12,"marks":2105,"text":871},"a7b794ea7a16",[114],{"_key":2107,"_type":12,"marks":2108,"text":2109},"e3b9bc42fcbc",[],", p. 15.",[],{"_key":2112,"_type":8,"children":2113,"markDefs":2119,"style":1652},"886f05e0c542",[2114],{"_key":2115,"_type":12,"marks":2116,"text":2118},"b0117a23aa32",[2117,130],"becf92c25630","I was assigned to a ward Wednesday T.B. Gosh am I careful I bet I wash my hands at least 50 times a day and I just work in the galley dishing up their food and nourishment and sterilizing their dishes it’s really work. Oh Arthur! a patient died my very first day there. Oh it was terrible. I gave him his supper at 5:00 and he died at 8:30 can you imagine. I had to stay and watch the other corpsmen wrap him up. Arthur, when I did leave the ward I was completely out of my mind I didn’t even know what was going on. The other guys in my room said I was suffering from shock and they put me to bed. I felt so funny. I guess all of that after all day on the ward in that hot steam room where I sterilize their dishes was too much.",[2120],{"_key":2117,"_type":474,"text":2121},[2122],{"_key":2123,"_type":8,"children":2124,"markDefs":2129,"style":16},"9e9b1ca24111",[2125],{"_key":2126,"_type":12,"marks":2127,"text":2128},"066bbe9bfc2e",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked June 10, 1944, FS 161, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":2131,"_type":8,"children":2132,"markDefs":2137,"style":16},"b1e8f012a966",[2133],{"_key":2134,"_type":12,"marks":2135,"text":2136},"8dc880cd61d5",[130],"As he settled in, he offered a more detailed description, with offhand bravado:",[],{"_key":2139,"_type":8,"children":2140,"markDefs":2150,"style":1652},"b952062d89ad",[2141,2145],{"_key":2142,"_type":12,"marks":2143,"text":2144},"6ea044041cce",[130],"Yes I’m still working in a T.B. ward. … ",{"_key":2146,"_type":12,"marks":2147,"text":2149},"e8e1f849c365",[2148,130],"17f40ccff132","We give Pneaumos twice a week (you collapse the lung by forcing air into the lung that is infected) Remove sutures and the other day I had to stop a guy from Haemorrhaging by giving him ice packs and morphine. Boy I’m really a killer with that needle.",[2151],{"_key":2148,"_type":474,"text":2152},[2153],{"_key":2154,"_type":8,"children":2155,"markDefs":2168,"style":16},"b11f986ba7e7",[2156,2160,2164],{"_key":2157,"_type":12,"marks":2158,"text":2159},"085ed690d2b6",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked Aug. 28, 1944, FS 166, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. “Pneaumos” seems to be an approximation of the term “pneumothorax,” commonly known as a collapsed lung. In the case of patients with tuberculosis, medical personnel induced pneumothorax by inserting a needle into the infected lung. See Milton B. Rosenblatt, “Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Evolution of Modern Therapy,” ",{"_key":2161,"_type":12,"marks":2162,"text":2163},"d761d3701611",[114],"Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine",{"_key":2165,"_type":12,"marks":2166,"text":2167},"bed8bbe51eae",[]," 49, no. 3 (March 1973), pp. 163–96, esp. 171–75.",[],{"_key":2170,"_type":8,"children":2171,"markDefs":2176,"style":16},"e37792f65218",[2172],{"_key":2173,"_type":12,"marks":2174,"text":2175},"583531dcc98c",[130],"Most of our knowledge of Rauschenberg’s experience with service members hospitalized for PTSD comes from his later accounts to interviewers. One such conversation—a studio visit in 1960 from Harriet Janis and Rudi Blesh, collaborators on a book about collage—is recorded in the interviewers’ notes:",[],{"_key":2178,"_type":8,"children":2179,"markDefs":2185,"style":1652},"ee6a2d28d06e",[2180],{"_key":2181,"_type":12,"marks":2182,"text":2184},"13232903b78b",[2183,130],"7deec726f268","Six months’ instruction “you learn the manners + the jargon” + then, by Navy standards, you are a technician, but that doesn’t prepare you for the horrid realities of these ghastly psychological disturbances.",[2186],{"_key":2183,"_type":474,"text":2187},[2188],{"_key":2189,"_type":8,"children":2190,"markDefs":2203,"style":16},"b63e46b0a894",[2191,2195,2199],{"_key":2192,"_type":12,"marks":2193,"text":2194},"f671b6c08481",[],"Notes on studio visit with Rauschenberg, Nov. 18, 1960, Rudi Blesh Papers, ca. 1900–1983, microfilm, reel 3992, AAA. It is unclear whether the notes were made by Janis or Blesh; the visit was research toward Harriet Janis and Rudi Blesh, ",{"_key":2196,"_type":12,"marks":2197,"text":2198},"979567687a7d",[114],"Collage: Personalities Concepts Techniques",{"_key":2200,"_type":12,"marks":2201,"text":2202},"36188ea8b526",[]," (New York: Chilton, 1962).",[],{"_key":2205,"_type":8,"children":2206,"markDefs":2211,"style":16},"5e70cf009e3e",[2207],{"_key":2208,"_type":12,"marks":2209,"text":2210},"a5dffe1b1795",[130],"Later, Rauschenberg explained to another interviewer, Barbara Rose,",[],{"_key":2213,"_type":8,"children":2214,"markDefs":2227,"style":1652},"ab904977f28f",[2215,2219,2224],{"_key":2216,"_type":12,"marks":2217,"text":2218},"0f88d51ad4e3",[130],"I ended up as a neuropsychiatric technician—the go-between from the patient to the psychiatrist. This was the war that discovered psychoanalysis. It became very big. They stopped calling all mental abnormalities “shell shock.” …",{"_key":2220,"_type":12,"marks":2221,"text":2223},"a604d21df9f4",[2222,130],"ceaadde79cef"," There were far too many patients for the number of doctors. It was my job to sit down and talk to them. The psychiatrists wanted me to do and say all sorts of things to the patients. I had such compassion for them",{"_key":2225,"_type":12,"marks":2226,"text":236},"49092f6ba4c1",[2222],[2228],{"_key":2222,"_type":474,"text":2229},[2230],{"_key":2231,"_type":8,"children":2232,"markDefs":2243,"style":16},"f8bcde1434b7",[2233,2236,2239],{"_key":2234,"_type":12,"marks":2235,"text":2102},"80a65a3cb3a7",[],{"_key":2237,"_type":12,"marks":2238,"text":871},"ec0b570c9055",[114],{"_key":2240,"_type":12,"marks":2241,"text":2242},"e0104383e865",[],", pp. 14–15.",[],{"_key":2245,"_type":8,"children":2246,"markDefs":2251,"style":16},"db2cc05a1d36",[2247],{"_key":2248,"_type":12,"marks":2249,"text":2250},"0fbae52e10b8",[],"Surprisingly, Rauschenberg initially considered continuing this work after leaving the Navy, writing to his parents,",[],{"_key":2253,"_type":8,"children":2254,"markDefs":2260,"style":1652},"83786749df9b",[2255],{"_key":2256,"_type":12,"marks":2257,"text":2259},"e96cb56b335c",[2258,130],"7f337b6a3e05","I’m going to try to go on to school to study Psychotherapy. That’s a specialist’s school. I’ve always been interested in why people do things and I think I could handle the mentally ill very well. I can reason and I do have an awful lot of patience and can keep calm. I already feel like a doctor.",[2261],{"_key":2258,"_type":474,"text":2262},[2263],{"_key":2264,"_type":8,"children":2265,"markDefs":2270,"style":16},"3c86e5d54df8",[2266],{"_key":2267,"_type":12,"marks":2268,"text":2269},"30248a74db35",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, May 21, 1944, RFC. Writing from San Diego on Dec. 12, 1944, he told his parents that he was trying to convince his commanding officer to recommend him for admittance to a special program in Bethesda, Maryland, for additional training in this area; on Jan. 30, 1945, he reported to them that there was no room for him in the program (both letters RFC).",[],{"_key":2272,"_type":8,"children":2273,"markDefs":2278,"style":16},"55cfb7086fbe",[2274],{"_key":2275,"_type":12,"marks":2276,"text":2277},"c61521f16696",[130],"By his last posting, however, his experiences seem to have put an end to any interest in such a career path:",[],{"_key":2280,"_type":8,"children":2281,"markDefs":2287,"style":1652},"f5bc9bb9df17",[2282],{"_key":2283,"_type":12,"marks":2284,"text":2286},"de2e58a17147",[2285,130],"0f8a4683879a","At the very end [of the war and its immediate aftermath] we were so shorthanded that I was running three different wards with only one doctor—and he had another unit with three wards. Because I was trained for medicine, I was assigned to another of those critical areas—terminal spinal meningitis. If I saw anybody stirring in the middle of the night, I had to make sure that they weren’t going into convulsions where they might break their backbones. I got so depressed, what with the terminal patients and the overwork with the regular patients that I still had left.",[2288],{"_key":2285,"_type":474,"text":2289},[2290],{"_key":2291,"_type":8,"children":2292,"markDefs":2303,"style":16},"c46d0d382369",[2293,2296,2299],{"_key":2294,"_type":12,"marks":2295,"text":2102},"54ff58944590",[],{"_key":2297,"_type":12,"marks":2298,"text":871},"711a8bc329ea",[114],{"_key":2300,"_type":12,"marks":2301,"text":2302},"adec34bbb3ca",[],", p. 18.",[],{"_key":2305,"_type":8,"children":2306,"markDefs":2311,"style":16},"886dc231956b",[2307],{"_key":2308,"_type":12,"marks":2309,"text":2310},"f02fa3cc1397",[],"Approaching the end of his enlistment, Rauschenberg wrote to Frakes, who had recently been called up for duty. His letter offers a glimpse of his disenchantment with the military and the university experience that had preceded it:",[],{"_key":2313,"_type":8,"children":2314,"markDefs":2335,"style":1652},"40d4ac3580f3",[2315,2320,2324,2327,2331],{"_key":2316,"_type":12,"marks":2317,"text":2319},"b9bb13516929",[2318,130],"1d04323db904","I am very interested to see your reaction to this terrific organization of which you are now a member, where ",{"_key":2321,"_type":12,"marks":2322,"text":2323},"1c7ff13e8de8",[300,2318,130],"stripes",{"_key":2325,"_type":12,"marks":2326,"text":204},"49efd43f74b6",[2318,130],{"_key":2328,"_type":12,"marks":2329,"text":2330},"e107f2a5b942",[300,2318,130],"stupidity",{"_key":2332,"_type":12,"marks":2333,"text":2334},"91d1cc421e53",[2318,130]," reign all high, where thinking is held against you—if that is security I want none of it. Quite a change from school—huh? Being out of school is a wonderful relief though, isn’t it. Not worrying about what will happen when you don’t have your Homework if you are going to pass—what you’ll tell your folks when you don’t. That’s what you get when you study something you are temperamentally unsuited for.",[2336],{"_key":2318,"_type":474,"text":2337},[2338],{"_key":2339,"_type":8,"children":2340,"markDefs":2345,"style":16},"7c9386811d78",[2341],{"_key":2342,"_type":12,"marks":2343,"text":2344},"8d1d7aa098ad",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, May 13, 1946, FS 173, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":2347,"_type":8,"children":2348,"markDefs":2353,"style":16},"8e30bec58057",[2349],{"_key":2350,"_type":12,"marks":2351,"text":2352},"b3bf8a829f91",[130],"Years later, he considered his work in the Navy:",[],{"_key":2355,"_type":8,"children":2356,"markDefs":2366,"style":1652},"8e1751064e8f",[2357,2361],{"_key":2358,"_type":12,"marks":2359,"text":2360},"5065e6d0eafb",[130],"I was doing a good job mainly out of compassion. I didn’t have enough objectivity—another couple of months and I would have become one of my own patients. But I really enjoyed the work. … Usually the nurse assigned to the ward didn’t know anybody’s history. I was the go-between with the psychiatrist, who had too many wards. …",{"_key":2362,"_type":12,"marks":2363,"text":2365},"761f04ef8f03",[2364,130],"589df644686e"," I knew I took it too personally to be effective for any long duration.",[2367],{"_key":2364,"_type":474,"text":2368},[2369],{"_key":2370,"_type":8,"children":2371,"markDefs":2384,"style":16},"fcd5f4db837a",[2372,2376,2380],{"_key":2373,"_type":12,"marks":2374,"text":2375},"4a9bd2d0cadf",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, “Bio notes,” n.d., pp. 3–4, Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 2, MoMA Archives. See also Calvin Tomkins,",{"_key":2377,"_type":12,"marks":2378,"text":2379},"a5cdda5dc31b",[114]," Off the Wall: A Portrait of Robert Rauschenberg",{"_key":2381,"_type":12,"marks":2382,"text":2383},"c8ca7aa4d812",[]," (New York: Picador, 2005), p. 17.",[],{"_key":2386,"_type":8,"children":2387,"markDefs":2397,"style":16},"3c65036262c5",[2388,2393],{"_key":2389,"_type":12,"marks":2390,"text":2392},"22866572bc41",[2391,130],"b396874ed0b3","According to Rauschenberg, the Navy was “where I learned how little difference there is between sanity and insanity and realized that a combination is essential.”",{"_key":2394,"_type":12,"marks":2395,"text":2396},"83750c9b24f5",[130]," This is a striking element in both his contemporary and his later, retrospective comments on his military service: not just his compassion for his patients but his identification with them as well. We could take this empathy as an inherent element of his personality, but we should also consider that such an understanding—of human nature and of himself—may not simply have come naturally, as it were. Previous generations of modern artists had been affected by theories of human nature explored in the writings of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung; we might similarly ask what an eighteen-year-old from Port Arthur, Texas, had been taught by the U.S. Navy about the human mind and how it works under the stresses of combat.",[2398],{"_key":2391,"_type":474,"text":2399},[2400],{"_key":2401,"_type":8,"children":2402,"markDefs":2414,"style":16},"6c4a15c98048",[2403,2407,2410],{"_key":2404,"_type":12,"marks":2405,"text":2406},"e1df5f646685",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in “Chronology,” in ",{"_key":2408,"_type":12,"marks":2409,"text":1867},"a1d47bdcb301",[114],{"_key":2411,"_type":12,"marks":2412,"text":2413},"0cbed68b0ca0",[],", exh. cat. (Washington, D.C.: National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, 1976), p. 25. This chronology misdates Rauschenberg’s Navy enlistment to 1942.",[],[2416],{"_key":2417,"_type":1738,"alt":2418,"asset":2419,"caption":2422},"6da7a48db8b2","Two young men sit on a large rock, one wearing a white shirt and the other in a plaid shirt, both looking thoughtfully into the distance.",{"_type":1741,"asset":2420},{"_ref":2421,"_type":53},"image-61f35b4842bbe85192538d8e9d6f3ee43fa7b338-1320x2352-jpg",[2423],{"_key":2424,"_type":8,"children":2425,"markDefs":2430,"style":16},"ec614146f7f2",[2426],{"_key":2427,"_type":12,"marks":2428,"text":2429},"3bd2a8700c8f",[],"Fig. 2. Robert Rauschenberg and Arthur Frakes, ca. 1943",[],{"_key":2432,"_type":1642,"content":2433,"images":2997},"5e8c66875ad7",[2434,2524,2627,2684,2707,2778,2830,2838,2846,2854,2862,2870,2900],{"_key":2435,"_type":8,"children":2436,"markDefs":2455,"style":16},"4b1893d7aad4",[2437,2441,2446,2450],{"_key":2438,"_type":12,"marks":2439,"text":2440},"f1ba7b8b423e",[],"The massive mobilization effort required of the United States when it entered the war near the end of 1941 had prompted an intense debate about qualifications for military service. With an acute awareness of the shell shock suffered by soldiers in World War I, the medical establishment and the military initially attempted to be far more restrictive, eliminating men they assessed as vulnerable. For the first time, psychiatrists were included among the medical professionals who examined draftees. ",{"_key":2442,"_type":12,"marks":2443,"text":2445},"165c07d007b7",[2444],"f3fd2cdfdf59","Despite such efforts, trauma among those who served was widespread during the war.",{"_key":2447,"_type":12,"marks":2448,"text":2449},"d21cdfe0fd2d",[]," The contemporary designation of “combat fatigue” indicates the aim to normalize the condition somewhat, representing it as transient, given time for rest and treatment. Training materials from the Navy, including journal articles, pamphlets, and films such as those Rauschenberg likely encountered, outlined an array of treatments, including talk therapy, hydrotherapy, hypnosis, and injections of sodium amytal, a drug with sedative and hypnotic properties. ",{"_key":2451,"_type":12,"marks":2452,"text":2454},"2480269d315c",[2453],"6cbe6529c9d8","The aim was to return sailors to combat or, by the war’s end, make them suitable for a job in civilian life.",[2456,2482],{"_key":2444,"_type":474,"text":2457},[2458],{"_key":2459,"_type":8,"children":2460,"markDefs":2481,"style":16},"3d2d8efc9ba8",[2461,2465,2469,2473,2477],{"_key":2462,"_type":12,"marks":2463,"text":2464},"c7790f90d0fa",[],"For the U.S. military’s treatment of mental issues before and during World War II, see Ben Shephard, ",{"_key":2466,"_type":12,"marks":2467,"text":2468},"eba050fecaf0",[114],"A War of Nerves: Soldiers and Psychiatrists in the Twentieth Century ",{"_key":2470,"_type":12,"marks":2471,"text":2472},"d5cabbb47f62",[],"(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001), esp. pp. 234–35, 243–45, 272–78. For changes to the screening and examination of inductees, see Christina S. Jarvis, ",{"_key":2474,"_type":12,"marks":2475,"text":2476},"6e8985a40113",[114],"The Male Body at War: American Masculinity During World War II",{"_key":2478,"_type":12,"marks":2479,"text":2480},"19b9132e107e",[]," (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2010), esp. pp. 56–85.",[],{"_key":2453,"_type":474,"text":2483},[2484],{"_key":2485,"_type":8,"children":2486,"markDefs":2522,"style":16},"fa1432826342",[2487,2491,2495,2499,2503,2507,2510,2514,2519],{"_key":2488,"_type":12,"marks":2489,"text":2490},"4a4df967ecc0",[],"Particularly useful in my research was the Navy’s ",{"_key":2492,"_type":12,"marks":2493,"text":2494},"525fb281aa2c",[114],"Hospital Corps Quarterly ",{"_key":2496,"_type":12,"marks":2497,"text":2498},"67e5d5fcd6ac",[],"18, no. 9 (Sept. 1945), a special issue dedicated to “NP” (neuropsychiatry). Rauschenberg may have seen the Navy’s 1945 training film ",{"_key":2500,"_type":12,"marks":2501,"text":2502},"9b0c65d64e2d",[114],"Voyage to Recovery",{"_key":2504,"_type":12,"marks":2505,"text":2506},"eb408d920b81",[],", which featured the hospital at Corona and the therapies provided there. ",{"_key":2508,"_type":12,"marks":2509,"text":2502},"831e67548b99",[114],{"_key":2511,"_type":12,"marks":2512,"text":2513},"0a479a58f251",[]," (Roland Reed Productions, 1945), 16 mm film, 30 min., 26 sec., archived at ",{"_key":2515,"_type":12,"marks":2516,"text":2518},"76b202dd985c",[2517],"8cb97d25c526","https:\u002F\u002Farchive.org\u002Fdetails\u002Fgov.archives.arc.13015",{"_key":2520,"_type":12,"marks":2521,"text":236},"73f00990e17f",[],[2523],{"_key":2517,"_type":375,"href":2518},{"_key":2525,"_type":8,"children":2526,"markDefs":2560,"style":16},"fa374e37d4b0",[2527,2531,2536,2540,2545,2548,2552,2555],{"_key":2528,"_type":12,"marks":2529,"text":2530},"2759d3e24eca",[],"This pragmatic orientation attempted to remove the stigma of mental breakdown. ",{"_key":2532,"_type":12,"marks":2533,"text":2535},"647ecc2bed1c",[2534],"dd5ab49ef5f5","Training materials emphasized the normality of the afflicted service members, with the repeated refrain: Everyone has a breaking point.",{"_key":2537,"_type":12,"marks":2538,"text":2539},"20d66788dfb6",[]," As compassionate as Rauschenberg’s attitude now appears, it was also an orientation likely fostered by the military and medical training he received. His tendency toward identification with his patients was underscored by the military’s evolving view of mental health and illness as a continuum, with the mean recognized as social normality. Moreover, the neuropsychiatric technician’s duties were often described in terms of vision: specifically, surveillance on behalf of doctors, who, as Rauschenberg recounted above, were assigned increasing numbers of patients and wards as the war came to an end. As the “go-between” for hospitalized sailors and their psychiatrists, Rauschenberg was responsible for keeping track of patients, interacting with them, trying to learn their histories, and observing them closely. ",{"_key":2541,"_type":12,"marks":2542,"text":2544},"31d943fd838c",[2543],"e1e458fa96ff","As one ",{"_key":2546,"_type":12,"marks":2547,"text":2075},"fe7c8446f3c2",[114,2543],{"_key":2549,"_type":12,"marks":2550,"text":2551},"0866012a316e",[2543]," training article explained, “This uninterrupted attention cannot be given by the medical officer who is limited in time. It is up to you who sees the patient around the clock.”",{"_key":2553,"_type":12,"marks":2554,"text":793},"792252ac633d",[],{"_key":2556,"_type":12,"marks":2557,"text":2559},"e4ae0d9912a2",[2558],"5760b210565c","The extent to which his training emphasized the observation of others may have informed Rauschenberg’s remark about his Navy service to Janis and Blesh in 1960: “You just can’t look at somebody [and] know all about their childhood, etc. Some of the most hideous things happen to people.”",[2561,2594,2617],{"_key":2534,"_type":474,"text":2562},[2563],{"_key":2564,"_type":8,"children":2565,"markDefs":2593,"style":16},"6b1614b8a179",[2566,2570,2573,2577,2581,2585,2589],{"_key":2567,"_type":12,"marks":2568,"text":2569},"6aaed8384acc",[],"Robert S. Wigton, “What Is NP?,” ",{"_key":2571,"_type":12,"marks":2572,"text":2494},"573e281ccabe",[114],{"_key":2574,"_type":12,"marks":2575,"text":2576},"1d70449624b5",[],"18, no. 9 (Sept. 1945), p. 7. The phrase “breaking point” was familiar enough that it was used by the director John Huston in the introductory narration of ",{"_key":2578,"_type":12,"marks":2579,"text":2580},"04e9188878ec",[114],"Let There Be Light",{"_key":2582,"_type":12,"marks":2583,"text":2584},"8eccd7406496",[],", a 1946 documentary about a U.S. Army hospital that treated soldiers with combat fatigue; although it was commissioned by the Army and intended to educate the public, the Army deemed it potentially demoralizing and suppressed its release until 1981. ",{"_key":2586,"_type":12,"marks":2587,"text":2588},"3fe85279f07b",[114],"Let There Be Light ",{"_key":2590,"_type":12,"marks":2591,"text":2592},"3e962b975e83",[],"(PMF 5019), directed by John Huston (U.S. Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, 1946; released 1981), 35 mm film, 59 min.",[],{"_key":2543,"_type":474,"text":2595},[2596],{"_key":2597,"_type":8,"children":2598,"markDefs":2616,"style":16},"872a3198c946",[2599,2603,2606,2610,2613],{"_key":2600,"_type":12,"marks":2601,"text":2602},"758a34d9cab1",[],"Kurt Reichert, “Put Yourself in the Patient’s Shoes,” ",{"_key":2604,"_type":12,"marks":2605,"text":2494},"96cdd514e347",[114],{"_key":2607,"_type":12,"marks":2608,"text":2609},"158a3d06576f",[],"18, no. 9 (Sept. 1945), p. 31. See also Rauschenberg’s description of being the “go-between” for the doctor and the patients in Rose, ",{"_key":2611,"_type":12,"marks":2612,"text":871},"c843b4951e0c",[114],{"_key":2614,"_type":12,"marks":2615,"text":2242},"04c0fb23bd6b",[],[],{"_key":2558,"_type":474,"text":2618},[2619],{"_key":2620,"_type":8,"children":2621,"markDefs":2626,"style":16},"c91a9c577023",[2622],{"_key":2623,"_type":12,"marks":2624,"text":2625},"4e504c450847",[],"Notes on studio visit with Rauschenberg, Nov. 18, 1960.",[],{"_key":2628,"_type":8,"children":2629,"markDefs":2647,"style":16},"6b57e4ec4af5",[2630,2634,2639,2642],{"_key":2631,"_type":12,"marks":2632,"text":2633},"8fe5e6ef333b",[],"The lingering impact of Rauschenberg’s experiences in the Navy, especially the emphasis on visual scrutiny in his training, may have inflected aspects of his later identity as an artist. Once he entered the New York art world in the early 1950s, he became one of the most trenchant critics of Abstract Expressionism’s heated self-expressiveness: “The kind of talk you heard then in the art world was so hard to take. … ",{"_key":2635,"_type":12,"marks":2636,"text":2638},"d3056fbf7ed5",[2637],"84cc3ae2bfb1","It was all about suffering and self-expression and the State of Things. I just wasn’t interested in that.”",{"_key":2640,"_type":12,"marks":2641,"text":793},"f158e3710b94",[],{"_key":2643,"_type":12,"marks":2644,"text":2646},"62f285775573",[2645],"dcf358aaa571","More bluntly, he quipped, “You have to have time to feel sorry for yourself if you’re going to be a good Abstract Expressionist.”",[2648,2658],{"_key":2637,"_type":474,"text":2649},[2650],{"_key":2651,"_type":8,"children":2652,"markDefs":2657,"style":16},"8914bae5a8a1",[2653],{"_key":2654,"_type":12,"marks":2655,"text":2656},"77f628329457",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Tomkins, “Profiles: Moving Out,” p. 66.",[],{"_key":2645,"_type":474,"text":2659},[2660],{"_key":2661,"_type":8,"children":2662,"markDefs":2683,"style":16},"170a54f64c97",[2663,2667,2671,2675,2679],{"_key":2664,"_type":12,"marks":2665,"text":2666},"b978f4e1588b",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Emile de Antonio and Mitch Tuchman,",{"_key":2668,"_type":12,"marks":2669,"text":2670},"4249a5444ca7",[114]," Painters Painting: A Candid History of the Modern Art Scene, 1940–1970",{"_key":2672,"_type":12,"marks":2673,"text":2674},"17bfdab13e33",[]," (New York: Abbeville, 1984), p. 87. The quotation from Rauschenberg, and the whole book, are derived from transcripts of the 1972 film ",{"_key":2676,"_type":12,"marks":2677,"text":2678},"d7649328407a",[114],"Painters Painting",{"_key":2680,"_type":12,"marks":2681,"text":2682},"d67d6ca0507f",[],", directed by Emile de Antonio.",[],{"_key":2685,"_type":8,"children":2686,"markDefs":2696,"style":16},"a004993876e8",[2687,2691],{"_key":2688,"_type":12,"marks":2689,"text":2690},"61b037e3c238",[],"Rauschenberg’s impatience with some of the artists he encountered in New York takes on a different cast when considered in the context of his education about the human mind, his exposure to individuals who had suffered untold horrors, and his recognition that the way someone looks and what’s going on inside them may be two very different things. The appeal to authenticity and direct expression typical of the rhetoric around Abstract Expressionism could seem naive in the recollection of cases of profound trauma whose symptoms might appear contradictory—paralysis where no physical injury was apparent, for example—and whose resolution, in the form of social normality, could leave many avenues of existence unexplored. ",{"_key":2692,"_type":12,"marks":2693,"text":2695},"b6f83afeba84",[2694],"7fb51898b3a4","As Rauschenberg later reflected, “Actually I always liked the patients best just before they were completely cured—that area just before they become boring adjusted people, the period when they were curious, gentle, poetic.”",[2697],{"_key":2694,"_type":474,"text":2698},[2699],{"_key":2700,"_type":8,"children":2701,"markDefs":2706,"style":16},"e72a3aa6cae0",[2702],{"_key":2703,"_type":12,"marks":2704,"text":2705},"64be82946075",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Tomkins, “Bio notes,” n.d., p. 4.",[],{"_key":2708,"_type":8,"children":2709,"markDefs":2728,"style":16},"ef90a0331efc",[2710,2714,2719,2723],{"_key":2711,"_type":12,"marks":2712,"text":2713},"91940f66e3d4",[],"Rauschenberg’s identification with his patients went beyond mere sympathy. ",{"_key":2715,"_type":12,"marks":2716,"text":2718},"5c1a1688f8e7",[2717],"6a2424516b2f","Years later, he remarked, “I had such compassion for them. My troubles didn’t read as well as theirs did, but I guess if an analyst had written mine down, I would have been right on top.”",{"_key":2720,"_type":12,"marks":2721,"text":2722},"2e3461de0647",[]," Rauschenberg was just eighteen and far from worldly when he was drafted, and his comments may have referred to the general confusion that often accompanies growing up, whether in small-town Texas or a military hospital in wartime. Initially, the U.S. military’s interest in psychiatry was intended not only to reduce instances of mental breakdown in combat but also to detect and disqualify homosexuals during medical exams. Means of doing so ranged from simple questions (“Do you like girls?”) to the identification of presumably visible characteristics, such as effeminacy. After the United States joined the war in December 1941, however, the pressing need for more military forces meant that significant numbers of homosexual men were admitted, with the unspoken requirement that they keep their sexuality private. ",{"_key":2724,"_type":12,"marks":2725,"text":2727},"2051b10636cb",[2726],"40a14cffec2c","Once a soldier had been inducted, homosexuality was grounds for court-martial and dishonorable discharge—a judgment that could carry a jail sentence and make returning to civilian life much more difficult, as it was nearly impossible to get a job with such a record.",[2729,2744],{"_key":2717,"_type":474,"text":2730},[2731],{"_key":2732,"_type":8,"children":2733,"markDefs":2743,"style":16},"c3933597cebc",[2734,2737,2740],{"_key":2735,"_type":12,"marks":2736,"text":2102},"9482bdc90ee9",[],{"_key":2738,"_type":12,"marks":2739,"text":871},"7036a3819fcc",[114],{"_key":2741,"_type":12,"marks":2742,"text":2109},"1d3614a7100b",[],[],{"_key":2726,"_type":474,"text":2745},[2746],{"_key":2747,"_type":8,"children":2748,"markDefs":2777,"style":16},"61b264e05077",[2749,2753,2757,2761,2765,2769,2773],{"_key":2750,"_type":12,"marks":2751,"text":2752},"2c2b71d2a3a7",[],"For the use of psychiatrists in induction exams in the attempt to eliminate homosexuals (women as well as men) from military service, see Allan Bérubé, ",{"_key":2754,"_type":12,"marks":2755,"text":2756},"2431eadceef0",[114],"Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II",{"_key":2758,"_type":12,"marks":2759,"text":2760},"9441ff61935c",[]," (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990), p. 2, and Jarvis, ",{"_key":2762,"_type":12,"marks":2763,"text":2764},"bf5a7fbec19e",[114],"Male Body at War",{"_key":2766,"_type":12,"marks":2767,"text":2768},"701b5f694b4f",[],", pp. 72–77. Despite the change in policy toward drafting homosexuals after December 1941, questions related to sexual orientation were still asked during medical examinations; James Lord recalled being asked by a psychiatrist if he liked girls when he enlisted in November 1942. James Lord, ",{"_key":2770,"_type":12,"marks":2771,"text":2772},"fbcfbdb54d14",[114],"My Queer War",{"_key":2774,"_type":12,"marks":2775,"text":2776},"c8bde1830eda",[]," (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010), p. 7.",[],{"_key":2779,"_type":8,"children":2780,"markDefs":2797,"style":16},"d2c7801c9b35",[2781,2786,2790,2793],{"_key":2782,"_type":12,"marks":2783,"text":2785},"d42615c08e86",[2784],"9b7840a172b9","Despite these dangers, there is ample evidence of same-sex liaisons and relationships in the U.S. military during World War II, but they existed along a wartime continuum of other types of connections and friendships.",{"_key":2787,"_type":12,"marks":2788,"text":2789},"d98d5b44798c",[]," Just as every man had his breaking point, under the strains of combat physical acts of passion between two soldiers could be considered momentary lapses, as opposed to ineradicable proof of flawed character. Such acts occurred in the context of intense homosocial relations—close friendships between recruits were encouraged—and the terrors of combat and its aftereffects could foster emotional as well as physical intimacy. For the American writer James Lord, for example, the military was a place of sexual freedom and exploration, but it was also where two men could share a shattering moment of terror and comfort, as he recounted in his memoir ",{"_key":2791,"_type":12,"marks":2792,"text":2772},"983a017ddbf6",[114],{"_key":2794,"_type":12,"marks":2795,"text":2796},"aa5ba0014734",[],":",[2798],{"_key":2784,"_type":474,"text":2799},[2800],{"_key":2801,"_type":8,"children":2802,"markDefs":2829,"style":16},"2cfc04e41b38",[2803,2807,2811,2815,2819,2823,2826],{"_key":2804,"_type":12,"marks":2805,"text":2806},"a371c365fa5f",[],"Some noncombatant military postings, such as typist, secretary, chaplain’s assistant, and, notably, hospital corpsman and pharmacist’s mate—Rauschenberg’s own assignments and those of most of the sailors he befriended—became informally associated with gay men. See Bérubé, ",{"_key":2808,"_type":12,"marks":2809,"text":2810},"16558d915958",[114],"Coming Out Under Fire",{"_key":2812,"_type":12,"marks":2813,"text":2814},"875cc2ad9ac4",[],", pp. 57–65. See also Gore Vidal, ",{"_key":2816,"_type":12,"marks":2817,"text":2818},"55fafaba0635",[114],"Palimpsest: A Memoir ",{"_key":2820,"_type":12,"marks":2821,"text":2822},"54166ac34d62",[],"(New York: Random House, 1996), and Lord, ",{"_key":2824,"_type":12,"marks":2825,"text":2772},"2911bfb1736a",[114],{"_key":2827,"_type":12,"marks":2828,"text":236},"ee11848c0f0c",[],[],{"_key":2831,"_type":8,"children":2832,"markDefs":2837,"style":1652},"863eeb99386f",[2833],{"_key":2834,"_type":12,"marks":2835,"text":2836},"b3ea4ba8c6e3",[130],"The night, however, was abruptly interrupted by someone shaking my shoulder. It was the man beside me, to whom I’d paid scant attention.",[],{"_key":2839,"_type":8,"children":2840,"markDefs":2845,"style":1652},"046ceb15e5d2",[2841],{"_key":2842,"_type":12,"marks":2843,"text":2844},"f192c95446f0",[],"     I said, “What the hell?”",[],{"_key":2847,"_type":8,"children":2848,"markDefs":2853,"style":1652},"3513b3be5a49",[2849],{"_key":2850,"_type":12,"marks":2851,"text":2852},"f1cec1e8342f",[],"     “Sorry,” he whispered. “Could you just hold me for a minute? Please. Please.”",[],{"_key":2855,"_type":8,"children":2856,"markDefs":2861,"style":1652},"97bbe213f887",[2857],{"_key":2858,"_type":12,"marks":2859,"text":2860},"793fadfd5f12",[],"     This was no sexual plea I realized instantly as he held out his arms and I helped him into mine and in the tangle of blankets I could feel him trembling. “What’s wrong?” I whispered. “Are you sick?”",[],{"_key":2863,"_type":8,"children":2864,"markDefs":2869,"style":1652},"5e7479a3a14a",[2865],{"_key":2866,"_type":12,"marks":2867,"text":2868},"b769c19a00af",[],"     “I’m so scared,” he said. “I’ll tell you. Please. Hold me as tight as you can. I’m so scared.”",[],{"_key":2871,"_type":8,"children":2872,"markDefs":2882,"style":1652},"1ee7d7244103",[2873,2877],{"_key":2874,"_type":12,"marks":2875,"text":2876},"88cefccc9fb3",[],"     ",{"_key":2878,"_type":12,"marks":2879,"text":2881},"3ba0a6f455d6",[2880],"0912efc12064","“Okay. It’ll be all right.” And I did hold him as close as I could, felt him trembling against me, and a sound as of a sob came choking from him, and I’d never known what it was to hold a human being in my arms in the desperate throes of his humanity, not a quiver of the sexual sense in it, no.",[2883],{"_key":2880,"_type":474,"text":2884},[2885],{"_key":2886,"_type":8,"children":2887,"markDefs":2899,"style":16},"48369d7746e2",[2888,2892,2895],{"_key":2889,"_type":12,"marks":2890,"text":2891},"df62bf3095f6",[],"Lord, ",{"_key":2893,"_type":12,"marks":2894,"text":2772},"c18fbfc648c7",[114],{"_key":2896,"_type":12,"marks":2897,"text":2898},"e7b169b93d0a",[],", p. 166.",[],{"_key":2901,"_type":8,"children":2902,"markDefs":2938,"style":16},"ba0a86bef07b",[2903,2907,2912,2915,2920,2924,2929,2933],{"_key":2904,"_type":12,"marks":2905,"text":2906},"eb4840cec5ee",[130],"Rauschenberg’s correspondence and later remarks occasionally allude to the intimate proximity of male bodies. ",{"_key":2908,"_type":12,"marks":2909,"text":2911},"44a9dd2c4b1c",[2910,130],"b1d2bb3a46e2","The sheer number of men expected to sleep in the same barracks was initially disconcerting: “I hated living in the dormitory. I’d never seen more than five or six persons together at once except in church, and it was just too different.”",{"_key":2913,"_type":12,"marks":2914,"text":793},"86b305aa9ad1",[130],{"_key":2916,"_type":12,"marks":2917,"text":2919},"41d1c26293af",[2918,130],"d95b1610fcde","He soon adapted, and if he sometimes preferred solitude, he also often went on liberty with his fellow corpsmen, staying together at small boarding houses, hotels, and YMCA dormitories.",{"_key":2921,"_type":12,"marks":2922,"text":2923},"e46f73b886ba",[130]," His medical training further acquainted him with the male body; in San Diego, he had night duty that included providing education on venereal diseases and prophylaxis to sailors going on leave. ",{"_key":2925,"_type":12,"marks":2926,"text":2928},"a70b2535e1d4",[2927,130],"6e6159673211","He wrote to Frakes, “It’s very interesting work, sometimes disgusting though, I certainly hear some interesting tales as you can imagine.”",{"_key":2930,"_type":12,"marks":2931,"text":2932},"2b34c560f912",[130]," During his time in the Navy, Rauschenberg encountered the male body in all its strength as well as its vulnerability—wracked by tuberculosis and spinal meningitis, devastated by unseen trauma, or worse. ",{"_key":2934,"_type":12,"marks":2935,"text":2937},"c3035d076234",[2936,130],"60b446c3f6c6","Rauschenberg later recalled that, at one point in Corona, “My job was to wrap corpses, to tie them off so that they didn’t make a mess in the bag, and give them one last bath—at the point where they’re most contagious!”",[2939,2955,2971,2981],{"_key":2910,"_type":474,"text":2940},[2941],{"_key":2942,"_type":8,"children":2943,"markDefs":2954,"style":16},"9133d80d3274",[2944,2947,2950],{"_key":2945,"_type":12,"marks":2946,"text":2102},"0a5f6e3e246e",[],{"_key":2948,"_type":12,"marks":2949,"text":871},"89a28c9a4d4a",[114],{"_key":2951,"_type":12,"marks":2952,"text":2953},"02f50b86e2a6",[],", p. 16. Rauschenberg here omits mention of his time in Austin before the war, when he and Frakes roomed together at the YMCA. Several photographs in Frakes’s archive show him and Rauschenberg together with other male students who lived at the Y (see fig. 3).",[],{"_key":2918,"_type":474,"text":2956},[2957],{"_key":2958,"_type":8,"children":2959,"markDefs":2970,"style":16},"271e15eae19f",[2960,2964,2967],{"_key":2961,"_type":12,"marks":2962,"text":2963},"7247d02af7c8",[],"Rauschenberg’s correspondence with Frakes details multiple instances of going on leave with his fellow sailors, in contrast with later accounts of his Navy life, as when he told Barbara Rose, “I used to spend my leaves hitchhiking. I didn’t have any friends. I was too shy.” Rauschenberg, quoted in Rose, ",{"_key":2965,"_type":12,"marks":2966,"text":871},"ed6419633416",[114],{"_key":2968,"_type":12,"marks":2969,"text":2302},"f478d3ea8ac8",[],[],{"_key":2927,"_type":474,"text":2972},[2973],{"_key":2974,"_type":8,"children":2975,"markDefs":2980,"style":16},"0ad2a5c06301",[2976],{"_key":2977,"_type":12,"marks":2978,"text":2979},"d63f937991b4",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, Feb. 28, 1945, FS 172A, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. Rauschenberg also refers to a small card enclosed with the letter that reads “Attention: Venereal diseases can be prevented” and lists sites that can be visited “for a supervised prophylaxis thirty minutes after every exposure.” Rauschenberg identifies the first site listed, the main gate of the U.S. Naval Repair Base, as his post.",[],{"_key":2936,"_type":474,"text":2982},[2983],{"_key":2984,"_type":8,"children":2985,"markDefs":2996,"style":16},"94d90c1f794b",[2986,2989,2992],{"_key":2987,"_type":12,"marks":2988,"text":2102},"94ed7b072c05",[],{"_key":2990,"_type":12,"marks":2991,"text":871},"e39afb1036eb",[114],{"_key":2993,"_type":12,"marks":2994,"text":2995},"edff8079d6e8",[],", p. 17.",[],[2998],{"_key":2999,"_type":1738,"alt":3000,"asset":3001,"caption":3004},"0917ff96f110","A group of five young men, dressed in 1940s attire, sit together on a stone ledge in front of a brick building, smiling and posing for the camera.",{"_type":1741,"asset":3002},{"_ref":3003,"_type":53},"image-4dc3dac9d98e627bd8c5ee7804ec721560f0319b-3622x2054-jpg",[3005],{"_key":3006,"_type":8,"children":3007,"markDefs":3012,"style":16},"eb742018ecf3",[3008],{"_key":3009,"_type":12,"marks":3010,"text":3011},"16b8f008ef08",[],"Fig. 3. Robert Rauschenberg (center), Arthur Frakes (far right), and three friends outside the YMCA, Austin, Texas, 1944",[],{"_key":3014,"_type":1642,"content":3015,"images":3400},"e331dd03be55",[3016,3024,3047,3125,3257,3310,3337,3392],{"_key":3017,"_type":8,"children":3018,"markDefs":3023,"style":16},"5e7b8243ed41",[3019],{"_key":3020,"_type":12,"marks":3021,"text":3022},"1e295e299459",[],"While the contents of Rauschenberg’s letters to Frakes provide important information about his experience in the Navy, including his friendships with other sailors, their existence, in turn, complicates our understanding of Rauschenberg as a young man. The artist’s near-complete refusal to discuss his sexual orientation throughout his life formed a paradoxical counterpart to an artistic life that was remarkably open in other respects. After his marriage to Susan Weil—which ended largely on account of his relationship with Cy Twombly—Rauschenberg’s habit of pursuing creative work with romantic partners meant that a series of men, including Twombly, Jasper Johns, the dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton, and others, were long known in the artist’s literature simply as “friends.”",[],{"_key":3025,"_type":8,"children":3026,"markDefs":3036,"style":16},"231fa08499c5",[3027,3031],{"_key":3028,"_type":12,"marks":3029,"text":3030},"f24f3d53b1d1",[],"A consideration of Rauschenberg’s letters to his high school friend, then, inevitably raises the question of how their relationship should be regarded. This was initially even more difficult to ascertain in the face of Rauschenberg’s reaction to Frakes’s decision to bequeath their correspondence to the Menil Archives at the Menil Collection, Houston: The artist had the letters sealed. When I contacted the Menil Archives about the Frakes letters in 2015, I was told that they were sealed because they were “personal in nature” and that they had been restricted at Rauschenberg’s request. ",{"_key":3032,"_type":12,"marks":3033,"text":3035},"db4e373f02b2",[3034],"75625ec26776","In response to my query, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation lifted the restriction in 2016, and I have been researching the collection’s contents since then.",[3037],{"_key":3034,"_type":474,"text":3038},[3039],{"_key":3040,"_type":8,"children":3041,"markDefs":3046,"style":16},"6fc84bc7a1c7",[3042],{"_key":3043,"_type":12,"marks":3044,"text":3045},"a7670e3a053e",[],"Geraldine Aramanda, archivist at the Menil Archives, and Susan Davidson, curatorial advisor to Rauschenberg from 2001 to 2008, both confirmed the letters’ restricted status and Rauschenberg’s role in their designation in emails to the author, April 9, 2015.",[],{"_key":3048,"_type":8,"children":3049,"markDefs":3076,"style":16},"0eaba6716ced",[3050,3054,3059,3062,3067,3071],{"_key":3051,"_type":12,"marks":3052,"text":3053},"00778eb18b3c",[],"The exchange’s one-sidedness complicates matters further. ",{"_key":3055,"_type":12,"marks":3056,"text":3058},"e7ae05f2b721",[3057],"3c2d3427aa6b","Frakes’s archive holds a wealth of correspondence from Rauschenberg to Frakes—letters, postcards, greeting cards, and so on—while only three letters from Frakes to Rauschenberg, primarily relaying jokes and gossip about mutual friends, are known to have survived.",{"_key":3060,"_type":12,"marks":3061,"text":793},"18f465882046",[],{"_key":3063,"_type":12,"marks":3064,"text":3066},"b4288e50f97c",[3065],"6ed906aa2db8","Frakes’s archive also includes photographs of the two of them, often with other male friends, in Port Arthur and Austin (fig. 3), enjoying casual physical contact and even relaxing together on a bed.",{"_key":3068,"_type":12,"marks":3069,"text":3070},"34320ff3d521",[]," Yet if Rauschenberg’s letters to Frakes do not establish definitively whether the pair’s relationship went beyond platonic friendship, they do demonstrate that long before Rauschenberg entered the public eye or even considered becoming an artist, he was adept at presenting his identity and interests in different ways, depending on the audience. In letters to his parents, he told them about nurses he was dating, including an ensign at Arrowhead Springs who was interested in marriage, and he sent photographs to them as well. ",{"_key":3072,"_type":12,"marks":3073,"text":3075},"d059e4be66cc",[3074],"c4c57cd457e6","To Frakes, he mentioned one date with the same woman, only to offer reassurance: “I had a date with Miss Elder my nurse to go dancing to Harry James. Purely on the up and up and off the record. You know she’s an ensign of 23 and I’m an HA 1\u002Fc [Hospital Apprentice First Class] of 19. We have fun together though we go hiking, mountain climbing and horseback riding together. I don’t know what her intentions are, but mine are honorable.”",[3077,3087,3105],{"_key":3057,"_type":474,"text":3078},[3079],{"_key":3080,"_type":8,"children":3081,"markDefs":3086,"style":16},"295243079c90",[3082],{"_key":3083,"_type":12,"marks":3084,"text":3085},"303689875a43",[],"Frakes’s three known surviving letters to Rauschenberg are dated “Wed night” (postmarked April 8, 1943); May 17, 1944 (misdated 1943 in the letter; it is postmarked May 18, 1944); and June 11, 1944 (all RFC).",[],{"_key":3065,"_type":474,"text":3088},[3089],{"_key":3090,"_type":8,"children":3091,"markDefs":3104,"style":16},"475bfbc22c02",[3092,3096,3100],{"_key":3093,"_type":12,"marks":3094,"text":3095},"a569196b7188",[],"Displays of affection and intimacy appear to have been part of a broad trend in vernacular photography of American men (rarely seen in comparable photos of young men and women together) that largely disappeared after World War II. John Ibson explores this phenomenon in ",{"_key":3097,"_type":12,"marks":3098,"text":3099},"c1276d039c77",[114],"The Mourning After: Loss and Longing Among Midcentury American Men",{"_key":3101,"_type":12,"marks":3102,"text":3103},"52c758de854e",[]," (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018).",[],{"_key":3074,"_type":474,"text":3106},[3107],{"_key":3108,"_type":8,"children":3109,"markDefs":3123,"style":16},"6044134ba2ee",[3110,3114,3119],{"_key":3111,"_type":12,"marks":3112,"text":3113},"4315090ac0f1",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, n.d. [after Jan. 1945], FS 179, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. Rauschenberg identified the nurse as “Jean Ann Elder” on the back of one of two photographs showing the two of them together that he enclosed in a letter to his parents dated March 14, 1945 (RFC). This may have been Jeanne Anne Elder, who studied nursing before joining the Navy; as an ensign, she served at hospitals in California before being transferred to the South Pacific. See Terry Hirsch, “WWII Women Who Served,” IAGenWebProject, Oct. 2017, updated Sept. 2021 by Pat Holt Juon, ",{"_key":3115,"_type":12,"marks":3116,"text":3118},"271331d5f111",[3117],"f4b8ff020c3f","http:\u002F\u002Fiagenweb.org\u002Fwwii\u002FWWII_Women\u002FE_Name\u002FElderJeanneAnn.html",{"_key":3120,"_type":12,"marks":3121,"text":3122},"b5d1c7052f3e",[],". Rauschenberg also mentioned a “wonderful wave” (a U.S. Navy reservist inducted under the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service program, or WAVES) named Marie, with whom he worked and went swimming, in letters to his parents dated March 20 and May 16, 1946 (both RFC).",[3124],{"_key":3117,"_type":375,"href":3118},{"_key":3126,"_type":8,"children":3127,"markDefs":3161,"style":16},"93f480256ad4",[3128,3132,3137,3140,3145,3148,3153,3156],{"_key":3129,"_type":12,"marks":3130,"text":3131},"0c3a178d6017",[],"Rauschenberg’s letters to Frakes are heartfelt, affectionate, playful, and sometimes flirtatious, but above all, they are the correspondence of a young man who presents himself as enjoying the company of women and men alike. ",{"_key":3133,"_type":12,"marks":3134,"text":3136},"f9f3e8b7e825",[3135],"d12540c9906a","In many of his letters, he obsesses, as any eighteen- or nineteen-year-old might, over his feelings for Gretchen Braun (1927–2013; fig. 4), known as Gay, a young woman from Port Arthur who was also friends with Frakes.",{"_key":3138,"_type":12,"marks":3139,"text":793},"f58e2e03dc39",[],{"_key":3141,"_type":12,"marks":3142,"text":3144},"a85925fc7ee5",[3143],"2e2add4d05ab","While Rauschenberg worried in some letters whether Braun returned his affections and even whether he should buy her a ring, others offer lengthy descriptions of weekend leaves when he went dancing at the Palladium or the Hollywood Canteen in Los Angeles with a variety of young women; attended movies, plays, concerts, and live radio broadcasts; and, charmingly starstruck, introduced himself to movie stars entertaining the troops, sending Frakes autographs from Kay Francis and Gloria DeHaven, among others.",{"_key":3146,"_type":12,"marks":3147,"text":793},"96b465f96d31",[],{"_key":3149,"_type":12,"marks":3150,"text":3152},"9b156a2dd70c",[3151],"b8115c1babc3","In some letters, he offered assessments of their appearance: Ginger Rogers was “gorgeous”; DeHaven, “the most beautiful thing you have ever seen”; and Deanna Durbin, “awful not a bit pretty.”",{"_key":3154,"_type":12,"marks":3155,"text":793},"659cfbaf9606",[],{"_key":3157,"_type":12,"marks":3158,"text":3160},"ae2f55d48da3",[3159],"a00c6a5f08bd","He gave special attention in his letters to Judy Garland: “You know how crazy about her I am. She was a little disappointing She didn’t have the ease that she should have possessed The only time she was really easy and graceful was when she sang, Gosh was she good!!”",[3162,3209,3238,3248],{"_key":3135,"_type":474,"text":3163},[3164],{"_key":3165,"_type":8,"children":3166,"markDefs":3204,"style":16},"b02e1b21c583",[3167,3171,3175,3179,3183,3187,3192,3195,3200],{"_key":3168,"_type":12,"marks":3169,"text":3170},"242b500fb131",[],"According to a 1975 interview, Rauschenberg met his “beautiful girlfriend” Gay Braun in Port Arthur because she was a “neighbor of my one friend” (likely Frakes). She and Rauschenberg went to different high schools and then both went to the University of Texas at Austin; Rauschenberg was in the Navy by the time Braun attended, but they kept in touch through mutual friends and on visits back to Port Arthur. Rauschenberg, interview by Walter Hopps and Sue Ginsburg, Nov. 4, 1975, transcript, pp. 11–13, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives. The two seem never to have seriously dated, although Rauschenberg sometimes used her to deflect romantic attention from other women while he was in the Navy. See his letter to his parents of June 21, 1945 (RFC), in which he explains that a woman stopped seeing him when she realized that she couldn’t replace “the girl back home.” Braun was featured as a “Texas Coed” on the cover of the Feb. 24, 1947, issue of ",{"_key":3172,"_type":12,"marks":3173,"text":3174},"28e67e8d7545",[114],"Life",{"_key":3176,"_type":12,"marks":3177,"text":3178},"dd629cc83f06",[],", much to Rauschenberg’s astonishment when he came across the magazine on a Kansas City bus. Later that year, Braun married C. Jim Stewart II and moved to Houston, where the couple raised a family. Frakes’s archive has three photos of her, Rauschenberg, and himself together on later occasions, including the opening of an exhibition of Rauschenberg’s work at the Port Arthur Public Library in 1984 (FS 205, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives). See Helen Reeburgh, “Rauschenberg Draws Friends, Family,” ",{"_key":3180,"_type":12,"marks":3181,"text":3182},"3b53873a5721",[114],"Port Arthur News",{"_key":3184,"_type":12,"marks":3185,"text":3186},"75f8bf79e26e",[],", Feb. 12, 1984, p. 5E. Pat Ludington recalled Rauschenberg’s descriptions of Braun in the letter quoted in the epigraph of this essay: “I wonder, too, about Gay Braun and how her life turned out—your little Pygmalion.” Pat Pearman Ludington to Rauschenberg, April 28, 1974, Ludington Family Collection. Rauschenberg had had numerous ideas about how Braun should dress; see ",{"_key":3188,"_type":12,"marks":3189,"text":3191},"203d018e44e1",[3190],"8a31e6d6ef35","n. 85",{"_key":3193,"_type":12,"marks":3194,"text":263},"c34ece1c51b8",[],{"_key":3196,"_type":12,"marks":3197,"text":3199},"02383163be06",[3198],"c940d84e6bce","n. 86",{"_key":3201,"_type":12,"marks":3202,"text":3203},"494581c6481d",[],", below and corresponding text.",[3205,3207],{"_key":3190,"_type":375,"href":3206},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Flooking-back#fn-85",{"_key":3198,"_type":375,"href":3208},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Flooking-back#fn-86",{"_key":3143,"_type":474,"text":3210},[3211],{"_key":3212,"_type":8,"children":3213,"markDefs":3235,"style":16},"79b7b26e06c7",[3214,3218,3222,3226,3231],{"_key":3215,"_type":12,"marks":3216,"text":3217},"0ad1774a6c47",[],"Rauschenberg sent autographs and other souvenirs to Frakes for safekeeping, possibly because of his frequent Navy reassignments, so that such items would not get lost in the moves—then, apparently, never retrieved them. In one letter, he describes meeting Judy Garland and obtaining an autograph from her. Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, July 19, 1944, FS 164, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. There is no such autograph in Frakes’s archive, and Rauschenberg does not mention that he is including it with his letter; if the artist kept it, one wonders if it might be the autograph included in the 1955 Combine ",{"_key":3219,"_type":12,"marks":3220,"text":3221},"3cbbb289ac13",[114],"Short Circuit ",{"_key":3223,"_type":12,"marks":3224,"text":3225},"d65b66c5e50d",[],"(Art Institute of Chicago [2011.247]; RRF 55.005; see essay by ",{"_key":3227,"_type":12,"marks":3228,"text":3230},"174a7e1726c5",[3229],"39daa7d1dd2f","Helen Molesworth, fig. 4",{"_key":3232,"_type":12,"marks":3233,"text":3234},"291ac7599d93",[],").",[3236],{"_key":3229,"_type":375,"href":3237},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Ferased-de-kooning#fnref-20",{"_key":3151,"_type":474,"text":3239},[3240],{"_key":3241,"_type":8,"children":3242,"markDefs":3247,"style":16},"8178a83679aa",[3243],{"_key":3244,"_type":12,"marks":3245,"text":3246},"f7b21c88736e",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, July 19, 1944 (DeHaven), and Oct. 6, 1944 (Rogers and Durbin), FS 169, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":3159,"_type":474,"text":3249},[3250],{"_key":3251,"_type":8,"children":3252,"markDefs":3256,"style":16},"444521ef228b",[3253],{"_key":3254,"_type":12,"marks":3255,"text":2128},"ca9c86826471",[],[],{"_key":3258,"_type":8,"children":3259,"markDefs":3289,"style":16},"d812380b0bdb",[3260,3264,3269,3272,3277,3281,3285],{"_key":3261,"_type":12,"marks":3262,"text":3263},"77993b7de8ba",[],"While Rauschenberg was later to stress his tendency to be a loner in the Navy (and, for that matter, in high school and college), his correspondence with Frakes reveals quite the opposite. ",{"_key":3265,"_type":12,"marks":3266,"text":3268},"4aa4d642b623",[3267],"3b7b408fdb23","In addition to accounts of dancing and encounters with celebrities, he also sizes up other sailors: “Jones is my best friend up here and he’s nice lookin’ and is 6'2\" and from Dallas.”",{"_key":3270,"_type":12,"marks":3271,"text":793},"f5944128e386",[],{"_key":3273,"_type":12,"marks":3274,"text":3276},"a6c7813e1f4d",[3275],"1197c9c74bd3","On weekend leaves, he goes out with some of them: “O.K., I know what you want to know, ",{"_key":3278,"_type":12,"marks":3279,"text":3280},"c6305d2e9016",[300,3275],"don’t I",{"_key":3282,"_type":12,"marks":3283,"text":3284},"c450a653a683",[3275],"? Chuck is a very interesting person and, golly, what a build. He is only about 5'10\", but he weighs 162 lbs. It’s all muscle, too. If he were only about 4\" taller he would make a good Atlas ad.”",{"_key":3286,"_type":12,"marks":3287,"text":3288},"a28faf5c04fb",[]," Like his friendship with Frakes, his associations with his fellow sailors—mentioned in his letters as Jodie, Razzy, Harry, Soules, and Roger, among others—have rarely been noted in accounts of his early life, and it remains unknown whether his relationships with them encompassed physical affection. Rauschenberg likely knew better than to express things in letters, especially during wartime, that could have gotten him in trouble—a self-protective discretion that continued throughout his life.",[3290,3300],{"_key":3267,"_type":474,"text":3291},[3292],{"_key":3293,"_type":8,"children":3294,"markDefs":3299,"style":16},"eeb3ecce6b02",[3295],{"_key":3296,"_type":12,"marks":3297,"text":3298},"992bc537c7d3",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked Feb. 10, 1944, FS 155, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":3275,"_type":474,"text":3301},[3302],{"_key":3303,"_type":8,"children":3304,"markDefs":3309,"style":16},"1492bd8075be",[3305],{"_key":3306,"_type":12,"marks":3307,"text":3308},"3c19a6f40634",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked May 20, 1944, FS 159, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. In a letter that may have crossed with Rauschenberg’s, Frakes had inquired, “And how is Chuck? I mean physically?” Arthur Frakes to Rauschenberg, May 17, 1944, RFC.",[],{"_key":3311,"_type":8,"children":3312,"markDefs":3326,"style":16},"f22c51742277",[3313,3317,3322],{"_key":3314,"_type":12,"marks":3315,"text":3316},"3d09377813e8",[],"Still, it’s striking how unguarded Rauschenberg’s letters can be. ",{"_key":3318,"_type":12,"marks":3319,"text":3321},"1913bae63e44",[3320],"029020386caa","From basic training, for example, he teasingly reassured Frakes, who had not yet been called up for service, “Arthur you don’t have to worry about getting along with so many boys—you know what I mean.”",{"_key":3323,"_type":12,"marks":3324,"text":3325},"0eed56deb058",[]," Other letters make it clear how difficult it could be for young men to come to terms with emotions that were not supposed to be acknowledged, let alone discussed. Of his friendship with the sailor named Chuck, Rauschenberg wrote to Frakes,",[3327],{"_key":3320,"_type":474,"text":3328},[3329],{"_key":3330,"_type":8,"children":3331,"markDefs":3336,"style":16},"be276232ad98",[3332],{"_key":3333,"_type":12,"marks":3334,"text":3335},"2ddac70629d6",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, Feb. 17, 1944, FS 154, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":3338,"_type":8,"children":3339,"markDefs":3353,"style":1652},"fc9e63f6e7c8",[3340,3345,3349],{"_key":3341,"_type":12,"marks":3342,"text":3344},"81a99c51446e",[3343,130],"ba66410dc463","I don’t know how to explain it, but Chuck and I just seemed to drift apart, much to my sorrow. I can’t remember doing anything to make him mad. We had big plans for this last weekend in L.A., but he went out with 2 other guys. I didn’t say anything to him about it. I guess he could tell I knew that something was wrong. I had to eat with him Monday in the dining room and he asked me what I had done I told him ",{"_key":3346,"_type":12,"marks":3347,"text":3348},"915f83d3e645",[300,3343,130],"very",{"_key":3350,"_type":12,"marks":3351,"text":3352},"5d3ce52eab09",[3343,130]," briefly and just kept on eating. He told me what he had done and I said nothing, then right out of the blue sky after a few minutes of silence he said “Milton, I really missed you this weekend.” He told me how sorry he was about everything, but he couldn’t explain it, either. He told me all kinds of things such as he didn’t realize how much I meant to him until he quit running around with me.",[3354],{"_key":3343,"_type":474,"text":3355},[3356],{"_key":3357,"_type":8,"children":3358,"markDefs":3385,"style":16},"0b8f4a4cde3f",[3359,3363,3368,3373,3377,3382],{"_key":3360,"_type":12,"marks":3361,"text":3362},"3f3fccee44e6",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked June 10, 1944, FS 161, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. “Milton” was Rauschenberg’s given name at birth. See ",{"_key":3364,"_type":12,"marks":3365,"text":3367},"bada7b04e8d3",[3366],"505eaefb86b3","Chronology, 1925–1938 ",{"_key":3369,"_type":12,"marks":3370,"text":3372},"cca3ea6fd99f",[3371],"1b727ef821ab","(esp. n. 1)",{"_key":3374,"_type":12,"marks":3375,"text":3376},"fd6653be12c2",[],", and ",{"_key":3378,"_type":12,"marks":3379,"text":3381},"6691111d7100",[3380],"0de13931177a","1947",{"_key":3383,"_type":12,"marks":3384,"text":236},"66abdfe6f38b",[],[3386,3388,3390],{"_key":3366,"_type":375,"href":3387},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fchronology",{"_key":3371,"_type":375,"href":3389},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fchronology#fn-1",{"_key":3380,"_type":375,"href":3391},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fchronology#fnref-16",{"_key":3393,"_type":8,"children":3394,"markDefs":3399,"style":16},"2c45438e3eea",[3395],{"_key":3396,"_type":12,"marks":3397,"text":3398},"3f54feb1841f",[130],"Overall, the trajectory of Rauschenberg’s letters to Frakes between 1943 and 1948 shows a rather unworldly young man quickly gaining knowledge and experience, growing in sometimes actual, sometimes affected, sophistication, and already displaying a disinclination to be bound by contemporary expectations around masculinity. These qualities would also feed into the creative pursuits that took root during these years.",[],[3401],{"_key":3402,"_type":1738,"alt":3403,"asset":3404,"caption":3407},"d6599d4d79de","A smiling woman with curly hair is sitting outdoors, wearing a light-colored top, with a brick building and greenery in the background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":3405},{"_ref":3406,"_type":53},"image-cb4191326efc5b09098883c729d2d85c756f99b5-2361x1565-jpg",[3408],{"_key":3409,"_type":8,"children":3410,"markDefs":3415,"style":16},"addd216042df",[3411],{"_key":3412,"_type":12,"marks":3413,"text":3414},"61da88150c55",[],"Fig. 4. Gay Braun, 1945",[],{"_key":3417,"_type":1642,"content":3418,"images":3819},"b4909e5adcec",[3419,3421,3544,3666,3781],{"_key":3420,"_type":1942},"a82b61d873bc",{"_key":3422,"_type":8,"children":3423,"markDefs":3490,"style":16},"1bf70946daca",[3424,3428,3433,3437,3442,3446,3450,3454,3458,3462,3466,3470,3474,3477,3482,3485],{"_key":3425,"_type":12,"marks":3426,"text":3427},"4904e2cf1b4b",[130],"One event that goes unmentioned in Rauschenberg’s correspondence with Frakes is a weekend leave he took in 1946 while stationed in Oceanside, during which he visited the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino, California. ",{"_key":3429,"_type":12,"marks":3430,"text":3432},"45d0b091e961",[3431,130],"60ec3c9b5473","Initially, he was drawn there by the cactus garden on the grounds, one of the oldest and largest of its kind.",{"_key":3434,"_type":12,"marks":3435,"text":3436},"0390193696e3",[130]," He subsequently wandered into the large house, which had opened to the public as a museum in 1928, where he found Henry E. and Arabella Huntington’s art collection and its particularly strong holdings in eighteenth-century British portraiture. ",{"_key":3438,"_type":12,"marks":3439,"text":3441},"0612f031efd2",[3440,130],"7294de9c0ef0","There, Rauschenberg had what he described as his “first encounter with art as art” in the guise of three monumental, full-length portraits: ",{"_key":3443,"_type":12,"marks":3444,"text":3445},"021a151cbc85",[114,3440,130],"The Blue Boy ",{"_key":3447,"_type":12,"marks":3448,"text":3449},"f78010941a04",[3440,130],"(ca. 1770), by Thomas Gainsborough; ",{"_key":3451,"_type":12,"marks":3452,"text":3453},"656a1388d660",[114,3440,130],"Sarah Goodin Barrett Moulton",{"_key":3455,"_type":12,"marks":3456,"text":3457},"6db3a113bc3b",[3440,130],", or",{"_key":3459,"_type":12,"marks":3460,"text":3461},"45032feb9f35",[114,3440,130]," Pinkie ",{"_key":3463,"_type":12,"marks":3464,"text":3465},"4617e6c08a71",[3440,130],"(1794), by Thomas Lawrence; and ",{"_key":3467,"_type":12,"marks":3468,"text":3469},"bb5fca8c89f5",[114,3440,130],"Sarah (Kemble) Siddons as the Tragic Muse",{"_key":3471,"_type":12,"marks":3472,"text":3473},"5bfa7e1bb125",[3440,130]," (1783–84), by Joshua Reynolds (fig. 5).",{"_key":3475,"_type":12,"marks":3476,"text":793},"1a88dab905a5",[130],{"_key":3478,"_type":12,"marks":3479,"text":3481},"27dcc32501c2",[3480,130],"181bc4336346","For Rauschenberg, it was an epiphany to learn that there were people who had “thought those things out and made them. Behind each of them was a man whose profession it was to make them.”",{"_key":3483,"_type":12,"marks":3484,"text":793},"0e3ef676a2ec",[130],{"_key":3486,"_type":12,"marks":3487,"text":3489},"4c2842dd58c9",[3488,130],"36f2e08bb218","As he later admitted, “It sounds really corny, but my moment of realization that there was such a thing as being an artist happened right then.”",[3491,3501,3517,3535],{"_key":3431,"_type":474,"text":3492},[3493],{"_key":3494,"_type":8,"children":3495,"markDefs":3500,"style":16},"dd25f13b66f7",[3496],{"_key":3497,"_type":12,"marks":3498,"text":3499},"7776800cdd1b",[],"Tomkins, “Bio notes,” n.d., p. 4.",[],{"_key":3440,"_type":474,"text":3502},[3503],{"_key":3504,"_type":8,"children":3505,"markDefs":3516,"style":16},"31eced754561",[3506,3509,3512],{"_key":3507,"_type":12,"marks":3508,"text":2406},"0faa30b60df8",[],{"_key":3510,"_type":12,"marks":3511,"text":871},"c5486496e66c",[114],{"_key":3513,"_type":12,"marks":3514,"text":3515},"ccae1ba9b4c9",[],", exh. cat., p. 25.",[],{"_key":3480,"_type":474,"text":3518},[3519],{"_key":3520,"_type":8,"children":3521,"markDefs":3534,"style":16},"e5601dc574b3",[3522,3526,3530],{"_key":3523,"_type":12,"marks":3524,"text":3525},"26183bd9fbd6",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Robert Hughes, “The Most Living Artist,” ",{"_key":3527,"_type":12,"marks":3528,"text":3529},"6a33057fdf29",[114],"Time ",{"_key":3531,"_type":12,"marks":3532,"text":3533},"96114814b170",[],"108, no. 22 (Nov. 29, 1976), p. 59.",[],{"_key":3488,"_type":474,"text":3536},[3537],{"_key":3538,"_type":8,"children":3539,"markDefs":3543,"style":16},"156203bd1b7b",[3540],{"_key":3541,"_type":12,"marks":3542,"text":2705},"ea03ba42b855",[],[],{"_key":3545,"_type":8,"children":3546,"markDefs":3611,"style":16},"ce5f86dc2fd8",[3547,3551,3556,3559,3563,3567,3570,3575,3579,3583,3587,3591,3595,3599,3603,3607],{"_key":3548,"_type":12,"marks":3549,"text":3550},"cce777d41b0e",[],"Like many stories of the flashes of enlightenment that initiate an artist’s trajectory, Rauschenberg’s encounter lends itself to a more complex constellation of meanings than might initially appear. ",{"_key":3552,"_type":12,"marks":3553,"text":3555},"27a03d39a04c",[114,3554],"687f56d6e8a0","The Blue Boy",{"_key":3557,"_type":12,"marks":3558,"text":204},"28d4ced65d51",[3554],{"_key":3560,"_type":12,"marks":3561,"text":3562},"66868eb75367",[114,3554],"Pinkie",{"_key":3564,"_type":12,"marks":3565,"text":3566},"c0bb560e8443",[3554],", in particular, were already familiar to him from their miniaturized reproductions on decks of playing cards: Part of his surprise at the Huntington was undoubtedly the jolt of confronting them at actual size, “with the integrity of real objects,” after having handled multiple reproductions that could fit in the palm of his hand.",{"_key":3568,"_type":12,"marks":3569,"text":793},"490ecbd36036",[],{"_key":3571,"_type":12,"marks":3572,"text":3574},"8b3dde42a699",[3573],"8a0b236d6390","The difference in scale and relative uniqueness between actual artworks and their tiny doppelgängers would linger throughout Rauschenberg’s oeuvre in works that included the entire human body at one-to-one scale, such as the cyanotype ",{"_key":3576,"_type":12,"marks":3577,"text":3578},"9a06ec08752a",[114,3573],"Female Figure ",{"_key":3580,"_type":12,"marks":3581,"text":3582},"864f87b8d8d0",[3573],"(fig. 6); the Combine ",{"_key":3584,"_type":12,"marks":3585,"text":3586},"338566950771",[114,3573],"Wager ",{"_key":3588,"_type":12,"marks":3589,"text":3590},"a1097b680926",[3573],"(1957–59); the lithograph ",{"_key":3592,"_type":12,"marks":3593,"text":3594},"ee539e499149",[114,3573],"Booster ",{"_key":3596,"_type":12,"marks":3597,"text":3598},"c6013a988ca9",[3573],"(1967); and panels 41 to 61 of ",{"_key":3600,"_type":12,"marks":3601,"text":3602},"75d5a6a14b70",[114,3573],"The 1\u002F4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece ",{"_key":3604,"_type":12,"marks":3605,"text":3606},"1644a4a75951",[3573],"(1981–98), a section called “Bob’s Army.”",{"_key":3608,"_type":12,"marks":3609,"text":3610},"9f9343a38062",[]," The experience resonates as well not only in the recurrence in his works of mechanically reproduced images of artworks but also—particularly in the silkscreen paintings and later series involving image transfers—in their repetition from one painting to another.",[3612,3636],{"_key":3554,"_type":474,"text":3613},[3614],{"_key":3615,"_type":8,"children":3616,"markDefs":3635,"style":16},"e541b9301fe5",[3617,3621,3624,3628,3631],{"_key":3618,"_type":12,"marks":3619,"text":3620},"382f26399803",[],"Ibid. Rauschenberg’s mother belonged to a bridge club. See “Mrs. Rauschenberg Hostess to Club,” ",{"_key":3622,"_type":12,"marks":3623,"text":3182},"c32b87e13fe1",[114],{"_key":3625,"_type":12,"marks":3626,"text":3627},"110cda587c64",[],", July 17, 1935, p. 6, and “Mrs. E. Rauschenberg Is Hostess to Club,” ",{"_key":3629,"_type":12,"marks":3630,"text":3182},"15e73f2954b2",[114],{"_key":3632,"_type":12,"marks":3633,"text":3634},"c996fa7fe6f5",[],", Feb. 21, 1936, p. 4.",[],{"_key":3573,"_type":474,"text":3637},[3638],{"_key":3639,"_type":8,"children":3640,"markDefs":3665,"style":16},"3e093b485aff",[3641,3645,3649,3653,3657,3661],{"_key":3642,"_type":12,"marks":3643,"text":3644},"783ef0a985d0",[114],"Wager",{"_key":3646,"_type":12,"marks":3647,"text":3648},"f9c13b0a67cc",[],", 1957–59 (Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf [1045]; RRF 59.001); ",{"_key":3650,"_type":12,"marks":3651,"text":3652},"8cc524aa18a5",[114],"Booster",{"_key":3654,"_type":12,"marks":3655,"text":3656},"a16ce488bbac",[],", 1967 (RRF 67.E012); ",{"_key":3658,"_type":12,"marks":3659,"text":3660},"9a5f47103bfd",[114],"The 1\u002F4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece",{"_key":3662,"_type":12,"marks":3663,"text":3664},"ea287d914ba4",[],", 1981–98 (Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York [RRF 81.061]).",[],{"_key":3667,"_type":8,"children":3668,"markDefs":3729,"style":16},"d5d850ba7a77",[3669,3673,3677,3680,3684,3688,3691,3695,3698,3702,3705,3709,3714,3717,3721,3724],{"_key":3670,"_type":12,"marks":3671,"text":3672},"3bf1a0611a3d",[],"That ",{"_key":3674,"_type":12,"marks":3675,"text":3676},"2251f60013a6",[114],"The",{"_key":3678,"_type":12,"marks":3679,"text":793},"0efffc1ad940",[],{"_key":3681,"_type":12,"marks":3682,"text":3683},"f12cc148baeb",[114],"Blue Boy ",{"_key":3685,"_type":12,"marks":3686,"text":3687},"6c0275e3e063",[],"and ",{"_key":3689,"_type":12,"marks":3690,"text":3562},"0cb38ae5a73d",[114],{"_key":3692,"_type":12,"marks":3693,"text":3694},"2f3410494a58",[]," ended up on playing cards points to another remarkable convergence of cultural meanings that have been largely forgotten today (and, indeed, were likely unknown to Rauschenberg). If ",{"_key":3696,"_type":12,"marks":3697,"text":3555},"2dd5494ea460",[114],{"_key":3699,"_type":12,"marks":3700,"text":3701},"ff4c0c6e9699",[]," is now so familiar as to verge on cliché, the roots of its notoriety lie in the years leading up to Rauschenberg’s visit to the Huntington. In 1921, Henry E. Huntington purchased ",{"_key":3703,"_type":12,"marks":3704,"text":3555},"16f980cae701",[114],{"_key":3706,"_type":12,"marks":3707,"text":3708},"cc410684cb0c",[]," from a British collector for what was then the largest sum ever paid for a painting. Its sale prompted a national outcry in Great Britain, an exhibition at London’s National Gallery before the portrait was sent to its new home in the United States, and even a song by Cole Porter, “The Blue Boy Blues.” ",{"_key":3710,"_type":12,"marks":3711,"text":3713},"cb730ffabc58",[3712],"70c8f4b13d56","In 1927, Huntington acquired ",{"_key":3715,"_type":12,"marks":3716,"text":3562},"35310b277eb5",[114,3712],{"_key":3718,"_type":12,"marks":3719,"text":3720},"dccc3e9caf5b",[3712],", and while the two paintings had little in common beyond their format, the public often associated them with each other.",{"_key":3722,"_type":12,"marks":3723,"text":793},"26f4850371cd",[],{"_key":3725,"_type":12,"marks":3726,"text":3728},"656f169aa993",[3727],"cf3ac65610b6","The connection may have been sealed by the E. E. Fairchild Corporation, which paired the works sometime in the years that followed in a widely distributed two-deck set of playing cards (fig. 7)—perhaps the very set Rauschenberg had encountered.",[3730,3748],{"_key":3712,"_type":474,"text":3731},[3732],{"_key":3733,"_type":8,"children":3734,"markDefs":3747,"style":16},"c18f97a1c6cc",[3735,3739,3743],{"_key":3736,"_type":12,"marks":3737,"text":3738},"ef7231dc16e8",[],"The acquisition of both paintings and their subsequent fame are discussed in Catherine Hess and Melinda McCurdy, ",{"_key":3740,"_type":12,"marks":3741,"text":3742},"4853ce5f383c",[114],"Blue Boy & Co.: European Art at the Huntington",{"_key":3744,"_type":12,"marks":3745,"text":3746},"0edd731500b8",[]," (San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 2016), especially in the foreword by Kevin Salatino, pp. 10–12.",[],{"_key":3727,"_type":474,"text":3749},[3750],{"_key":3751,"_type":8,"children":3752,"markDefs":3779,"style":16},"e0914d5dcd12",[3753,3757,3760,3763,3767,3771,3776],{"_key":3754,"_type":12,"marks":3755,"text":3756},"ea93c5b7d369",[],"I have been unable to determine the initial date of manufacture or to locate a reliable, noncommercial source of information. It is likely, however, that they first appeared in the 1930s, the date given on some commercial sites (such as eBay). The playing cards with ",{"_key":3758,"_type":12,"marks":3759,"text":3445},"a4112cdda2ab",[114],{"_key":3761,"_type":12,"marks":3762,"text":3687},"5d5d4c35fa02",[],{"_key":3764,"_type":12,"marks":3765,"text":3766},"fe5a5af6377c",[114],"Pinkie ",{"_key":3768,"_type":12,"marks":3769,"text":3770},"83320d3a1283",[],"were made by the same company, then doing business as All-Fair, that brought out a King Tut game, “Tutoom: Treasures of the Pharaoh,” in 1923, just one year after the archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb, suggesting that the company was interested in moving quickly to capitalize on current trends and interests. See Ashley Balzer, “All-Fair Toy & Game Company,” Worthpoint, accessed Dec. 3, 2024, ",{"_key":3772,"_type":12,"marks":3773,"text":3775},"3b7d7faf435d",[3774],"11e33b6baabf","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.worthpoint.com\u002Fdictionary\u002Fp\u002Ftoys-dolls-games-puzzles\u002Fgames--manufacturer\u002Fall-fair-toy-and-game-company",{"_key":3777,"_type":12,"marks":3778,"text":236},"3cab97fa464c",[],[3780],{"_key":3774,"_type":375,"href":3775},{"_key":3782,"_type":8,"children":3783,"markDefs":3800,"style":16},"55751bd194ab",[3784,3788,3793,3796],{"_key":3785,"_type":12,"marks":3786,"text":3787},"8ed538f4466c",[],"The renown of the two paintings and their association in popular culture had an unlikely secondary effect. The strict gender coding of pink for girls and blue for boys that became ubiquitous in postwar America was a relatively recent development. White was the typical color of babies’ garments in the nineteenth century, and pink, as a variant of red, was often upheld in the early twentieth century as a “masculine” color. The popularity of the Huntington paintings seems to have been a decisive factor in the subsequent shift. ",{"_key":3789,"_type":12,"marks":3790,"text":3792},"d64e81ef4f25",[3791],"b65f41a2683a","Thus, Rauschenberg’s visit coincided with a moment of flux in the associations of these two colors with particular genders and sexual identities—embodied, in ",{"_key":3794,"_type":12,"marks":3795,"text":3555},"232101b00b0d",[114,3791],{"_key":3797,"_type":12,"marks":3798,"text":3799},"5b42ff73cc6f",[3791],"’s case, by a male sitter whose finery and long hair may have read as feminine to a contemporary viewer, even as his clothing’s color was becoming associated with masculinity.",[3801],{"_key":3791,"_type":474,"text":3802},[3803],{"_key":3804,"_type":8,"children":3805,"markDefs":3818,"style":16},"ed58d21859b6",[3806,3810,3814],{"_key":3807,"_type":12,"marks":3808,"text":3809},"1f0db6327a8b",[],"See Valerie Steele, ed., ",{"_key":3811,"_type":12,"marks":3812,"text":3813},"677dd4a0d5b3",[114],"Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color",{"_key":3815,"_type":12,"marks":3816,"text":3817},"4c39572808d1",[]," (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2018), pp. 39–40.",[],[3820,3842],{"_key":3821,"_type":1738,"alt":3822,"asset":3823,"caption":3826},"eaeadc063399","A woman in a flowing brown gown sits regally on a throne, with two shadowy figures in the background, in a dramatic, dark-toned painting.",{"_type":1741,"asset":3824},{"_ref":3825,"_type":53},"image-7ba334a4253b4597ae863602a8c78b6ee3224c4d-2910x4750-jpg",[3827],{"_key":3828,"_type":8,"children":3829,"markDefs":3841,"style":16},"56d49d2dd877",[3830,3834,3837],{"_key":3831,"_type":12,"marks":3832,"text":3833},"fe1ca8576336",[],"Fig. 5. Joshua Reynolds, ",{"_key":3835,"_type":12,"marks":3836,"text":3469},"69cdbfdb7de5",[114],{"_key":3838,"_type":12,"marks":3839,"text":3840},"59b029e11e24",[],", 1783–84. Oil on canvas; 94¼ × 58⅛ in. (239.4 × 147.6 cm). The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, Calif.",[],{"_key":3843,"_type":1738,"alt":3844,"asset":3845,"caption":3848},"4532f9ddbd30","A vertical cyanotype artwork depicting a ghostly silhouette of a standing figure with arms raised, set against a lighter background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":3846},{"_ref":3847,"_type":53},"image-7221305994bbd66f67edcee0d423887279be4ae0-1778x5157-jpg",[3849],{"_key":3850,"_type":8,"children":3851,"markDefs":3863,"style":16},"88e7f971bed5",[3852,3856,3859],{"_key":3853,"_type":12,"marks":3854,"text":3855},"1fcb43b3c268",[],"Fig. 6. Robert Rauschenberg and Susan Weil, ",{"_key":3857,"_type":12,"marks":3858,"text":1699},"cfb091503bf3",[114],{"_key":3860,"_type":12,"marks":3861,"text":3862},"5b52b96c2ad5",[],", ca. 1950. Cyanotype; 104⅝ × 35⅞ in. (265.7 × 91.1 cm). Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York",[],{"_key":3865,"_type":1642,"content":3866,"images":4096},"a009bd0327f7",[3867,3917,3936,3959,4069],{"_key":3868,"_type":8,"children":3869,"markDefs":3899,"style":16},"64df9a00c10c",[3870,3874,3879,3883,3887,3891,3895],{"_key":3871,"_type":12,"marks":3872,"text":3873},"29310c469cea",[]," Although Rauschenberg claimed to have no knowledge of fine art growing up, his letters suggest a thorough visual literacy in images of other kinds, especially in the realm of popular culture. ",{"_key":3875,"_type":12,"marks":3876,"text":3878},"4cba49309dda",[3877],"e1ee825721f2","He and Frakes decorated their room at the Austin YMCA with ",{"_key":3880,"_type":12,"marks":3881,"text":3882},"b465b0e5910c",[114,3877],"Saturday Evening Post",{"_key":3884,"_type":12,"marks":3885,"text":3886},"cbc8cd41a1a3",[3877]," newsstand posters, and Frakes commented in one letter to Rauschenberg on having found old issues of the men’s magazine ",{"_key":3888,"_type":12,"marks":3889,"text":3890},"2460929681a9",[114,3877],"Esquire ",{"_key":3892,"_type":12,"marks":3893,"text":3894},"444e772f889c",[3877],"containing images of “Petty Girls,” female pinups by the illustrator George Petty (1894–1975).",{"_key":3896,"_type":12,"marks":3897,"text":3898},"ed654f606bdf",[]," In addition, Rauschenberg’s autographed photographs of celebrities were an aspect of his devotion to portrait photography and snapshots: Sending and receiving photographs was a constant theme of his correspondence with Frakes, especially after Rauschenberg entered the Navy. In one letter, he explained,",[3900],{"_key":3877,"_type":474,"text":3901},[3902],{"_key":3903,"_type":8,"children":3904,"markDefs":3916,"style":16},"cf2ca7b989a1",[3905,3909,3912],{"_key":3906,"_type":12,"marks":3907,"text":3908},"b21668d9b3f9",[],"Arthur Frakes to Rauschenberg, postmarked April 8, 1943, RFC. Photographs in Frakes’s archive of the room he and Rauschenberg shared at the Austin YMCA show large versions of ",{"_key":3910,"_type":12,"marks":3911,"text":3882},"dcff1eab26f8",[114],{"_key":3913,"_type":12,"marks":3914,"text":3915},"43fa9c11bf02",[]," covers; they are likely oversize posters issued for display in newsstands when new issues went on sale.",[],{"_key":3918,"_type":8,"children":3919,"markDefs":3925,"style":1652},"88917ab5c021",[3920],{"_key":3921,"_type":12,"marks":3922,"text":3924},"0ea2561fa421",[3923,130],"3ff740ba808d","By the way, I’m really sorry about your not getting some of those pictures of me. I’m sure I have some more. I’ll try to figure out where they are and let you know. Arthur, when you leave [to enter the Army] be sure to take some pictures with you. You’d be surprised how much they help. I wish you would send me those pictures that I don’t have.",[3926],{"_key":3923,"_type":474,"text":3927},[3928],{"_key":3929,"_type":8,"children":3930,"markDefs":3935,"style":16},"1f903f085caa",[3931],{"_key":3932,"_type":12,"marks":3933,"text":3934},"d9d3aca9a07f",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked May 20, 1944, FS 159, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":3937,"_type":8,"children":3938,"markDefs":3948,"style":16},"940f64587bcf",[3939,3943],{"_key":3940,"_type":12,"marks":3941,"text":3942},"209ece68d786",[130],"As portraits, such photographs were descendants of the paintings Rauschenberg encountered at the Huntington—another reason those works may have made such a profound impression. It is also striking that he would be so enthusiastic in his appreciation of photographic images, given the role photography would eventually play in his career. ",{"_key":3944,"_type":12,"marks":3945,"text":3947},"09e121d2e2f2",[3946,130],"bf7b3ca76bd5","Long before taking photography classes with Hazel-Frieda Larsen (later Archer; 1921–2001) at Black Mountain College, Rauschenberg wrote a grateful letter to his parents for an unexpected Christmas gift: “[It’s] so wonderful to have a camera of your own—you know how much I always wanted one.”",[3949],{"_key":3946,"_type":474,"text":3950},[3951],{"_key":3952,"_type":8,"children":3953,"markDefs":3958,"style":16},"86a4a5c7dd1e",[3954],{"_key":3955,"_type":12,"marks":3956,"text":3957},"1e2ea76ba99a",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, Jan. 3, 1945, RFC.",[],{"_key":3960,"_type":8,"children":3961,"markDefs":4000,"style":16},"e9969ea2f1cf",[3962,3966,3971,3974,3979,3983,3988,3991,3996],{"_key":3963,"_type":12,"marks":3964,"text":3965},"16b2462e8ba6",[],"As important as his visit to the Huntington was to Rauschenberg, the concept of actually becoming an artist took shape in his mind rather more gradually than the purported epiphany might suggest. ",{"_key":3967,"_type":12,"marks":3968,"text":3970},"f9a5d7029c34",[3969],"2ef7001a78b8","Growing up, he had made drawings regularly, and his letters to Frakes frequently contained sketches, along with occasional references to painting.",{"_key":3972,"_type":12,"marks":3973,"text":793},"6e0bb262f791",[],{"_key":3975,"_type":12,"marks":3976,"text":3978},"82ce6fcc6480",[3977],"b04efd62fff1","Knowledge of his talent had also spread beyond his friend: A girl from his high school inscribed the graduation photo she gave to him, “I’m going to have you draw ‘Rauschenberg Girls’ all over my house someday.”",{"_key":3980,"_type":12,"marks":3981,"text":3982},"fd7419f20b76",[]," Once he was drafted into the Navy, his skills found a wider audience. ",{"_key":3984,"_type":12,"marks":3985,"text":3987},"dadbfc765217",[3986],"1648468fae4e","En route to basic training, Rauschenberg wrote to Frakes, he had sketched a fellow passenger and “about fifty other people on the train, I was really a sensation—modest me—no, but people did think I was good.”",{"_key":3989,"_type":12,"marks":3990,"text":793},"dda481eb9dd7",[],{"_key":3992,"_type":12,"marks":3993,"text":3995},"c00808a31119",[3994],"655230d70039","He remained in demand, making portraits of his fellow sailors, although only two examples have so far come to light: a drawing of a seated sailor and a painted portrait of another (fig. 8).",{"_key":3997,"_type":12,"marks":3998,"text":3999},"a0af14cfe00f",[]," Each shows a likeness of a square-jawed, handsome young man that would not have been out of place in a magazine of the time. Whatever his skill and popularity, however, and unlike other aspiring artists, such as Ellsworth Kelly, who found postings keyed to their talents, Rauschenberg had no option for a different military assignment:",[4001,4011,4029,4039],{"_key":3969,"_type":474,"text":4002},[4003],{"_key":4004,"_type":8,"children":4005,"markDefs":4010,"style":16},"7ac96b89fa9f",[4006],{"_key":4007,"_type":12,"marks":4008,"text":4009},"fb7cf936a63f",[],"“[Beauty] is no fun unless you share it. that’s why I haven’t been painting much—why don’t you come home???” Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, July 20, 1946, FS 175, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. (By this date, Rauschenberg was in Port Arthur, having hitchhiked home from California after his honorable discharge from the Navy.) This letter is from after Rauschenberg’s visit to the Huntington, but in a 1943 letter to Rauschenberg, Frakes had asked him, “Have you been painting lately?” Arthur Frakes to Rauschenberg, postmarked April 8, 1943, RFC.",[],{"_key":3977,"_type":474,"text":4012},[4013],{"_key":4014,"_type":8,"children":4015,"markDefs":4028,"style":16},"c0d5c03c11c9",[4016,4020,4024],{"_key":4017,"_type":12,"marks":4018,"text":4019},"c66080c532ea",[],"This photograph (RFC) matches the reprinted graduation photo of Dovie Marie Armintor (later Horton; 1925–2015) in ",{"_key":4021,"_type":12,"marks":4022,"text":4023},"1f1e48e94943",[114],"Thomas Jefferson High School, Port Arthur, Texas: January and May Classes of 1943, 40-Year Reunion, June 4, 1983",{"_key":4025,"_type":12,"marks":4026,"text":4027},"dc5f0b37d28a",[],", RRF Archives. There is another signed graduation photo in the Rauschenberg Family Collection, from Gloria Mae Overton (later Kieschnick; 1925–2011), that compares Rauschenberg’s drawings to George Petty’s well-known illustrations: “Stay like you are and keep drawing ‘petty’ girls—who knows what may happen.”",[],{"_key":3986,"_type":474,"text":4030},[4031],{"_key":4032,"_type":8,"children":4033,"markDefs":4038,"style":16},"3686720be003",[4034],{"_key":4035,"_type":12,"marks":4036,"text":4037},"1d318a954a27",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, Feb. 8, 1944, FS 153, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":3994,"_type":474,"text":4040},[4041],{"_key":4042,"_type":8,"children":4043,"markDefs":4065,"style":16},"c6d4e903b0c3",[4044,4048,4053,4057,4062],{"_key":4045,"_type":12,"marks":4046,"text":4047},"84e2ca1dc596",[],"The seated sailor has been identified as Kimble M. Williams, known as Kip. Williams, who entered the U.S. Navy on April 25, 1945, was transferred to the Hospital Corps School, U.S. Naval Hospital, San Diego, on July 27, 1945, and then, on September 21, to the U.S. Naval Hospital at Santa Margarita Ranch, Oceanside, Calif., where he remained through June 1, 1946. “U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949,” Ancestry, provided in association with National Archives and Records Administration, ",{"_key":4049,"_type":12,"marks":4050,"text":4052},"0c0cb42e6f70",[4051],"bffccf77e31e","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ancestry.com\u002Fsearch\u002Fcollections\u002F1143\u002F",{"_key":4054,"_type":12,"marks":4055,"text":4056},"060d4024b69f",[],". The drawing of Williams is in the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York (RRF 45.D001). Rauschenberg painted the portrait of Robert Hubler sometime after his visit to the Huntington. Tomkins, “Bio notes,” n.d., pp. 3–4; interview by Hopps and Ginsburg, Nov. 4, 1975, pp. 23–24. Paul Hubler confirmed that his father was stationed in San Diego beginning on April 5, 1946, thus overlapping with Rauschenberg there until the latter’s discharge on June 6. Paul Hubler, conversation with Susan Davidson, June 24, 2024. For a photograph of Robert Hubler, see ",{"_key":4058,"_type":12,"marks":4059,"text":4061},"dcb02a0cea95",[4060],"7f090a738d0c","Chronology (fig. 6)",{"_key":4063,"_type":12,"marks":4064,"text":236},"f60a294917b1",[],[4066,4067],{"_key":4051,"_type":375,"href":4052},{"_key":4060,"_type":375,"href":4068},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fchronology#fnref-12",{"_key":4070,"_type":8,"children":4071,"markDefs":4077,"style":1652},"a1eb37b690ce",[4072],{"_key":4073,"_type":12,"marks":4074,"text":4076},"6affa85f24db",[4075,130],"4b47efe27d24","Mom you should see some of my latest drawings I like them a lot and everyone else raves about them. One of the officers was in this noon when we were supposed to be at chow and he looked at them and told me that he really liked them and that I should be in Visual Education (a branch of the navy that does posters and things) we both laughed because it is impossible to get out of the medical corps—not that I would.",[4078],{"_key":4075,"_type":474,"text":4079},[4080],{"_key":4081,"_type":8,"children":4082,"markDefs":4095,"style":16},"d2190ada9694",[4083,4087,4091],{"_key":4084,"_type":12,"marks":4085,"text":4086},"572196ff583d",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, June 8, 1945, RFC. In contrast, Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015), who had studied art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn prior to his Army enlistment in 1943, was assigned to the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion. See Nathalie Brunet, comp., “Chronology,” in ",{"_key":4088,"_type":12,"marks":4089,"text":4090},"6a3b372fefd4",[114],"Ellsworth Kelly: The Years in France, 1948–1954",{"_key":4092,"_type":12,"marks":4093,"text":4094},"02ef8526f034",[],", by Yve-Alain Bois et al., exh. cat. (Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1992), p. 178.",[],[4097],{"_key":4098,"_type":1738,"alt":4099,"asset":4100,"caption":4103},"c7f81bab079f","A set of \"Gainsborough\" playing cards is displayed, featuring two decks with artistic portraits on the back, one of a man in blue attire and the other of a woman in a white dress, inside an open box.",{"_type":1741,"asset":4101},{"_ref":4102,"_type":53},"image-65d9e15438573f5ba9f666ab99980a67b99fd593-3480x2610-jpg",[4104],{"_key":4105,"_type":8,"children":4106,"markDefs":4124,"style":16},"37755d628b5a",[4107,4111,4114,4117,4120],{"_key":4108,"_type":12,"marks":4109,"text":4110},"cc0e18617d6b",[],"Fig. 7. Two-deck set of playing cards showing ",{"_key":4112,"_type":12,"marks":4113,"text":3555},"92527750c00a",[114],{"_key":4115,"_type":12,"marks":4116,"text":204},"53d2a5d4e9d4",[],{"_key":4118,"_type":12,"marks":4119,"text":3562},"edd8a8eb1a2c",[114],{"_key":4121,"_type":12,"marks":4122,"text":4123},"7e94e83016b3",[],", produced by the E. E. Fairchild Corporation, Rochester, N.Y.",[],{"_key":4126,"_type":1642,"content":4127,"images":4702},"1c651ba0a2da",[4128,4173,4208,4227,4235,4330,4349,4409,4428,4435,4454,4498,4506,4548,4556,4579,4587,4606,4629,4637,4645,4664],{"_key":4129,"_type":8,"children":4130,"markDefs":4152,"style":16},"cd21a8d9e1e7",[4131,4135,4140,4143,4148],{"_key":4132,"_type":12,"marks":4133,"text":4134},"52a69487cfce",[130],"Rauschenberg’s gradual pursuit of art runs parallel to his coming of age in the Navy. ",{"_key":4136,"_type":12,"marks":4137,"text":4139},"655ceae8ad52",[4138,130],"02e27cf76e9b","He had gone to college largely to please his parents, and an early letter from his military service has him brightly asking them, “What have you all decided about my future?”",{"_key":4141,"_type":12,"marks":4142,"text":793},"0bfdc773eff6",[130],{"_key":4144,"_type":12,"marks":4145,"text":4147},"42837374d569",[4146,130],"ee7e12421e0a","In contrast, just a year later, with the end of the war in sight, he wrote, “What do you want me to do. Make my living in P.A. [Port Arthur] at one of the refineries like the rest of the P.A. boys. That’s not for me I’m going places.”",{"_key":4149,"_type":12,"marks":4150,"text":4151},"7d5825c798c0",[130]," Rauschenberg’s determination to forge his own path was aided by the 1944 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, which, among other things, afforded tuition and living expenses to veterans for college-level education. The G.I. Bill supported Rauschenberg through his studies at the Kansas City Art Institute, Académie Julian in Paris, Black Mountain College in North Carolina, and the Art Students League of New York.",[4153,4163],{"_key":4138,"_type":474,"text":4154},[4155],{"_key":4156,"_type":8,"children":4157,"markDefs":4162,"style":16},"288a2f7094c6",[4158],{"_key":4159,"_type":12,"marks":4160,"text":4161},"d14160fa660f",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, Aug. 6, 1944, RFC.",[],{"_key":4146,"_type":474,"text":4164},[4165],{"_key":4166,"_type":8,"children":4167,"markDefs":4172,"style":16},"47cb731506a5",[4168],{"_key":4169,"_type":12,"marks":4170,"text":4171},"310254a6aa78",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, June 21, 1945, RFC.",[],{"_key":4174,"_type":8,"children":4175,"markDefs":4189,"style":16},"c190734fa0ca",[4176,4180,4185],{"_key":4177,"_type":12,"marks":4178,"text":4179},"6426b3417581",[],"Surprisingly, prior to his epiphany at the Huntington, Rauschenberg had contemplated a different career path, one that he continued to pursue for several years afterward. During this period, his driving passion was costume and fashion design. Evidence of his fascination is hidden more or less in plain sight throughout accounts of his early life. ",{"_key":4181,"_type":12,"marks":4182,"text":4184},"9c7ee848b397",[4183],"ba676c81e609","In high school, for example, he was a costume designer for the school’s Repertoire Players.",{"_key":4186,"_type":12,"marks":4187,"text":4188},"9e7bc6808b60",[]," Correspondence with his parents and Frakes after entering the Navy indicates his increasing seriousness about pursuing this interest. One letter to Frakes outlines his dream of opening a shop together that would offer Rauschenberg’s creations:",[4190],{"_key":4183,"_type":474,"text":4191},[4192],{"_key":4193,"_type":8,"children":4194,"markDefs":4207,"style":16},"388d8c58c5c2",[4195,4199,4203],{"_key":4196,"_type":12,"marks":4197,"text":4198},"f92446299036",[],"Mary Lynn Kotz, ",{"_key":4200,"_type":12,"marks":4201,"text":4202},"e00b8fb81c34",[114],"Rauschenberg: Art and Life",{"_key":4204,"_type":12,"marks":4205,"text":4206},"afb2321e7670",[]," (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990), p. 52.",[],{"_key":4209,"_type":8,"children":4210,"markDefs":4216,"style":1652},"ee0475f37e98",[4211],{"_key":4212,"_type":12,"marks":4213,"text":4215},"6b1a06019e73",[4214,130],"ba475eca8014","Arthur are you going to go to France with me to study—you will I know. It sounds fantastic, but why not? Don’t even talk about the money; we’ll get it somehow. After studying [in] Paris we’ll come back to the States with all of the prestige that goes with one who does study abroad. We can go by way of England. Yes, I’m serious. Arthur we are going to have a glorious business. You are going to manage my shop. Our first place will be in Dallas after we get that set up we’ll open up another in New York. Of course I hope you are going to be a good enough manager, you will tell me how good the fiber of the material is and supervise all of our book work and figuring, advise me as to the quality of dyes—judge my work criticize my drawings—offer suggestions.",[4217],{"_key":4214,"_type":474,"text":4218},[4219],{"_key":4220,"_type":8,"children":4221,"markDefs":4226,"style":16},"e01e01838051",[4222],{"_key":4223,"_type":12,"marks":4224,"text":4225},"f5949892f886",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, Jan. 4, 1945, FS 150, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":4228,"_type":8,"children":4229,"markDefs":4234,"style":16},"6fceb2b0c8eb",[4230],{"_key":4231,"_type":12,"marks":4232,"text":4233},"eb9104a06257",[130],"This admittedly fanciful proposition is as unlikely as it is charming, but its underlying seriousness is echoed in Rauschenberg’s letters to his parents. Immediately after asking them “What have you all decided about my future?” in the letter quoted above, he continues, “I have decided that there is nothing for me except designing.”",[],{"_key":4236,"_type":8,"children":4237,"markDefs":4247,"style":16},"7093ad9ba57a",[4238,4243],{"_key":4239,"_type":12,"marks":4240,"text":4242},"9f8929812249",[4241],"8d7d28c9b896","The importance of fabric and clothing to his art has long been an established part of Rauschenberg studies, starting with his mother’s prowess in sewing the family’s clothes and continuing with the use of textiles in his Combines and other artworks and the costumes he designed for the dance companies of Merce Cunningham and other choreographers.",{"_key":4244,"_type":12,"marks":4245,"text":4246},"1d14494ce664",[]," But the depth and intensity of Rauschenberg’s interest had not been fully appreciated in the literature until the Frakes archive was opened to researchers in 2016. The archive includes a 1944 letter from an administrator at the University of Texas addressed to Rauschenberg, answering his query about returning to school after being discharged from the Navy:",[4248],{"_key":4241,"_type":474,"text":4249},[4250],{"_key":4251,"_type":8,"children":4252,"markDefs":4328,"style":16},"c6c85491fcf1",[4253,4257,4260,4264,4268,4272,4276,4280,4284,4288,4292,4296,4300,4304,4307,4311,4316,4320,4324],{"_key":4254,"_type":12,"marks":4255,"text":4256},"14f5910e2502",[],"Among the sources that address fabric and clothing in Rauschenberg’s art are Andrew Forge, ",{"_key":4258,"_type":12,"marks":4259,"text":871},"f9158f4f817b",[114],{"_key":4261,"_type":12,"marks":4262,"text":4263},"17d09927ed2d",[]," (New York: Harry N. Abrams, [1969]); Rosalind E. Krauss, “Rauschenberg and the Materialized Image,” ",{"_key":4265,"_type":12,"marks":4266,"text":4267},"46e12568592f",[114],"Artforum ",{"_key":4269,"_type":12,"marks":4270,"text":4271},"4e8bd4bd81be",[],"13, no. 4 (Dec. 1974), pp. 36–43; James Leggio, “Robert Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":4273,"_type":12,"marks":4274,"text":4275},"b29cfe67a40e",[114],"Bed ",{"_key":4277,"_type":12,"marks":4278,"text":4279},"474827b4e967",[],"and the Symbolism of the Body,” in ",{"_key":4281,"_type":12,"marks":4282,"text":4283},"01655f4bafce",[114],"Essays on Assemblage",{"_key":4285,"_type":12,"marks":4286,"text":4287},"e0714e7cd0fa",[],", ed. John Elderfield (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1992), pp. 79–117; Lisa Wainwright, “Robert Rauschenberg’s Fabrics: Constructing Domestic Space,” in ",{"_key":4289,"_type":12,"marks":4290,"text":4291},"d233143401af",[114],"Not at Home: The Suppression of Domesticity in Modern Art and Architecture",{"_key":4293,"_type":12,"marks":4294,"text":4295},"3bc4c225e0ec",[],", ed. Christopher Reed (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996), pp. 193–205; Thomas Folland, “Robert Rauschenberg’s Queer Modernism: The Early Combines and Decoration,” ",{"_key":4297,"_type":12,"marks":4298,"text":4299},"ea83dbcd2b9f",[114],"Art Bulletin",{"_key":4301,"_type":12,"marks":4302,"text":4303},"5a66bf60f57f",[]," 92, no. 4 (Dec. 2010), pp. 348–65; Sarah Roberts, “",{"_key":4305,"_type":12,"marks":4306,"text":1372},"768829367f8a",[114],{"_key":4308,"_type":12,"marks":4309,"text":4310},"3ff2929d13c3",[],", ca. 1955,” Rauschenberg Research Project, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, July 2013, ",{"_key":4312,"_type":12,"marks":4313,"text":4315},"95ebc4cb817c",[4314],"3486423a9a32","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sfmoma.org\u002Fessay\u002Funtitled-ca-1955\u002F",{"_key":4317,"_type":12,"marks":4318,"text":4319},"bd9ccb4932e5",[],"; and Michelle White, ",{"_key":4321,"_type":12,"marks":4322,"text":4323},"a14a058b9085",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg: Fabric Works of the 1970s",{"_key":4325,"_type":12,"marks":4326,"text":4327},"687c4f15d4a7",[],", exh. cat. (Houston: Menil Collection, 2025).",[4329],{"_key":4314,"_type":375,"href":4315},{"_key":4331,"_type":8,"children":4332,"markDefs":4338,"style":1652},"ee2c1356feae",[4333],{"_key":4334,"_type":12,"marks":4335,"text":4337},"3f8bc246b13a",[4336,130],"d27634750cea","I don’t think you would want to take a degree from the University which included a major in costume design, for the only degree we offer for that major [is] the B.S. in Home Economics. However, you could take basic courses in costume design, if you wouldn’t mind being in classes which were almost entirely feminine.",[4339],{"_key":4336,"_type":474,"text":4340},[4341],{"_key":4342,"_type":8,"children":4343,"markDefs":4348,"style":16},"d241081e9b00",[4344],{"_key":4345,"_type":12,"marks":4346,"text":4347},"adf480ca21a2",[],"E. J. Mathews, Registrar and Dean of Admissions, University of Texas at Austin, to Rauschenberg, Sept. 5, 1944, enclosed with Rauschenberg’s letter to Arthur Frakes, Sept. 21, 1944, FS 168, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. While it may seem odd that Frakes’s archive contains such items, Rauschenberg sent Mathews’s letter to him to request his opinion.",[],{"_key":4350,"_type":8,"children":4351,"markDefs":4388,"style":16},"238a6827e032",[4352,4356,4361,4364,4369,4373,4376,4380,4384],{"_key":4353,"_type":12,"marks":4354,"text":4355},"b74c458c5574",[130],"Undeterred, Rauschenberg investigated other possibilities. Letters to his parents further confirm his seriousness. In one, after a long description of his duties at Arrowhead Springs, he reports, ",{"_key":4357,"_type":12,"marks":4358,"text":4360},"f2f8fad1aeb1",[4359,130],"f1e07ff64a9c","“I have been keeping up with my designing lately because I can’t afford to lose my touch. I get out of practice after I haven’t drawn in a long time.”",{"_key":4362,"_type":12,"marks":4363,"text":793},"fd73c7403e92",[130],{"_key":4365,"_type":12,"marks":4366,"text":4368},"f8ee730b4828",[4367,130],"32a9b619474a","His correspondence includes mentions of the latest issues of the women’s fashion magazines ",{"_key":4370,"_type":12,"marks":4371,"text":4372},"39b8493d313d",[114,4367,130],"Harper’s Bazaar",{"_key":4374,"_type":12,"marks":4375,"text":204},"075309b024b1",[4367,130],{"_key":4377,"_type":12,"marks":4378,"text":4379},"e2d79e050833",[114,4367,130],"Vogue",{"_key":4381,"_type":12,"marks":4382,"text":4383},"734ea29a2ab4",[4367,130],", and he also tells his parents, “In my spare time lately I’ve been going to the library doing research work on the history of costume designing.”",{"_key":4385,"_type":12,"marks":4386,"text":4387},"24ae889122fb",[130]," He freely offers fashion advice to his mother, making suggestions prior to the family’s visit to San Diego in July 1945:",[4389,4399],{"_key":4359,"_type":474,"text":4390},[4391],{"_key":4392,"_type":8,"children":4393,"markDefs":4398,"style":16},"3dd06f28bc92",[4394],{"_key":4395,"_type":12,"marks":4396,"text":4397},"a05247588602",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, Oct. 3, 1944, RFC.",[],{"_key":4367,"_type":474,"text":4400},[4401],{"_key":4402,"_type":8,"children":4403,"markDefs":4408,"style":16},"2d3422c8108b",[4404],{"_key":4405,"_type":12,"marks":4406,"text":4407},"261b46ac824a",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, March 7, 1945, RFC.",[],{"_key":4410,"_type":8,"children":4411,"markDefs":4417,"style":1652},"1cd95bbbb8ba",[4412],{"_key":4413,"_type":12,"marks":4414,"text":4416},"5cd9a3d2e84a",[4415,130],"a3adc956403e","Mom I enclosed a picture could you fix your hair like this? I don’t know why, but when I looked at this out of Harper’s Bazaar I couldn’t help but think of you. It would be just the thing for you. Why don’t you try. About a coat. You do need a light wool coat. Do you think you could find a pale solid pink wool and make yourself a topper it would really be ultra for out here.",[4418],{"_key":4415,"_type":474,"text":4419},[4420],{"_key":4421,"_type":8,"children":4422,"markDefs":4427,"style":16},"c218c6fe56a3",[4423],{"_key":4424,"_type":12,"marks":4425,"text":4426},"312c3e1fa201",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, July 9, 1945, RFC. The letter includes a sketch of a female figure in a coat and hat. His letter to them of June 14, 1945 (RFC), also contains fashion advice for their trip west.",[],{"_key":4429,"_type":8,"children":4430,"markDefs":4434,"style":16},"f0f0eee60570",[4431],{"_key":4413,"_type":12,"marks":4432,"text":4433},[130],"He likewise makes suggestions for his sister, Janet, writing about an upcoming piano recital,",[],{"_key":4436,"_type":8,"children":4437,"markDefs":4443,"style":1652},"11c5273f73fa",[4438],{"_key":4439,"_type":12,"marks":4440,"text":4442},"8df76de6ee2b",[4441,130],"8d483e89f280","Say Mom why can’t you use the drawing I sent you last time for Janet with the little apron front. You could make it out of cheap organdy white, please do it. It’s awfully cute let her carry a little nosegay of white flowers with ribbons hanging from it and she can sit it on the piano before she starts to play.",[4444],{"_key":4441,"_type":474,"text":4445},[4446],{"_key":4447,"_type":8,"children":4448,"markDefs":4453,"style":16},"a77c8d249282",[4449],{"_key":4450,"_type":12,"marks":4451,"text":4452},"9a64efe12da5",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, n.d. [possibly Jan. 1947], RFC.",[],{"_key":4455,"_type":8,"children":4456,"markDefs":4478,"style":16},"6489db175117",[4457,4461,4466,4469,4474],{"_key":4458,"_type":12,"marks":4459,"text":4460},"7fdb0ae66b9f",[],"While stationed in San Diego, he reported visiting the head of the women’s “fashion saloon” at the downtown department store Lion Clothing. ",{"_key":4462,"_type":12,"marks":4463,"text":4465},"f96e0e1b2487",[4464],"5abf1945e9b4","She connected him to other women in the field, including “Mrs. Becker,” an instructor in costume design at the “State Vocational Guide School,” who “went wild over [his drawings] and said that they were better than anything on the market now.”",{"_key":4467,"_type":12,"marks":4468,"text":793},"ac2c5e1fb671",[],{"_key":4470,"_type":12,"marks":4471,"text":4473},"d88fb73c4cb7",[4472],"3abf952383e0","Rauschenberg’s initiative seems not to have yielded concrete results; he learned that none of the clothing stores in San Diego made their own dresses, so there was no possibility of having his designs produced.",{"_key":4475,"_type":12,"marks":4476,"text":4477},"d6a2c7d57584",[]," Nevertheless, his willingness to pursue advice and his drive to cultivate professional opportunities foreshadow the bold visit he made to Betty Parsons Gallery in 1951 to ask the gallerist to evaluate his work, resulting in his first solo exhibition in New York.",[4479,4489],{"_key":4464,"_type":474,"text":4480},[4481],{"_key":4482,"_type":8,"children":4483,"markDefs":4488,"style":16},"cf1c8913ba9e",[4484],{"_key":4485,"_type":12,"marks":4486,"text":4487},"00301bf9f131",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, March 7, 1945, RFC. It is not known what school in San Diego or its environs he meant by “State Vocational Guide School.”",[],{"_key":4472,"_type":474,"text":4490},[4491],{"_key":4492,"_type":8,"children":4493,"markDefs":4497,"style":16},"f555f60e4936",[4494],{"_key":4495,"_type":12,"marks":4496,"text":4407},"e12ab5c811fb",[],[],{"_key":4499,"_type":8,"children":4500,"markDefs":4505,"style":16},"b1d9d8ca40da",[4501],{"_key":4502,"_type":12,"marks":4503,"text":4504},"3a32639908a5",[],"While the drawings he showed to “Mrs. Becker” seem not to have survived, clothing—whether worn by female classmates in Port Arthur, dance partners, or movie stars—figures prominently in his correspondence with Frakes. Sometimes, he wrote out descriptions, as when, as part of his general enthusiasm for Hollywood, he reported on the costumes in movies he had seen:",[],{"_key":4507,"_type":8,"children":4508,"markDefs":4514,"style":1652},"a1ef1bb6b43b",[4509],{"_key":4510,"_type":12,"marks":4511,"text":4513},"0a617c92cb56",[4512,130],"d9a5baead369","I just got back from seeing “Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe” for the third time. It is really good Arthur and five different people designed the costumes. It is almost equal to the series of “Hello, Frisco, Hello!” “Rosie O’Gradie,” etc.",[4515],{"_key":4512,"_type":474,"text":4516},[4517],{"_key":4518,"_type":8,"children":4519,"markDefs":4547,"style":16},"4a27e4c9d7d4",[4520,4524,4528,4532,4536,4539,4543],{"_key":4521,"_type":12,"marks":4522,"text":4523},"0aa0244aef16",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, June 1, 1945, FS 170, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. Rauschenberg’s letters to Frakes are a rich trove of commentary on Hollywood films, including, here, the musicals ",{"_key":4525,"_type":12,"marks":4526,"text":4527},"c269dc4e0b77",[114],"Diamond Horseshoe ",{"_key":4529,"_type":12,"marks":4530,"text":4531},"56558d214628",[],"(1945), ",{"_key":4533,"_type":12,"marks":4534,"text":4535},"0245b766c75d",[114],"Hello, Frisco, Hello",{"_key":4537,"_type":12,"marks":4538,"text":3376},"8835aa9d2c72",[],{"_key":4540,"_type":12,"marks":4541,"text":4542},"3cbcfcc86b4d",[114],"Sweet Rosie O’Grady",{"_key":4544,"_type":12,"marks":4545,"text":4546},"06530d888cdd",[]," (both 1943).",[],{"_key":4549,"_type":8,"children":4550,"markDefs":4555,"style":16},"a93db5f7d85f",[4551],{"_key":4552,"_type":12,"marks":4553,"text":4554},"c8a6b0ef01f8",[],"Other letters combine verbal and visual assessments, such as one written from Port Arthur when Rauschenberg was still in high school and Frakes was beginning his first semester at the University of Texas:",[],{"_key":4557,"_type":8,"children":4558,"markDefs":4568,"style":1652},"a69e8f720ae5",[4559,4563],{"_key":4560,"_type":12,"marks":4561,"text":4562},"f63bde3b044b",[130],"Then I took Gay home and went to see Molly—WOW!! you should see Molly’s dress, it was simply gorgeous. … ",{"_key":4564,"_type":12,"marks":4565,"text":4567},"7b8492fca266",[4566,130],"17d8acf4fc0c","It was aqua net—pretty color. 11 yrds in the skirt trimmed around the neck and on the skirt with plumes. They were aqua, too. She wore a pink camelia in her hair.",[4569],{"_key":4566,"_type":474,"text":4570},[4571],{"_key":4572,"_type":8,"children":4573,"markDefs":4578,"style":16},"61e3e8bd738b",[4574],{"_key":4575,"_type":12,"marks":4576,"text":4577},"4616c4b41e2a",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked Jan. 28, 1944, FS 151, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. I have not been able to determine Molly’s identity. Another letter describes one of Rauschenberg’s dance partners: “I went to the Palladium (you were right) I met a girl there (as usual). … She was studying costume designing so we had something in common to talk about—am I glad.” The letter appears to refer to a correction of Rauschenberg’s spelling made by Frakes in an earlier letter. Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, July 6, 1944, FS 163, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":4580,"_type":8,"children":4581,"markDefs":4586,"style":16},"7823ee804e2d",[4582],{"_key":4583,"_type":12,"marks":4584,"text":4585},"58c03a3063cd",[130],"Rauschenberg accompanied this description with small sketches of the dress. He often resorted in his correspondence to annotated drawings that indicate a fairly sophisticated knowledge of the construction of women’s garments. Frakes’s archive also contains several undated drawings of attractive young women—perhaps examples of “Rauschenberg Girls”—some of whom are attired in costumes, such as a majorette’s uniform, rather than everyday clothes. Most significant for our understanding of Rauschenberg’s early interest in fashion is the survival, thanks to Frakes, of “Gay Garbs,” a portfolio of Rauschenberg’s designs for Gay Braun, likely made in winter 1944–45. Rauschenberg was probably referring to this group of drawings when he wrote to his parents in January 1945,",[],{"_key":4588,"_type":8,"children":4589,"markDefs":4595,"style":1652},"b3e5b93cb13f",[4590],{"_key":4591,"_type":12,"marks":4592,"text":4594},"5fc4b74dcbec",[4593,130],"112c64e16d48","I sent Gay about 20 sheets of designs yesterday. The way I’m doing them now is really neat. I make them large and never put more than 1 or 2 on a page. I’m using regular water color paper and those pencils you sent me are wonderful—after I splash on the water colors I use the pencils to put in fine lines and details.",[4596],{"_key":4593,"_type":474,"text":4597},[4598],{"_key":4599,"_type":8,"children":4600,"markDefs":4605,"style":16},"ede1af4c7662",[4601],{"_key":4602,"_type":12,"marks":4603,"text":4604},"52e0bee92238",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, Jan. 11, 1945, RFC. Rauschenberg had made drawings for Braun before; in a letter to Rauschenberg of May 17, 1944 (RFC), Arthur Frakes remarked, “[Those] pix of clothes you sent Gay are really o.k.”",[],{"_key":4607,"_type":8,"children":4608,"markDefs":4618,"style":16},"08357689a22c",[4609,4614],{"_key":4610,"_type":12,"marks":4611,"text":4613},"75e67b471e06",[4612,130],"f3ce546d6c1c","Housed in a chipboard portfolio labeled “Gay Garbs \u002F by Rauschenberg \u002F Mgr. A. W. Frakes \u002F Dallas, New York, San Francisco,” the drawings show women dressed in both day and evening wear.",{"_key":4615,"_type":12,"marks":4616,"text":4617},"7b45e1a6f33b",[130]," On the verso of each sheet, Rauschenberg provided a brief, handwritten description noting mood, fabric, and accessories:",[4619],{"_key":4612,"_type":474,"text":4620},[4621],{"_key":4622,"_type":8,"children":4623,"markDefs":4628,"style":16},"6218629dd215",[4624],{"_key":4625,"_type":12,"marks":4626,"text":4627},"fe800b87d660",[],"The dating of the portfolio (FS 108, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives) is an estimate based on the drawings’ relation to contemporary fashion and the description Rauschenberg sent to his parents of the way he made them, which matches the appearance of the ten sketches in “Gay Garbs” (FS 109–18). It is not known how the portfolio ended up with Frakes, unless Braun, also his friend, gave it to him. Frakes’s archive holds an additional three fashion drawings in a roughly similar format—one or two figures on a page, with a description on the back—divided diagonally (FS 120–22).",[],{"_key":4630,"_type":8,"children":4631,"markDefs":4636,"style":1652},"1c2f1c203dad",[4632],{"_key":4633,"_type":12,"marks":4634,"text":4635},"58a26820cf67",[130],"Gold lamé on white silk or rayon—pointed effect on hips are furnished by protruding pockets. —may be made into street dress by doing away with pockets and shortening of skirt.",[],{"_key":4638,"_type":8,"children":4639,"markDefs":4644,"style":1652},"e858f4ffb3c2",[4640],{"_key":4641,"_type":12,"marks":4642,"text":4643},"f5daf7e3a41a",[130],"Black lady—Black satin and fuchsia \u002F plain yet smart white or light green very fresh—",[],{"_key":4646,"_type":8,"children":4647,"markDefs":4653,"style":1652},"129831891b4e",[4648],{"_key":4649,"_type":12,"marks":4650,"text":4652},"717d1af715b7",[4651,130],"6ae5fccca70c","Black! Satin and Lace with bustle effect a double stran’ pearl choker should be worn \u002F Green velvet with white satin bag.",[4654],{"_key":4651,"_type":474,"text":4655},[4656],{"_key":4657,"_type":8,"children":4658,"markDefs":4663,"style":16},"b0c53ead8eaf",[4659],{"_key":4660,"_type":12,"marks":4661,"text":4662},"d633c7f3cb85",[],"Verso of drawings FS 109, FS 113, and FS 120, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":4665,"_type":8,"children":4666,"markDefs":4676,"style":16},"51701b07237e",[4667,4672],{"_key":4668,"_type":12,"marks":4669,"text":4671},"96aab811163d",[4670,130],"6b43fd723279","Some of the dresses take the form of full-skirted gowns, which seem to have been popular with young women of Rauschenberg’s acquaintance in Port Arthur and Austin, and Rauschenberg seems to have enjoyed sketching designs for them as well.",{"_key":4673,"_type":12,"marks":4674,"text":4675},"0b8918581575",[130]," Other dresses appear to be in close dialogue with current fashions and feature slim, inverted-V silhouettes, small bustles, collarless jackets, and removable pockets or sleeves. Many drawings incorporate vibrant color, with striking contrasts of hue: orange and vermilion, yellow on yellow, shades of pink and lavender.",[4677],{"_key":4670,"_type":474,"text":4678},[4679],{"_key":4680,"_type":8,"children":4681,"markDefs":4701,"style":16},"a002f75a0b2f",[4682,4686,4690,4694,4697],{"_key":4683,"_type":12,"marks":4684,"text":4685},"1e3266d7d0af",[],"Referring to a discussion with Mary Nell Dore (1925–2019), a fellow member of Rauschenberg’s high school drama club, Mary Lynn Kotz relates that Rauschenberg often drew “antebellum costumes (",{"_key":4687,"_type":12,"marks":4688,"text":4689},"33c2eebe108e",[114],"Gone with the Wind",{"_key":4691,"_type":12,"marks":4692,"text":4693},"58c1fdfb1823",[]," was enormously popular at the time) whether they were appropriate [for the play] or not.” Kotz, ",{"_key":4695,"_type":12,"marks":4696,"text":871},"bcfff3b94dff",[114],{"_key":4698,"_type":12,"marks":4699,"text":4700},"a183e2b74338",[],", p. 52. In the description on the back of one drawing (FS 112, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives), Rauschenberg identified it as “my favorite and especially for you.” I interpret the “you” as addressed to Braun.",[],[4703],{"_key":4704,"_type":1738,"alt":4705,"asset":4706,"caption":4709},"19b00c151e76","A portrait of a young man with short, styled hair and a serious expression, set against a vibrant yellow background, framed in gold.",{"_type":1741,"asset":4707},{"_ref":4708,"_type":53},"image-187c1c1469d2b6935b4bfad817896ac32f72b974-2218x2796-jpg",[4710],{"_key":4711,"_type":8,"children":4712,"markDefs":4725,"style":16},"a8639321754b",[4713,4717,4721],{"_key":4714,"_type":12,"marks":4715,"text":4716},"41f20fb3a99a",[],"Fig. 8. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":4718,"_type":12,"marks":4719,"text":4720},"1eccde8e6ce4",[114],"Robert Hubler",{"_key":4722,"_type":12,"marks":4723,"text":4724},"98a344f4a177",[],", 1946. Oil on canvas; 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm). Private collection",[],{"_key":4727,"_type":1642,"content":4728,"images":5182},"3c69a8182404",[4729,4737,4807,4885,4916,4974,4976,5011,5126],{"_key":4730,"_type":8,"children":4731,"markDefs":4736,"style":16},"21123fb5b408",[4732],{"_key":4733,"_type":12,"marks":4734,"text":4735},"e4a1f52406f2",[],"After his discharge from the Navy and following a visit to Port Arthur, Rauschenberg returned to Los Angeles, possibly motivated by perceived design opportunities. From Port Arthur, he wrote exuberantly to Frakes,",[],{"_key":4738,"_type":8,"children":4739,"markDefs":4796,"style":1652},"8fe6e7c79a94",[4740,4744,4748,4752,4756,4760,4764,4768,4771,4775,4780,4784,4788,4792],{"_key":4741,"_type":12,"marks":4742,"text":4743},"0cf70f10fe3c",[130],"Did you know that I’ve made arrangements to sell my designs to a newly opening exclusive dress saloon [",{"_key":4745,"_type":12,"marks":4746,"text":4747},"d753d339b71c",[114,130],"sic",{"_key":4749,"_type":12,"marks":4750,"text":4751},"0d8fe057c7f7",[130],"] in Los A[ngeles]. ",{"_key":4753,"_type":12,"marks":4754,"text":4755},"aa6486955c83",[300,130],"Brett and Co",{"_key":4757,"_type":12,"marks":4758,"text":4759},"f04801f1ef32",[130],". I know Brett. I’ll go to UCLA if they’ll have me. I’m just waiting to hear from them at any day now. (wish me Luck.) I hope I can get in. It has a lot higher ",{"_key":4761,"_type":12,"marks":4762,"text":4763},"0527a514949e",[300,130],"social",{"_key":4765,"_type":12,"marks":4766,"text":4767},"78ede2ceaa23",[130]," standard and glamour (that’s French for $ money) connected to it than USC. … [I] thumbed through latest Vogue + H.B. [",{"_key":4769,"_type":12,"marks":4770,"text":4372},"a8549da3172e",[114,130],{"_key":4772,"_type":12,"marks":4773,"text":4774},"33c66b388763",[130],"] left feeling as if I had just conquered the world, knowing that I can keep up with anything I’d seen. … ",{"_key":4776,"_type":12,"marks":4777,"text":4779},"eb60755ed223",[4778,130],"010c8ee875da","Really Arthur I’m really very flattered at this chance I have for you see ",{"_key":4781,"_type":12,"marks":4782,"text":4783},"6f2f5d1d2ac3",[300,4778,130],"my",{"_key":4785,"_type":12,"marks":4786,"text":4787},"e774a30e0b92",[4778,130]," designs will go into direct competition with ",{"_key":4789,"_type":12,"marks":4790,"text":4791},"d9ae67f420f5",[300,4778,130],"Adrian’s",{"_key":4793,"_type":12,"marks":4794,"text":4795},"18195603cdb5",[4778,130],". What higher compliment could I ask. I’m almost afraid to believe it. I guess there has to be a beginning somewhere so let’s hope that this bottom rung is a strong one.",[4797],{"_key":4778,"_type":474,"text":4798},[4799],{"_key":4800,"_type":8,"children":4801,"markDefs":4806,"style":16},"ccfe2c790c2e",[4802],{"_key":4803,"_type":12,"marks":4804,"text":4805},"be76879f3c71",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, June 26, 1946, FS 174, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. His next letter confirmed that he had received a telephone call from the owner of Original by Brett: “Brett Carleton, employer of, terrific unknown beginner of fashion design … called from Los Angeles just to make sure this youth, who is just oozing with talent had not changed his mind. He hadn’t. Young Rembrandt, so called, modestly, is planning on going to LA around Sept 1.” Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, July 20, 1946, FS 175, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. Although the letter also mentions the possibility of applying to the University of California, Los Angeles, Rauschenberg does not seem to have done so.",[],{"_key":4808,"_type":8,"children":4809,"markDefs":4826,"style":16},"c0ca58207d29",[4810,4814,4819,4822],{"_key":4811,"_type":12,"marks":4812,"text":4813},"ed64477f2db1",[130],"Rauschenberg’s mention of Adrian hints at a wider context for his ambitions. The fall of France to Nazi Germany in 1940 had cut off access to the previously dominant world of Parisian fashion, creating opportunities for American designers analogous to those made available to American artists during the war. A key figure in this regard was Adrian Adolph Greenburg (1903–1959), known professionally simply as Adrian. As Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s chief designer for over a decade, he had created dazzling, fantastic garments as well as dresses that influenced contemporary fashion. Sensing both a change of direction at the studio and an opportunity, he left MGM in 1941 and opened his own shop in Beverly Hills, selling original garments to the stars and, eventually, ready-to-wear clothing in exclusive arrangements with high-end department stores across the country. ",{"_key":4815,"_type":12,"marks":4816,"text":4818},"49f97dc113ac",[4817,130],"a0058d105a4d","In the mid-1940s, the pages of ",{"_key":4820,"_type":12,"marks":4821,"text":4379},"b7d98142acc1",[114,4817,130],{"_key":4823,"_type":12,"marks":4824,"text":4825},"c6586b547205",[4817,130]," were full of advertisements for Adrian’s clothes.",[4827],{"_key":4817,"_type":474,"text":4828},[4829],{"_key":4830,"_type":8,"children":4831,"markDefs":4884,"style":16},"a3cc008f98e0",[4832,4836,4840,4844,4848,4852,4856,4860,4864,4868,4872,4876,4880],{"_key":4833,"_type":12,"marks":4834,"text":4835},"dbc977d0687b",[],"Adrian may be best remembered today for the costumes he designed for ",{"_key":4837,"_type":12,"marks":4838,"text":4839},"4476ffd1135a",[114],"The Wizard of Oz ",{"_key":4841,"_type":12,"marks":4842,"text":4843},"4ce887feac45",[],"(1939), but Greta Garbo’s trench coat in ",{"_key":4845,"_type":12,"marks":4846,"text":4847},"16912dbfbd01",[114],"A Woman of Affairs",{"_key":4849,"_type":12,"marks":4850,"text":4851},"a94fb05ba6d4",[]," (1928) and Joan Crawford’s white dress in ",{"_key":4853,"_type":12,"marks":4854,"text":4855},"07dd7385bf8f",[114],"Letty Lynton",{"_key":4857,"_type":12,"marks":4858,"text":4859},"4968f9b47a42",[]," (1932), also designed by him, were among the first instances of public demand for particular clothes worn in popular films. For more on Adrian, see Christian Esquevin, ",{"_key":4861,"_type":12,"marks":4862,"text":4863},"1fc2aa701478",[114],"Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label",{"_key":4865,"_type":12,"marks":4866,"text":4867},"4cb69cba41fc",[]," (New York: Monacelli, 2008), esp. pp. 57–64, 109–148; Leonard Stanley, ",{"_key":4869,"_type":12,"marks":4870,"text":4871},"9f35c49e5585",[114],"Adrian: A Lifetime of Movie Glamour, Art and High Fashion",{"_key":4873,"_type":12,"marks":4874,"text":4875},"86af12fa2a75",[]," (New York: Rizzoli, 2019); and Sarah Tomerlin Lee, ed., ",{"_key":4877,"_type":12,"marks":4878,"text":4879},"c1d2415d00b8",[114],"American Fashion: The Life and Lines of Adrian, Mainbocher, McCardell, Norell, and Trigère",{"_key":4881,"_type":12,"marks":4882,"text":4883},"230c617c0561",[]," (New York: Quadrangle; New York Times Book Co., 1975).",[],{"_key":4886,"_type":8,"children":4887,"markDefs":4897,"style":16},"193d186649b4",[4888,4892],{"_key":4889,"_type":12,"marks":4890,"text":4891},"7c588ba0635a",[],"In addition to blurring the boundaries between costume design and high fashion, Adrian played a central role in the creation of the period’s characteristic silhouette, with square shoulders and a slim, tailored line, as well as some of its more distinctive flourishes, such as bustles, dolman sleeves, and vivid color contrasts. ",{"_key":4893,"_type":12,"marks":4894,"text":4896},"51884853e666",[4895],"8b1767e35cc2","Rauschenberg’s “Gay Garbs” portfolio presented its streamlined dresses (labeled “English silhouette,” “Grecian silhouette,” and “Chinese silhouette”) in a way that resembled then-current Adrian magazine ads: Each model is set in a seemingly vast space defined by a distant horizon and populated by one or two details defining the theme.",[4898],{"_key":4895,"_type":474,"text":4899},[4900],{"_key":4901,"_type":8,"children":4902,"markDefs":4915,"style":16},"b3ced432821b",[4903,4907,4911],{"_key":4904,"_type":12,"marks":4905,"text":4906},"97e21c202d8e",[],"Adrian’s Los Angeles showroom had a large area with two Ionic columns that was regularly used for fashion shows and as a setting for photographing models. Esquevin, ",{"_key":4908,"_type":12,"marks":4909,"text":4910},"c4789c16fc96",[114],"Adrian",{"_key":4912,"_type":12,"marks":4913,"text":4914},"3bd0aab22c98",[],", pp. 114–15.",[],{"_key":4917,"_type":8,"children":4918,"markDefs":4936,"style":16},"1976b826fe40",[4919,4924,4927,4932],{"_key":4920,"_type":12,"marks":4921,"text":4923},"418f7f482000",[4922],"555312ef6033","After returning to Los Angeles in fall 1946, Rauschenberg worked briefly at the shop known as Original by Brett but quit when he saw no chance for advancement, let alone for getting his own designs made.",{"_key":4925,"_type":12,"marks":4926,"text":793},"2c324a5651d9",[],{"_key":4928,"_type":12,"marks":4929,"text":4931},"6949b33f3a0b",[4930],"3b18e259b41d","His luck changed when he took a job packing swimsuits designed by Louella Ballerino (1900–1978) for the swimwear manufacturer Jantzen.",{"_key":4933,"_type":12,"marks":4934,"text":4935},"2ed1bd2d0c16",[]," One of a number of female designers gaining prominence during and just after the war, Ballerino focused on what would soon be referred to as women’s sportswear. Rauschenberg’s packing job was not particularly inspiring, but it introduced him to Ballerino’s personal assistant and secretary, Pat Pearman (fig. 9).",[4937,4955],{"_key":4922,"_type":474,"text":4938},[4939],{"_key":4940,"_type":8,"children":4941,"markDefs":4954,"style":16},"8757871fefc9",[4942,4946,4950],{"_key":4943,"_type":12,"marks":4944,"text":4945},"19080e0eed37",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, Nov. 27, 1946, RFC. His previous letter, of Nov. 1, 1946 (RFC), was written on “Original by Brett \u002F Brett Carleton + Jane Fogt” letterhead. Apart from a small item and two advertisements in the ",{"_key":4947,"_type":12,"marks":4948,"text":4949},"29d02d323652",[114],"West Los Angeles Independent",{"_key":4951,"_type":12,"marks":4952,"text":4953},"2470f708254f",[]," announcing the opening of Original by Brett, I have not been able to confirm any information about this business, Carleton, or Fogt.",[],{"_key":4930,"_type":474,"text":4956},[4957],{"_key":4958,"_type":8,"children":4959,"markDefs":4972,"style":16},"7fa5e4ce3305",[4960,4964,4969],{"_key":4961,"_type":12,"marks":4962,"text":4963},"a866335cb08f",[],"Regarding Ballerino and her work with Jantzen, see Lin (of the Noir Boudoir), “Louella Ballerino,” Vintage Fashion Guild, accessed July 18, 2024, ",{"_key":4965,"_type":12,"marks":4966,"text":4968},"62829e3755b2",[4967],"b3d466232133","https:\u002F\u002Fvintagefashionguild.org\u002Fdesigner\u002Flouella-ballerino\u002F",{"_key":4970,"_type":12,"marks":4971,"text":236},"3af6eae088c9",[],[4973],{"_key":4967,"_type":375,"href":4968},{"_key":4975,"_type":1942},"f53f4ed11685",{"_key":4977,"_type":8,"children":4978,"markDefs":4992,"style":16},"8db702c43414",[4979,4983,4988],{"_key":4980,"_type":12,"marks":4981,"text":4982},"9658a84679cf",[130],"Born in Brunswick, Missouri, Pearman had studied fashion design and illustration at the Edna Marie Dunn School of Fashion in Kansas City. ",{"_key":4984,"_type":12,"marks":4985,"text":4987},"ce38e40674d5",[4986,130],"2f0c08918b12","Edna Marie Dunn (1893–1983) was one of several women prominent in American fashion who were based in the city.",{"_key":4989,"_type":12,"marks":4990,"text":4991},"b7a66caaa372",[130]," By the 1940s, Kansas City had established itself as a fashion center, with numerous manufacturers, designers, and shops, in addition to the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), which was known for fashion design as well as fine arts. Before moving to Los Angeles, Pearman had worked as the personal assistant and secretary to the director of design at Donnelly Garment Company, home of the fashion label Nelly Don, founded by Nell Donnelly Reed (1899–1991). Reed was a fixture of the U.S. fashion industry, an influential figure in Kansas City, and, later, a member of KCAI’s board.",[4993],{"_key":4986,"_type":474,"text":4994},[4995],{"_key":4996,"_type":8,"children":4997,"markDefs":5010,"style":16},"373304e4b6a9",[4998,5002,5006],{"_key":4999,"_type":12,"marks":5000,"text":5001},"a4cc50e78670",[],"Dunn was a fashion illustrator for the ",{"_key":5003,"_type":12,"marks":5004,"text":5005},"64c24db78dfc",[114],"Kansas City Star",{"_key":5007,"_type":12,"marks":5008,"text":5009},"2bcafb2d5796",[]," and the founder of the eponymous school as well as of the Kansas City Fashion Group, an organization for local professionals in fashion.",[],{"_key":5012,"_type":8,"children":5013,"markDefs":5069,"style":16},"684d6c337953",[5014,5019,5023,5027,5031,5034,5038,5043,5046,5051,5055,5060,5064],{"_key":5015,"_type":12,"marks":5016,"text":5018},"de2de48807c5",[5017],"00301fc53dbd","Pearman was three years older than Rauschenberg, but they quickly became good friends.",{"_key":5020,"_type":12,"marks":5021,"text":5022},"9111bf14d27d",[]," Her family still owns his watercolor study ",{"_key":5024,"_type":12,"marks":5025,"text":5026},"5c6209605263",[114],"Les Follies",{"_key":5028,"_type":12,"marks":5029,"text":5030},"2dc1766e78c5",[],", which shows a theater’s “Entrée de Actuers [",{"_key":5032,"_type":12,"marks":5033,"text":4747},"726e429012a3",[114],{"_key":5035,"_type":12,"marks":5036,"text":5037},"edebaf29ad78",[],"]” flanked by loosely sketched images of posters and washed in shades of violet and blue. According to the account passed down through her family, Rauschenberg had entered the sketch in some kind of competition in Los Angeles. ",{"_key":5039,"_type":12,"marks":5040,"text":5042},"66d2e4f76cce",[5041],"333e06c4a8e6","Although he did not win, Pearman’s encouragement prompted him to give the drawing to her.",{"_key":5044,"_type":12,"marks":5045,"text":793},"b3778fe69a17",[],{"_key":5047,"_type":12,"marks":5048,"text":5050},"3287eaf485c7",[5049],"e9383c43ced7","Rauschenberg later credited Pearman with helping him take “what she called ‘[his] talent’ seriously.”",{"_key":5052,"_type":12,"marks":5053,"text":5054},"6a6f93a82b93",[]," KCAI would be a first step in making that happen. ",{"_key":5056,"_type":12,"marks":5057,"text":5059},"d9b978bca95b",[5058],"cc2cb8a31462","When Pearman returned to Missouri to help her ailing mother and resumed working at Nelly Don, Rauschenberg moved there as well.",{"_key":5061,"_type":12,"marks":5062,"text":5063},"e64f951e1be2",[]," Events proceeded at lightning speed: Rauschenberg and Pearman met in early December 1946, and by February 1947 he was living in Kansas City, taking classes at KCAI. ",{"_key":5065,"_type":12,"marks":5066,"text":5068},"2872da9e6860",[5067],"796d2865b1ec","With her connections to Reed and the fashion community of Kansas City, Pearman likely helped expedite his admission.",[5070,5087,5097,5106,5116],{"_key":5017,"_type":474,"text":5071},[5072],{"_key":5073,"_type":8,"children":5074,"markDefs":5086,"style":16},"ceb00b68ac13",[5075,5079,5082],{"_key":5076,"_type":12,"marks":5077,"text":5078},"28d09a34a61c",[],"Later, Rauschenberg variously referred to Pearman as his “best friend” in Los Angeles and his “girl friend” (Rauschenberg, quoted in Rose, ",{"_key":5080,"_type":12,"marks":5081,"text":871},"c76b1b5b2137",[114],{"_key":5083,"_type":12,"marks":5084,"text":5085},"b82509d82a42",[],", pp. 19, 20). It remains unclear whether they shared a romantic relationship; in one postcard, she signs off as “Aunt Marje.” Pat Pearman to Rauschenberg, July 20, 1947, Ludington Family Collection. There is one mention of Pat in his letters from Los Angeles: “Now to get on a more pleasant subject—the fudge was delicious, Pat and I both thought so, she’s an awfully nice girl (Miss Ballerino’s private secretary).” Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, Dec. 1946, RFC.",[],{"_key":5041,"_type":474,"text":5088},[5089],{"_key":5090,"_type":8,"children":5091,"markDefs":5096,"style":16},"11b801fbbd76",[5092],{"_key":5093,"_type":12,"marks":5094,"text":5095},"8931b1287695",[],"The watercolor remains in the Ludington Family Collection. It is undated on the recto, and because it is framed, I was unable to examine the verso.",[],{"_key":5049,"_type":474,"text":5098},[5099],{"_key":5100,"_type":8,"children":5101,"markDefs":5105,"style":16},"fbd62288a830",[5102],{"_key":5103,"_type":12,"marks":5104,"text":2705},"1302b9d1e874",[],[],{"_key":5058,"_type":474,"text":5107},[5108],{"_key":5109,"_type":8,"children":5110,"markDefs":5115,"style":16},"2099aa0a61d0",[5111],{"_key":5112,"_type":12,"marks":5113,"text":5114},"67bf7d676342",[],"Rauschenberg explained Pearman’s return to Kansas City in connection with her mother’s illness in ibid.",[],{"_key":5067,"_type":474,"text":5117},[5118],{"_key":5119,"_type":8,"children":5120,"markDefs":5125,"style":16},"2d87c025ddfe",[5121],{"_key":5122,"_type":12,"marks":5123,"text":5124},"4fc24b1f9ea5",[],"Regarding Rauschenberg’s admission to KCAI, see ibid.",[],{"_key":5127,"_type":8,"children":5128,"markDefs":5151,"style":16},"033978615959",[5129,5134,5138,5143,5146],{"_key":5130,"_type":12,"marks":5131,"text":5133},"f23fb1d4e62c",[5132],"6ca6314e3eee","Rauschenberg was thrilled with his decision to attend KCAI, writing to his parents, “Oh golly I like it. It’s what I’ve always wanted.”",{"_key":5135,"_type":12,"marks":5136,"text":5137},"d25b6add6cfe",[]," Although he took classes in painting and sculpture as part of his curricular requirements, his focus was on fashion design. ",{"_key":5139,"_type":12,"marks":5140,"text":5142},"937c5c21e770",[5141],"820ad9f8bf50","Likewise, much of his part-time work—decorating shop windows, creating sets for fashion shows, designing hats—involved design in one way or another and may have come about, at least in part, through Pearman’s influence.",{"_key":5144,"_type":12,"marks":5145,"text":793},"2a8d00fac52e",[],{"_key":5147,"_type":12,"marks":5148,"text":5150},"8893af960027",[5149],"db81976e615e","Rauschenberg later claimed to have learned more from his work than from his studies in Kansas City: “I got more out of those odd jobs—they were all jobs that I alone was responsible for, and they taught me a lot.”",[5152,5162,5172],{"_key":5132,"_type":474,"text":5153},[5154],{"_key":5155,"_type":8,"children":5156,"markDefs":5161,"style":16},"4df3d75e5dd8",[5157],{"_key":5158,"_type":12,"marks":5159,"text":5160},"dfce4c169297",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, n.d. [week of Feb. 3, 1947], RFC.",[],{"_key":5141,"_type":474,"text":5163},[5164],{"_key":5165,"_type":8,"children":5166,"markDefs":5171,"style":16},"95caa33b8a05",[5167],{"_key":5168,"_type":12,"marks":5169,"text":5170},"f933c2dd176b",[],"In his application to Black Mountain College, Rauschenberg mentioned designing window displays for Cricket West, a well-known Kansas City clothing shop; designing hats for Nelly Don fashion shows; and making fashion show “sets” for Ashell’s, a women’s clothing store in Kirksville, Missouri, where Pearman also worked as a “fashion counselor” and personal shopper. Rauschenberg’s application, Milton Ernest Rauschenberg file, BMC Records, series 506.4, box 37, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville; Pearman’s résumé and references, Ludington Family Collection; Marje Pearman file, BMC Records, series 3, box 5, folder 21, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville.",[],{"_key":5149,"_type":474,"text":5173},[5174],{"_key":5175,"_type":8,"children":5176,"markDefs":5181,"style":16},"e3e98cf44e41",[5177],{"_key":5178,"_type":12,"marks":5179,"text":5180},"3f69c138f8c5",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, “Rauschenberg–BIO,” n.d., p. 3, Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 2, MoMA Archives.",[],[5183],{"_key":5184,"_type":1738,"alt":5185,"asset":5186,"caption":5189},"fec4e2bd0b70","A vintage black and white photograph depicts a woman's profile, partially obscured by shadow and wearing a lace top.",{"_type":1741,"asset":5187},{"_ref":5188,"_type":53},"image-7a756f91fe72dbbdef7ce8048f714a898538a1de-1142x1403-jpg",[5190],{"_key":5191,"_type":8,"children":5192,"markDefs":5197,"style":16},"3e7ed5ddb81a",[5193],{"_key":5194,"_type":12,"marks":5195,"text":5196},"4aa104f197df",[],"Fig. 9. Pat Pearman, Black Mountain, N.C., 1949",[],{"_key":5199,"_type":1642,"content":5200,"images":5919},"fee60b12eecb",[5201,5298,5451,5470,5552,5601,5624,5654,5725,5859,5867,5886,5917],{"_key":5202,"_type":8,"children":5203,"markDefs":5238,"style":16},"809cd97a6d1e",[5204,5208,5213,5217,5222,5226,5230,5233],{"_key":5205,"_type":12,"marks":5206,"text":5207},"dbd96d353673",[],"Traces of Rauschenberg’s activities nevertheless attest to the richness and range of his student experience. ",{"_key":5209,"_type":12,"marks":5210,"text":5212},"43e573330a28",[5211],"cd4a57246f66","For the city’s 1948 Spring Flower Festival, he was one of ten students selected to design costumes inspired by flowers.",{"_key":5214,"_type":12,"marks":5215,"text":5216},"010eee6b7ae2",[]," One of his dresses, in quilted coral-colored silk shantung over yellow jersey (fig. 10), was based on the anthurium and featured a hobble skirt to approximate the flower’s silhouette. More ambitious, perhaps, was his other contribution. ",{"_key":5218,"_type":12,"marks":5219,"text":5221},"2e0b19651097",[5220],"79166e663bac","Described in the ",{"_key":5223,"_type":12,"marks":5224,"text":5225},"92a13319bc04",[114,5220],"Kansas City Times",{"_key":5227,"_type":12,"marks":5228,"text":5229},"58a4104e32f5",[5220]," as the “showpiece among the costumes,” the design featured a clever inversion: The wide-skirted, green-striped dress was partially obscured by Rauschenberg’s placement of the hoopskirt’s architecture on the outside, forming a trellis for strands of ivy.",{"_key":5231,"_type":12,"marks":5232,"text":793},"c2ba4e6ed0f8",[],{"_key":5234,"_type":12,"marks":5235,"text":5237},"3e45cec43614",[5236],"eb7b777f0bdd","On a less fanciful note, one of his final school projects, designed for the school’s annual outdoor fashion show, was an elegantly simple woman’s suit, for which he won second place in the suit category.",[5239,5256,5280],{"_key":5211,"_type":474,"text":5240},[5241],{"_key":5242,"_type":8,"children":5243,"markDefs":5255,"style":16},"00b8a4a8f1aa",[5244,5248,5251],{"_key":5245,"_type":12,"marks":5246,"text":5247},"71ac9e934b8d",[],"“In a Color Harmony,” ",{"_key":5249,"_type":12,"marks":5250,"text":5005},"da9a90d739de",[114],{"_key":5252,"_type":12,"marks":5253,"text":5254},"3378cd18b4d9",[],", Jan. 28, 1948, p. 8.",[],{"_key":5220,"_type":474,"text":5257},[5258],{"_key":5259,"_type":8,"children":5260,"markDefs":5279,"style":16},"6895cc628e02",[5261,5265,5268,5272,5275],{"_key":5262,"_type":12,"marks":5263,"text":5264},"048d5a3f9422",[],"“Gay Preview of Spring,” ",{"_key":5266,"_type":12,"marks":5267,"text":5225},"8dee5ea94fc3",[114],{"_key":5269,"_type":12,"marks":5270,"text":5271},"6d1b6b641d47",[],", Feb. 23, 1948, p. 2. Although Rauschenberg is not named in the article, the description clearly matches photographs of the dress as well as a drawing for it held in the RRF Archives: “[It] is a gown of green-striped cotton fabric that boasts hoops worn on the outside of the skirt like a trellis.” Rauschenberg’s anthurium dress is also described in the first part of the article (p. 1), again without naming him: “The only hobble skirt in the show is a gown copied from the antherium [",{"_key":5273,"_type":12,"marks":5274,"text":4747},"9351b0fcfad7",[114],{"_key":5276,"_type":12,"marks":5277,"text":5278},"754321ae2150",[],"]. The dress is made of shrimp-colored crepe.” The model wearing the ivy dress is identified in Rauschenberg’s sketch as Skippy Linn; she was one of his classmates and is shown seated next to Rauschenberg in his class’s group photo in the KCAI yearbook (RRF Archives).",[],{"_key":5236,"_type":474,"text":5281},[5282],{"_key":5283,"_type":8,"children":5284,"markDefs":5297,"style":16},"dcdc3c0d9644",[5285,5289,5293],{"_key":5286,"_type":12,"marks":5287,"text":5288},"645c77eee443",[],"In addition to the suit, Rauschenberg showed an “informal day dress” in printed challis. Program, Third Annual Outdoor Fashion Show, Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design, May 25, 1948, RRF Archives. The year before, Rauschenberg and four other students were given honorable mentions for “outstanding work” in their fashion design class. “Commencement Exercises at Nelson Gallery,” ",{"_key":5290,"_type":12,"marks":5291,"text":5292},"1ac7d8ecda7d",[114],"Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design Review",{"_key":5294,"_type":12,"marks":5295,"text":5296},"8b058179f57b",[],", June–July 1947, p. 2.",[],{"_key":5299,"_type":8,"children":5300,"markDefs":5352,"style":16},"02ee443ad0da",[5301,5306,5310,5315,5319,5324,5327,5332,5335,5340,5343,5348],{"_key":5302,"_type":12,"marks":5303,"text":5305},"5b80ccd3f40e",[5304],"72541b7998e6","Rauschenberg collaborated with his fellow students on other projects, including painting backdrops with French village scenes for a street fair benefiting the Kansas City chapter of American Aid to France.",{"_key":5307,"_type":12,"marks":5308,"text":5309},"9428f7a7fa3b",[]," Pearman also preserved six sketches of nude figures, signed by Rauschenberg, that he may have made in connection with his art classes (see ",{"_key":5311,"_type":12,"marks":5312,"text":5314},"06df60eb4b0f",[5313],"ddc58749d349","Chronology, fig. 7",{"_key":5316,"_type":12,"marks":5317,"text":5318},"8ac40c67555e",[],"). ",{"_key":5320,"_type":12,"marks":5321,"text":5323},"9d9d037e2dbb",[5322],"62ca1bcbe624","He mentions life drawing classes in a letter to his parents, although a few of the drawings seem to refer to the work of other artists, such as a reclining nude seen from behind whose turbaned form and curvaceous proportions resemble those of an odalisque by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.",{"_key":5325,"_type":12,"marks":5326,"text":793},"fedb1423892f",[],{"_key":5328,"_type":12,"marks":5329,"text":5331},"0c802fc3e211",[5330],"bc540c948024","Most striking is a drawing of a naked man whose handsome, chiseled face and level gaze share a kinship with Rauschenberg’s earlier portraits of sailors but whose muscular body is flayed, turning it into an anatomical study.",{"_key":5333,"_type":12,"marks":5334,"text":793},"b7335a194320",[],{"_key":5336,"_type":12,"marks":5337,"text":5339},"f19afd1fe8d8",[5338],"2cb9fb2a5708","This drawing may be related to the anatomy class he took with William Wallace Rosenbauer (1900–1968), an artist who was his teacher not just for anatomy but for sculpture and art history.",{"_key":5341,"_type":12,"marks":5342,"text":793},"5575d8987e19",[],{"_key":5344,"_type":12,"marks":5345,"text":5347},"2247f3627c01",[5346],"36390e26d4b8","As Rauschenberg later recalled, Rosenbauer “asked personally if he could keep my anatomy notebook, which I got an A+ [on] and he said that it would have been more if there was another way of grading it.”",{"_key":5349,"_type":12,"marks":5350,"text":5351},"1a9cb4f1df83",[]," Although the focus was different, Rauschenberg may have benefited from his prior study of anatomy in the Navy.",[5353,5370,5404,5430,5440,5450],{"_key":5304,"_type":474,"text":5354},[5355],{"_key":5356,"_type":8,"children":5357,"markDefs":5369,"style":16},"13540d584467",[5358,5362,5365],{"_key":5359,"_type":12,"marks":5360,"text":5361},"9ea1f21be414",[],"Karl Peterson, Jr., “French Towns on View in the Street Fair for the 35th,” ",{"_key":5363,"_type":12,"marks":5364,"text":5005},"ad6b5126d8ab",[114],{"_key":5366,"_type":12,"marks":5367,"text":5368},"62cec4441471",[],", June 1, 1947, pp. 2C–3C. KCAI students worked under the local artist and designer Earl Altaire, and they were encouraged to sketch their own scenes, a selection of which were subsequently exhibited in the windows of Harzfeld’s department store. I have found no further information about the display of these sketches.",[],{"_key":5322,"_type":474,"text":5371},[5372],{"_key":5373,"_type":8,"children":5374,"markDefs":5403,"style":16},"c60cb70d4c99",[5375,5379,5383,5387,5391,5395,5399],{"_key":5376,"_type":12,"marks":5377,"text":5378},"8a3a5113ac81",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, n.d. [week of Feb. 3, 1947]. In the same letter, Rauschenberg mentions being enrolled in a life drawing class. The Rauschenberg Family Collection holds a few art books he likely owned during this period, including Reginald Marsh, ",{"_key":5380,"_type":12,"marks":5381,"text":5382},"4388e63345b0",[114],"Anatomy for Artists",{"_key":5384,"_type":12,"marks":5385,"text":5386},"a908a7a1ed97",[]," (New York: American Artists Group, 1945), and John Sloan with Helen Farr, ",{"_key":5388,"_type":12,"marks":5389,"text":5390},"a6456f0f56ed",[114],"Gist of Art: Principles and Practice Expounded in the Classroom and Studio",{"_key":5392,"_type":12,"marks":5393,"text":5394},"278bf0feceaa",[]," (New York: American Artists Group, 1939). Rauschenberg’s Ingresque drawing of a nude (collection of Link Pearman Ludington) is inscribed in pencil at the top “John Sloan ‘Gist of Art’ Ingres.” However, there does not seem to be any illustration in ",{"_key":5396,"_type":12,"marks":5397,"text":5398},"ee4b6ff39f29",[114],"Gist of Art",{"_key":5400,"_type":12,"marks":5401,"text":5402},"ce959e602f24",[]," that corresponds to this drawing or any others by Rauschenberg.",[],{"_key":5330,"_type":474,"text":5405},[5406],{"_key":5407,"_type":8,"children":5408,"markDefs":5429,"style":16},"9dfb797e78ba",[5409,5413,5417,5421,5425],{"_key":5410,"_type":12,"marks":5411,"text":5412},"e0ee461fe08a",[],"This drawing (collection of Link Pearman Ludington) has an erased, but still legible, notation in pencil in the upper right corner that refers to another book on drawing popular during this period: Kimon Nicolaïdes, ",{"_key":5414,"_type":12,"marks":5415,"text":5416},"060abbde552f",[114],"The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study ",{"_key":5418,"_type":12,"marks":5419,"text":5420},"7ee2fa4ef914",[],"(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1941). The name “Richard” is also written there. I have been unable to identify anyone in Rauschenberg’s circle during this time by that name, but a book of ballet photographs by Serge Lido in the Rauschenberg Family Collection bears the dedication “And then the wise man said, ‘Give thy neighbor—but let thy friend possess what thou possessith … for then you both shall be happy’—Richard.” ",{"_key":5422,"_type":12,"marks":5423,"text":5424},"b9ef475c8a25",[114],"La danse\u002FLa danza\u002FThe Dance",{"_key":5426,"_type":12,"marks":5427,"text":5428},"ee970c53f174",[]," (Paris: Masques [Revue Internationale d’Art Dramatique], 1947).",[],{"_key":5338,"_type":474,"text":5431},[5432],{"_key":5433,"_type":8,"children":5434,"markDefs":5439,"style":16},"257551f9e516",[5435],{"_key":5436,"_type":12,"marks":5437,"text":5438},"ced7d39d4d5a",[],"Rosenbauer, the director of KCAI from 1944 to 1949, also executed public sculpture commissions in the area during this time.",[],{"_key":5346,"_type":474,"text":5441},[5442],{"_key":5443,"_type":8,"children":5444,"markDefs":5449,"style":16},"56ebb2b03691",[5445],{"_key":5446,"_type":12,"marks":5447,"text":5448},"d01bdcccb47d",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Hopps and Ginsburg, Nov. 4, 1975, p. 27.",[],{"_key":5313,"_type":375,"href":3391},{"_key":5452,"_type":8,"children":5453,"markDefs":5467,"style":16},"dd159aeced48",[5454,5458,5463],{"_key":5455,"_type":12,"marks":5456,"text":5457},"1084e3f9e074",[],"Rauschenberg also painted a portrait of Pearman on a large, tripartite folding screen that he presented to her as a gift (",{"_key":5459,"_type":12,"marks":5460,"text":5462},"ecd931fc2640",[5461],"4ec2a722750f","1",{"_key":5464,"_type":12,"marks":5465,"text":5466},"a6125cde2242",[],"). Stylized but readily recognizable, Pearman gazes directly at the viewer, a rose-bedecked hat perched atop her head. Clutching a slim purse, or perhaps a book, she sits on a divan that is largely obscured by the voluminous, pale blue skirt of her strapless dress. At the left, nearly abstract passages of vivid blue and green suggest a sweep of drapery. In its monumental simplicity, if not its palette, the screen is Rauschenberg’s first known attempt to approach the scale of Reynolds’s portrait of Sarah Siddons at the Huntington and his first foray into the multipanel compositional format that would define so many of his later works.",[5468],{"_key":5461,"_type":239,"crNo":5469},"48.002",{"_key":5471,"_type":8,"children":5472,"markDefs":5499,"style":16},"5df6f2390fbc",[5473,5477,5482,5486,5491,5494],{"_key":5474,"_type":12,"marks":5475,"text":5476},"4ffd35b5ee95",[],"At the end of May 1948, Rauschenberg left Kansas City on a train bound for New York, where, on June 2, he would board a ship to Paris. With his departure, he also seems to have left behind his desire to become a fashion designer. ",{"_key":5478,"_type":12,"marks":5479,"text":5481},"a08e7c375910",[5480],"7e78e7a62b63","Instead, he had written to Académie Julian and was preparing to study painting.",{"_key":5483,"_type":12,"marks":5484,"text":5485},"5da2d3548e8a",[]," One wonders what happened. Had he also sought out fashion schools in Paris but not been admitted? ",{"_key":5487,"_type":12,"marks":5488,"text":5490},"9917bddf6c42",[5489],"e54abd383f01","Or did something push him definitively from one path to the other?",{"_key":5492,"_type":12,"marks":5493,"text":793},"f0036a5504d7",[],{"_key":5495,"_type":12,"marks":5496,"text":5498},"35e67484108f",[5497],"c64cbfc5125c","Fashion had undoubtedly changed by spring 1948: Launched the year before, Christian Dior’s New Look, with its cinched waist, padded hips, and extravagant use of fabric, had signaled a profound cultural shift, with a stronger emphasis on traditional feminine characteristics.",[5500,5510,5535],{"_key":5480,"_type":474,"text":5501},[5502],{"_key":5503,"_type":8,"children":5504,"markDefs":5509,"style":16},"786d63a8229d",[5505],{"_key":5506,"_type":12,"marks":5507,"text":5508},"b8b113bf7c8b",[],"Rauschenberg to Académie Julian, postmarked April 4, 1948, private collection. Reference copy held in RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":5489,"_type":474,"text":5511},[5512],{"_key":5513,"_type":8,"children":5514,"markDefs":5534,"style":16},"0f6a14387f5a",[5515,5519,5522,5526,5530],{"_key":5516,"_type":12,"marks":5517,"text":5518},"b4bae107ed28",[],"Although Ludington family history places the making of the watercolor ",{"_key":5520,"_type":12,"marks":5521,"text":5026},"72b10fe69d56",[114],{"_key":5523,"_type":12,"marks":5524,"text":5525},"f277d2aaf22d",[]," in Los Angeles, one wonders if it might date to the Kansas City period, as one of the studies made for the American Aid to France street fair described in n. 106 and the corresponding text. The drawing certainly fits the theme; if ",{"_key":5527,"_type":12,"marks":5528,"text":5529},"ffe5821012b8",[114],"Les Follies ",{"_key":5531,"_type":12,"marks":5532,"text":5533},"1cdfc6a903fc",[],"were not chosen for display in the windows of Harzfeld’s, Rauschenberg may well have given it to Pearman. While speculative, this possibility shifts Pearman’s encouragement to Rauschenberg to take his talent seriously to the realm of fine art (as with his large portrait of her), rather than fashion.",[],{"_key":5497,"_type":474,"text":5536},[5537],{"_key":5538,"_type":8,"children":5539,"markDefs":5551,"style":16},"c0b1d60765c6",[5540,5544,5547],{"_key":5541,"_type":12,"marks":5542,"text":5543},"ac7b21b6c508",[],"For American designers’ reactions to the New Look and its relationship to the end of wartime rationing, see Esquevin, ",{"_key":5545,"_type":12,"marks":5546,"text":4910},"bb506f6e6cf2",[114],{"_key":5548,"_type":12,"marks":5549,"text":5550},"030705a97125",[],", pp. 151–69.",[],{"_key":5553,"_type":8,"children":5554,"markDefs":5572,"style":16},"3bff0d5f8517",[5555,5559,5564,5567],{"_key":5556,"_type":12,"marks":5557,"text":5558},"6f3cc6f2989b",[],"There is no indication that Rauschenberg studied fashion while he was in Paris. He quickly became friends with Susan Weil (b. 1930), who lived at his pensione, also attended classes at Académie Julian, and sketched with him at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. She encouraged him to apply to Black Mountain College, which she was planning to attend in the fall. In Weil, Rauschenberg met a kindred soul who was already deeply engaged in the world of art, echoing the role Pearman had played for his interest in fashion. While his abandonment of fashion design in favor of fine art seems abrupt, the distinction was perhaps less dramatic at the time than it would subsequently appear. ",{"_key":5560,"_type":12,"marks":5561,"text":5563},"62c83ba4256c",[5562],"ae35235d2cf8","Art was regularly showcased in the fashion magazines Rauschenberg read, whether in feature articles or as props and backgrounds for models.",{"_key":5565,"_type":12,"marks":5566,"text":793},"779e301e4b86",[],{"_key":5568,"_type":12,"marks":5569,"text":5571},"91665be25466",[5570],"7ac4c65f49d7","Moreover, as Weil later recalled, Rauschenberg’s conversion—initially, at least—did not appear definitive: “Bob was not all that sure about painting. Of course he had all that vitality and intelligence, but he was trying to figure out whether painting was really for him.”",[5573,5591],{"_key":5562,"_type":474,"text":5574},[5575],{"_key":5576,"_type":8,"children":5577,"markDefs":5590,"style":16},"d4ff675f6528",[5578,5582,5586],{"_key":5579,"_type":12,"marks":5580,"text":5581},"23a17dffdae1",[],"The Rauschenberg Family Collection holds a book Rauschenberg probably acquired during this period that juxtaposes sketches of fashions past and present with well-known works of art. The book intimates strong visual parallels between the two realms and suggests a porous boundary between them. Marcel Verte with Bryan Holme, ",{"_key":5583,"_type":12,"marks":5584,"text":5585},"2bc574fdf73e",[114],"Art and Fashion",{"_key":5587,"_type":12,"marks":5588,"text":5589},"e239515f9a39",[]," (New York: Studio Publications, 1944).",[],{"_key":5570,"_type":474,"text":5592},[5593],{"_key":5594,"_type":8,"children":5595,"markDefs":5600,"style":16},"30eb14ce49a5",[5596],{"_key":5597,"_type":12,"marks":5598,"text":5599},"0c8db2dc31af",[],"Susan Weil, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, “Susan Weil (Kirschenbaum)– 1\u002F17\u002F78 at 80 Park Row,” 1978, Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 3, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":5602,"_type":8,"children":5603,"markDefs":5613,"style":16},"69fa8c43ac23",[5604,5609],{"_key":5605,"_type":12,"marks":5606,"text":5608},"2078acccf2b9",[5607],"d9843a7d235a","In Rauschenberg’s application to Black Mountain College, painting and sculpture appear on his list of recent activities, but not fashion or costume design—although most of his letters of recommendation reflect his experience in the latter areas.",{"_key":5610,"_type":12,"marks":5611,"text":5612},"839c88390cf9",[]," Weil later recalled that in Paris, Rauschenberg used curtains from the pensione to create a gown for a fellow resident to wear to the opera. To accompany it, he made a special shawl:",[5614],{"_key":5607,"_type":474,"text":5615},[5616],{"_key":5617,"_type":8,"children":5618,"markDefs":5623,"style":16},"2a413b38ffb9",[5619],{"_key":5620,"_type":12,"marks":5621,"text":5622},"6cfd936542ba",[],"Rauschenberg’s application includes letters from Arnold Adler, of the boutique Cricket West; Sara Pennoyer, Pat Pearman’s employer at Donnelly Garment Company; and Pearman herself. William Wallace Rosenbauer also wrote a letter of support, as did Rauschenberg’s high school homeroom teacher, Mary Eunice Vickers. Milton Ernest Rauschenberg file, BMC Records, series 506.4, box 37, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville.",[],{"_key":5625,"_type":8,"children":5626,"markDefs":5636,"style":1652},"565fc5163bec",[5627,5631],{"_key":5628,"_type":12,"marks":5629,"text":5630},"57cb18df612a",[130],"He took a bedspread right off the bed in the pension—a taupe-caramel colored velveteen—went to the Galeries Lafayette to buy satin ribbon, stretched the ribbon across the floor, and stitched fresh ivy from the Bois de Boulogne to the ribbon. … ",{"_key":5632,"_type":12,"marks":5633,"text":5635},"1979892e540e",[5634,130],"a3d6d6e7dc97","Bob made a lattice with the ribbons and the ivy, and sewed it to the bedspread—it was her stole.",[5637],{"_key":5634,"_type":474,"text":5638},[5639],{"_key":5640,"_type":8,"children":5641,"markDefs":5653,"style":16},"fd446cabb49c",[5642,5646,5649],{"_key":5643,"_type":12,"marks":5644,"text":5645},"ebda27d95d92",[],"Susan Weil, quoted in Kotz, ",{"_key":5647,"_type":12,"marks":5648,"text":871},"12e7ea2efd7d",[114],{"_key":5650,"_type":12,"marks":5651,"text":5652},"630f7d60ba5c",[],", p. 61.",[],{"_key":5655,"_type":8,"children":5656,"markDefs":5683,"style":16},"443efcfe8204",[5657,5661,5666,5669,5674,5678],{"_key":5658,"_type":12,"marks":5659,"text":5660},"4105fff39370",[130],"For this design, Rauschenberg may have called upon the recent memory of the trellis-and-ivy dress he had designed in Kansas City. ",{"_key":5662,"_type":12,"marks":5663,"text":5665},"c7c0d5431229",[5664,130],"0b52237c6a78","Otherwise, there is little evidence that his ambitions in fashion continued, although his engagement with design and clothing lingered in intermittent projects over the next several years.",{"_key":5667,"_type":12,"marks":5668,"text":793},"831a3894dd5d",[130],{"_key":5670,"_type":12,"marks":5671,"text":5673},"c6cca801edda",[5672,130],"b4d3afdaa7a7","He brought with him to Black Mountain a sewing machine that he let other students use; he made a white-on-white weaving for Anni Albers’s textile class; and he designed a dress for his fellow student Ingeborg Svarc, known as Inga, which included a skirt with a corseted, dropped waist and a bolero jacket in gray, paired with a satiny blouse of olive green.",{"_key":5675,"_type":12,"marks":5676,"text":5677},"a0924afadea2",[130]," When Weil became pregnant with their son, Christopher, Rauschenberg made her a voluminous maternity dress and took photographs of her wearing it (fig. 11). ",{"_key":5679,"_type":12,"marks":5680,"text":5682},"7ea9b215fccd",[5681,130],"ba53bcf88b50","After Christopher’s birth, Rauschenberg made an outfit for him as well, which Weil described as incorporating whistles and “pockets with things in them for him.”",[5684,5694,5715],{"_key":5664,"_type":474,"text":5685},[5686],{"_key":5687,"_type":8,"children":5688,"markDefs":5693,"style":16},"ccbf35dbdaf1",[5689],{"_key":5690,"_type":12,"marks":5691,"text":5692},"1222a43f7e84",[],"In the numerous interviews Susan Weil has given over the years, she has never said that Rauschenberg discussed fashion or appeared particularly interested in it.",[],{"_key":5672,"_type":474,"text":5695},[5696],{"_key":5697,"_type":8,"children":5698,"markDefs":5712,"style":16},"ec6f8e6ef6e0",[5699,5703,5708],{"_key":5700,"_type":12,"marks":5701,"text":5702},"49d6265df797",[],"Regarding the sewing machine, see Martha Rittenhouse Treichler, oral history interview by Mary Emma Harris, Nov. 11, 2003, AC.564, Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C. Susan Weil helped him with the piece for Albers’s class “because weaving was hard for him.” Email from Jenny Anger, Professor of Art History, Grinnell College, Iowa, to Brenda Danilowitz, Chief Curator, Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany, Conn., Aug. 8, 2006. Reference copy held in Curatorial Files, RRF. Regarding Svarc’s dress, it is not clear whether Rauschenberg made the dress or only designed it; in the fashion world, designers typically had seamstresses create clothing from their sketches. Earlier, Rauschenberg had sent his mother a design for a dress for his sister, Janet, with a note suggesting that Dora make it; see ",{"_key":5704,"_type":12,"marks":5705,"text":5707},"7ba5cb874e8e",[5706],"7766ecb77e30","n. 80",{"_key":5709,"_type":12,"marks":5710,"text":5711},"29c90501c672",[]," above and corresponding text.",[5713],{"_key":5706,"_type":375,"href":5714},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Flooking-back\u002F#fn-80",{"_key":5681,"_type":474,"text":5716},[5717],{"_key":5718,"_type":8,"children":5719,"markDefs":5724,"style":16},"b902b8a5a8bc",[5720],{"_key":5721,"_type":12,"marks":5722,"text":5723},"6563f476f450",[],"Susan Weil, oral history interview by Mary Marshall Clark, Jan. 27, 2014, transcript, p. 1-62, Oral History Project, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":5726,"_type":8,"children":5727,"markDefs":5780,"style":16},"5eee9bccd7e4",[5728,5732,5737,5740,5744,5748,5752,5756,5759,5764,5768,5773,5776],{"_key":5729,"_type":12,"marks":5730,"text":5731},"454d99a893e1",[],"Once we begin thinking about Rauschenberg’s interest in costume and fashion design as something that closely rivaled, and likely preceded, his ambitions as an artist, we gain a new understanding of his development and of the impact that interest may have had on the kind of artist he would eventually become. It is noteworthy that, on his 1946 visit to the Huntington, he was confronted with bodies portrayed at full length (which would become a focus of his work) and bedecked in outrageous and magnificent clothing. ",{"_key":5733,"_type":12,"marks":5734,"text":5736},"e99a19cd9edc",[5735],"b0cbc627b040","In ",{"_key":5738,"_type":12,"marks":5739,"text":3555},"ee7a03659691",[114,5735],{"_key":5741,"_type":12,"marks":5742,"text":5743},"674e9ee82b11",[5735],", in particular, that finery was created with emphatic, visceral brushwork and swaths of paint: Rauschenberg’s attraction to the portrait may have been as much a matter of ",{"_key":5745,"_type":12,"marks":5746,"text":5747},"25fe2e2354cb",[114,5735],"how ",{"_key":5749,"_type":12,"marks":5750,"text":5751},"0df9ba0e22d7",[5735],"Gainsborough had painted as of ",{"_key":5753,"_type":12,"marks":5754,"text":5755},"2c48a9e80d37",[114,5735],"what.",{"_key":5757,"_type":12,"marks":5758,"text":793},"4c9468adda85",[],{"_key":5760,"_type":12,"marks":5761,"text":5763},"9e5be62443fb",[5762],"665d6a48e588","Likewise, one of the defining material and conceptual characteristics of Rauschenberg’s art is a predilection for veiling and unveiling, whether with translucent or transparent layers of fabric or through the mechanics of image transfer.",{"_key":5765,"_type":12,"marks":5766,"text":5767},"ae0b6f6fe057",[]," Yet discussions of this inclination rarely mention the renewed prominence of veils in films and fashion of the late 1930s and ’40s. ",{"_key":5769,"_type":12,"marks":5770,"text":5772},"752bc58613d9",[5771],"b7e036707423","A prominent element of many women’s hats at the time, the veil obscured the face, holding the personal at bay even as, in the words of one spread in ",{"_key":5774,"_type":12,"marks":5775,"text":4379},"aec3e379fd0f",[114,5771],{"_key":5777,"_type":12,"marks":5778,"text":5779},"e6966ba35c6e",[5771],", it also pulled “hat and head together into a close, neat unity.”",[5781,5798,5842],{"_key":5735,"_type":474,"text":5782},[5783],{"_key":5784,"_type":8,"children":5785,"markDefs":5797,"style":16},"cb1b04016143",[5786,5790,5793],{"_key":5787,"_type":12,"marks":5788,"text":5789},"e4d1e1ffe8a0",[],"This physicality was one of the first things about painting that made an impact on Rauschenberg, and he expressed his fascination, in part, through his clothes: Of the works he made in Paris, he later said, “I could have gone on just painting with my hands, I think, and making messes forever because I really loved painting. … I couldn’t stand a brush coming between me and the canvas. Naturally, I cleaned my ‘brushes,’ which were my hands, on my clothes.” Rauschenberg, quoted in Rose, ",{"_key":5791,"_type":12,"marks":5792,"text":871},"3a429215db34",[114],{"_key":5794,"_type":12,"marks":5795,"text":5796},"fcdd3f450150",[],", p. 23.",[],{"_key":5762,"_type":474,"text":5799},[5800],{"_key":5801,"_type":8,"children":5802,"markDefs":5839,"style":16},"f8dcc4177ec0",[5803,5807,5812,5816,5820,5824,5828,5832,5835],{"_key":5804,"_type":12,"marks":5805,"text":5806},"e8779a5493b1",[],"Discussions of the use of fabric in the Rauschenberg literature (see ",{"_key":5808,"_type":12,"marks":5809,"text":5811},"f4a68faa306b",[5810],"9c04cb34269d","n. 75",{"_key":5813,"_type":12,"marks":5814,"text":5815},"62a80aff3eb9",[]," above) often include references to veiling and unveiling. The motif also surfaces in discussions of Rauschenberg’s imagery and its possible connection to his sexuality, as in Laura Auricchio, “Lifting the Veil: Robert Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":5817,"_type":12,"marks":5818,"text":5819},"dc54d2cda5fb",[114],"Thirty-Four Drawings for Dante’s Inferno",{"_key":5821,"_type":12,"marks":5822,"text":5823},"0e00026c3518",[]," and the Commercial Homoerotic Imagery of 1950s America,” in ",{"_key":5825,"_type":12,"marks":5826,"text":5827},"41a73d53a709",[114],"The Gay ’90s: Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Formations in Queer Studies",{"_key":5829,"_type":12,"marks":5830,"text":5831},"1063c639dd57",[],", ed. Thomas Foster et al. (New York: New York University Press, 1997), pp. 119–54, and Richard Meyer, “‘Two on One’: Richard Meyer on Robert Rauschenberg” (book review), ",{"_key":5833,"_type":12,"marks":5834,"text":4267},"ddd4e0d2d5c4",[114],{"_key":5836,"_type":12,"marks":5837,"text":5838},"d40f981f5c40",[],"42, no. 6 (Feb. 2004), pp. 25–26. Rauschenberg’s later set and costume designs also often drew upon themes of veiling.",[5840],{"_key":5810,"_type":375,"href":5841},"https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Flooking-back\u002F#fn-75",{"_key":5771,"_type":474,"text":5843},[5844],{"_key":5845,"_type":8,"children":5846,"markDefs":5858,"style":16},"5c242fb08786",[5847,5851,5854],{"_key":5848,"_type":12,"marks":5849,"text":5850},"7f05bbcaadd1",[],"“The Hat Silhouette,” ",{"_key":5852,"_type":12,"marks":5853,"text":4379},"b240c59e7046",[114],{"_key":5855,"_type":12,"marks":5856,"text":5857},"30c2fdd757ce",[],", Aug. 1, 1945, p. 73.",[],{"_key":5860,"_type":8,"children":5861,"markDefs":5866,"style":16},"3685e54f2744",[5862],{"_key":5863,"_type":12,"marks":5864,"text":5865},"14d89c0c8a8f",[],"If Rauschenberg’s early involvement with fabric, costume, and fashion became less visible in his biography as time went on, it continued to deeply inform his thoughts on art, especially on a conceptual level. He acknowledged as much in a 1966 panel discussion:",[],{"_key":5868,"_type":8,"children":5869,"markDefs":5875,"style":1652},"297cf220a6c7",[5870],{"_key":5871,"_type":12,"marks":5872,"text":5874},"1df08369383b",[5873,130],"8e01786f42c9","I never was convinced of the divine space of the canvas. I always recognize any canvas as a piece of cloth. It is just through the economy of lumber and structure that a fabric is woven horizontally and vertically and that it stretches most expediently in those directions.",[5876],{"_key":5873,"_type":474,"text":5877},[5878],{"_key":5879,"_type":8,"children":5880,"markDefs":5885,"style":16},"1662cc2cc9b8",[5881],{"_key":5882,"_type":12,"marks":5883,"text":5884},"5dd6d2daff6c",[],"“‘Is Easel Painting Dead?’: The Critics Colloquium, New York University” (panel discussion moderated by Barbara Rose), Nov. 1966, transcript, p. 2, Barbara Rose Papers, 1962–ca. 1969, series 3, box 2, folder 3, AAA.",[],{"_key":5887,"_type":8,"children":5888,"markDefs":5898,"style":16},"7b4b77fc109f",[5889,5894],{"_key":5890,"_type":12,"marks":5891,"text":5893},"f627d423adbe",[5892,130],"aad29be8a66d","Rauschenberg also famously declared in 1959 that a “pair of socks is no less suitable to make a painting with than wood, nails, turpentine, oil and fabric.”",{"_key":5895,"_type":12,"marks":5896,"text":5897},"afc05a2bfdb3",[130]," It is now commonly understood that this subversive proposition opened up the possibilities of what materials could constitute a work of art. But Rauschenberg’s radicalism may actually have rested in his recognition that the instrument of subversion was already there: in wood, nails, turpentine, and oil, but especially in fabric, whether a pair of socks or an expanse of bare canvas.",[5899],{"_key":5892,"_type":474,"text":5900},[5901],{"_key":5902,"_type":8,"children":5903,"markDefs":5916,"style":16},"857c2f2eb13c",[5904,5908,5912],{"_key":5905,"_type":12,"marks":5906,"text":5907},"8df3a8a1e11d",[],"Robert Rauschenberg, statement, in ",{"_key":5909,"_type":12,"marks":5910,"text":5911},"caa022279b67",[114],"Sixteen Americans",{"_key":5913,"_type":12,"marks":5914,"text":5915},"d1c963d7e7f5",[],", ed. Dorothy C. Miller, exh. cat. (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1959), p. 58.",[],{"_key":5918,"_type":1942},"f756d17659bc",[5920],{"_key":5921,"_type":1738,"alt":5922,"asset":5923,"caption":5926},"fce893146203","A woman in an elegant gown walks down a dimly lit runway, framed by decorative arches.",{"_type":1741,"asset":5924},{"_ref":5925,"_type":53},"image-997ba9883e311e4763922f21430ef0dd64621fe6-3150x3978-jpg",[5927],{"_key":5928,"_type":8,"children":5929,"markDefs":5934,"style":16},"aaac4903b115",[5930],{"_key":5931,"_type":12,"marks":5932,"text":5933},"31443434def9",[],"Fig. 10. Anthurium gown designed by Robert Rauschenberg, in quilted coral silk shantung over yellow jersey, Kansas City, Mo., 1947",[],{"_key":5936,"_type":1642,"content":5937,"images":6221},"229525827753",[5938,6006,6029,6048,6075,6102,6136,6169],{"_key":5939,"_type":8,"children":5940,"markDefs":5968,"style":16},"4049a9217f16",[5941,5946,5949,5954,5957,5962,5965],{"_key":5942,"_type":12,"marks":5943,"text":5945},"080fdd06e39b",[5944,130],"6674e615a3b2","When Rauschenberg went to Paris, he made plans to send his paintings back to Pearman for her to see before forwarding them to his parents.",{"_key":5947,"_type":12,"marks":5948,"text":793},"7a707b9b0e0f",[130],{"_key":5950,"_type":12,"marks":5951,"text":5953},"6db7477dac0a",[5952,130],"1f58b7433548","Perhaps at his urging, Pearman went to Black Mountain College in June 1949 and worked as a secretary there.",{"_key":5955,"_type":12,"marks":5956,"text":793},"068bbfd610ba",[130],{"_key":5958,"_type":12,"marks":5959,"text":5961},"c9949b97737f",[5960,130],"2d0938f168a9","Their friendship remained close into the early 1950s: Pearman attended Rauschenberg and Weil’s wedding in 1950 and posed around that time for their cyanotype ",{"_key":5963,"_type":12,"marks":5964,"text":1699},"b59f455d6511",[114,5960,130],{"_key":5966,"_type":12,"marks":5967,"text":236},"f3d6a53a5ad2",[5960,130],[5969,5979,5989],{"_key":5944,"_type":474,"text":5970},[5971],{"_key":5972,"_type":8,"children":5973,"markDefs":5978,"style":16},"07ef9dc3c611",[5974],{"_key":5975,"_type":12,"marks":5976,"text":5977},"8392ad3b24bb",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, June 22–23, 1948, RFC. There is no evidence that he did so, however.",[],{"_key":5952,"_type":474,"text":5980},[5981],{"_key":5982,"_type":8,"children":5983,"markDefs":5988,"style":16},"4acac953827e",[5984],{"_key":5985,"_type":12,"marks":5986,"text":5987},"81c5823ae45a",[],"Ludington’s 1970 résumé states that she was “office manager and secretary” at BMC from June 1949 to May 1950, although BMC’s general and faculty files contain information related to her position only for the summer term of 1949. Her position qualified her to take two courses; correspondence indicates that she planned to arrive in Asheville on June 18 or 19 and assume her position on June 20. Marje [Pat] Pearman to Dorothy Trayer, May 19, 1949, BMC Records, series 506.3, box 5, folder 21, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville. Spring term ended for Rauschenberg and Weil on June 15, 1949, and they spent the summer in Connecticut at the house of Weil’s parents on Outer Island. This timing suggests they may have missed Pearman altogether at BMC or overlapped with her for only a few days.",[],{"_key":5960,"_type":474,"text":5990},[5991],{"_key":5992,"_type":8,"children":5993,"markDefs":6005,"style":16},"c3dc46301d02",[5994,5998,6001],{"_key":5995,"_type":12,"marks":5996,"text":5997},"83493aec5df6",[],"Describing his wedding in a later interview, Rauschenberg said, “I hung our [",{"_key":5999,"_type":12,"marks":6000,"text":4747},"9cd80f0b9ed2",[114],{"_key":6002,"_type":12,"marks":6003,"text":6004},"4dcb69efb1f5",[],"] with Pat until the last minute; I was so nervous.” Interview by Walter Hopps, Jan. 18–20, 1991, typed notes by Susan Davidson, annotations by Rauschenberg, p. 1, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":6007,"_type":8,"children":6008,"markDefs":6018,"style":16},"1ff04ff91c96",[6009,6014],{"_key":6010,"_type":12,"marks":6011,"text":6013},"fca997cbd42f",[6012],"5ad22999e9ab","Rauschenberg likewise invited Frakes to his nuptials, even sending him a telegram entreating him to attend.",{"_key":6015,"_type":12,"marks":6016,"text":6017},"399f58ead1d3",[]," Frakes seems not to have done so; the last letter in Frakes’s archive is postmarked ten days before Rauschenberg’s departure for Paris, a trip he had once proposed to Frakes that they take together:",[6019],{"_key":6012,"_type":474,"text":6020},[6021],{"_key":6022,"_type":8,"children":6023,"markDefs":6028,"style":16},"ff7e7af2b615",[6024],{"_key":6025,"_type":12,"marks":6026,"text":6027},"412826539807",[],"The telegram to Frakes reads, in part, “YOUR BEING HERE VERY VERY IMPORTANT TO ME LOVE \u002F MILTON.” Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, telegram, June 5, 1950, FS 180, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":6030,"_type":8,"children":6031,"markDefs":6037,"style":1652},"8b7edeb85613",[6032],{"_key":6033,"_type":12,"marks":6034,"text":6036},"63c024e7d9da",[6035,130],"bef06d986877","For you to say naturally “I won’t have anything to say in this letter” and then to write such a masterpiece of unselfish friendship. For the first time, Arthur, after reading your letter I did not want to go. I at this moment have the strangest feeling of hesitancy of something almost fatal in my going. It may have been that I was so touched by the purity of our friendship and the depth of your feeling. Arthur I would feel wonderful if you would just even hint of there being a possibility of your joining me later. Arthur, wire me when you receive this—For what I don’t know, but at this moment I feel an extreme need to hear from you—OK?",[6038],{"_key":6035,"_type":474,"text":6039},[6040],{"_key":6041,"_type":8,"children":6042,"markDefs":6047,"style":16},"32704406d2da",[6043],{"_key":6044,"_type":12,"marks":6045,"text":6046},"262ec64c62ed",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, postmarked May 18, 1948, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives. By the end of the letter, he had backed away from the “hysteria … at the beginning,” casting it as a “delayed realization of the fact that I don’t live in PA [Port Arthur] anymore.”",[],{"_key":6049,"_type":8,"children":6050,"markDefs":6064,"style":16},"f7a080509ddd",[6051,6055,6060],{"_key":6052,"_type":12,"marks":6053,"text":6054},"c8be3bfd591c",[130],"Gaps in the historical record occur for a variety of reasons. Pearman’s move back to Missouri in 1951, her assumption of her husband’s name upon her marriage in 1953, and her untimely death in 1978 have all contributed to her relatively diminished presence in considerations of Rauschenberg’s early years. ",{"_key":6056,"_type":12,"marks":6057,"text":6059},"d35a2c75f85e",[6058,130],"8db6013da833","For his part, Frakes stayed in Texas, never married, and remained in sporadic contact with Rauschenberg over the years, collecting gallery announcements and other ephemera and seeing the artist when he returned to Texas for various events.",{"_key":6061,"_type":12,"marks":6062,"text":6063},"80250b732f75",[130]," Their friendship, along with Rauschenberg’s connections to a range of male friends in high school, college, and the Navy, has been absent from accounts of his early life.",[6065],{"_key":6058,"_type":474,"text":6066},[6067],{"_key":6068,"_type":8,"children":6069,"markDefs":6074,"style":16},"b54bdbb34f4f",[6070],{"_key":6071,"_type":12,"marks":6072,"text":6073},"ef4cf7be3899",[],"I met Frakes briefly when I was living in Austin during graduate school but had little further exchange with him. He was, by all accounts, a very private individual, to the extent that acquaintances from later in his life could not say with certainty what he had done for a living (it seems to have involved military mapping) or whether he had ever had a partner or a romantic relationship. Remaining in Austin for the rest of his life, he was, according to Katie Robinson Edwards, an art historian and friend of Frakes’s, “close to a small group [of] male friends in their 60s–70s who were single, or had been married but were now single.” Katie Robinson Edwards to the author, email, July 3, 2024. Further information was provided by Mark L. Smith, an art historian and print publisher, in a telephone conversation with the author on June 19, 2023.",[],{"_key":6076,"_type":8,"children":6077,"markDefs":6091,"style":16},"2486dab19ff1",[6078,6082,6087],{"_key":6079,"_type":12,"marks":6080,"text":6081},"c32e708f9f7b",[],"When her son’s art class planned a visit to New York City in 1974, Pat Ludington used the opportunity to get back in touch with her old friend. ",{"_key":6083,"_type":12,"marks":6084,"text":6086},"f1252a29cf08",[6085],"26851352e296","She wrote the letter quoted at the beginning of this essay just after the telephone call that initiated their reconnection.",{"_key":6088,"_type":12,"marks":6089,"text":6090},"f8808d7f1aa8",[]," Over the next eighteen months, Rauschenberg was constantly busy with new projects as well as with his 1976 retrospective at the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C., with its attendant questions about all phases of his life and career—an apt period for him to consider Ludington’s query, “I am wondering many things about you, how you feel about your life, whether you have realized and attained as you had wished, any regrets—or whether you ever allow yourself the luxury of looking back?” Shortly before the retrospective opened, Rauschenberg sent her a postcard that contains, perhaps, an inadvertent response:",[6092],{"_key":6085,"_type":474,"text":6093},[6094],{"_key":6095,"_type":8,"children":6096,"markDefs":6101,"style":16},"bd96c1ce7c46",[6097],{"_key":6098,"_type":12,"marks":6099,"text":6100},"ae7828ddcfb9",[],"Pat Pearman Ludington to Rauschenberg, April 28, 1974, Ludington Family Collection.",[],{"_key":6103,"_type":8,"children":6104,"markDefs":6125,"style":1652},"afec372acdfc",[6105,6110,6114,6118,6121],{"_key":6106,"_type":12,"marks":6107,"text":6109},"a27e7ae3f159",[6108,130],"9a4db04c36b0","Want to say hello + ask a favor. All kinds of terrible works of mine are showing up as money + threats. Not suggesting a possibility of either with you and your lovely family but would you ",{"_key":6111,"_type":12,"marks":6112,"text":6113},"c444f6548a5f",[300,6108,130],"please tear up",{"_key":6115,"_type":12,"marks":6116,"text":6117},"35d03b60adfd",[6108,130]," that awful ",{"_key":6119,"_type":12,"marks":6120,"text":5026},"89f3ebbfa6b2",[300,6108,130],{"_key":6122,"_type":12,"marks":6123,"text":6124},"60efff1d6017",[6108,130]," for me I’ll give you something else.",[6126],{"_key":6108,"_type":474,"text":6127},[6128],{"_key":6129,"_type":8,"children":6130,"markDefs":6135,"style":16},"87d7bc0b3fcb",[6131],{"_key":6132,"_type":12,"marks":6133,"text":6134},"311f4f8de0c1",[],"Rauschenberg to Pat Ludington, postcard, postmarked Oct. 15, 1976, Ludington Family Collection. The last line notwithstanding, Rauschenberg did not give the Ludingtons any additional artworks.",[],{"_key":6137,"_type":8,"children":6138,"markDefs":6151,"style":16},"cf32e876a0aa",[6139,6142,6146],{"_key":6140,"_type":12,"marks":6141,"text":5026},"86e698c0afea",[114,130],{"_key":6143,"_type":12,"marks":6144,"text":6145},"ed743e327f25",[130]," survived—it had already been framed by the family. ",{"_key":6147,"_type":12,"marks":6148,"text":6150},"44651e62d1d0",[6149,130],"fd969eaf9d88","Instead, two other works were destroyed, although it is unknown whether this was at Rauschenberg’s request.",[6152],{"_key":6149,"_type":474,"text":6153},[6154],{"_key":6155,"_type":8,"children":6156,"markDefs":6168,"style":16},"5d43f7e0f0ef",[6157,6161,6164],{"_key":6158,"_type":12,"marks":6159,"text":6160},"5898663ee5d8",[],"Harley Ludington made a list of the works by Rauschenberg in his wife’s possession and indicated two (“Picnic—Pat on blanket on ground” and “Dish Wash Pat at kit sink”) that they had destroyed after a 1975 visit with the artist in Captiva, Fla. ",{"_key":6162,"_type":12,"marks":6163,"text":5026},"6c3ae5b786ba",[114],{"_key":6165,"_type":12,"marks":6166,"text":6167},"65b64229b5fb",[],", framed in “pecky fir,” was spared, as were the six drawings of nudes and the large painted screen. The list (Ludington Family Collection) is undated and may have been made after Pat’s death in 1978. The year after visiting Rauschenberg in Captiva, the Ludingtons purchased property on the island and built a house there. After Pat’s death, Harley moved there permanently, eventually remarried, and saw Rauschenberg socially from time to time. Biographical timeline provided by Link Pearman Ludington in an email to the author, June 16, 2023.",[],{"_key":6170,"_type":8,"children":6171,"markDefs":6201,"style":16},"cb66f50170e7",[6172,6176,6181,6185,6188,6192,6197],{"_key":6173,"_type":12,"marks":6174,"text":6175},"479bbd7cac1b",[],"Ludington’s extended question to her old friend—“are [we] the sum total of every single moment of our lives … ",{"_key":6177,"_type":12,"marks":6178,"text":6180},"a9bdabc648cf",[6179],"2cb038f7542a","or have there been lots of moments and hours which could have just as well been left out”—is at the heart of my attempt to reconstruct a more historically accurate account of Rauschenberg’s early years.",{"_key":6182,"_type":12,"marks":6183,"text":6184},"79c8638ddbc4",[]," The artist shaped his identity in the tension of these two possibilities, and in this regard, his request to Ludington is not surprising: Artists often destroy work, especially their early efforts. In Rauschenberg’s case, his attempt to suppress ",{"_key":6186,"_type":12,"marks":6187,"text":5026},"c18e51cc01ba",[114],{"_key":6189,"_type":12,"marks":6190,"text":6191},"6488e7aff566",[]," may speak to his need to preserve an artistic identity that was years in the making, one that might be described as an act of self-invention inseparable from the art he had made. ",{"_key":6193,"_type":12,"marks":6194,"text":6196},"21dec37504fe",[6195],"e895d82b0c1a","As he explained to Calvin Tomkins, “I tend to like things that are not supported by historical fact. To this day, that’s the element I find most fulfilling in my work.”",{"_key":6198,"_type":12,"marks":6199,"text":6200},"cdf863762bf8",[]," When the artist’s death in 2008 brought his body of work to a close, a different story could begin to emerge—one that no longer had to depend on Rauschenberg’s efforts to shape it into the life of the artist he wanted to be. While the results may not possess the arc of a carefully spun narrative—or that of a tall tale—the glimpses they offer of a young man finding his way to art nonetheless provide a compelling, and complicated, portrait.",[6202,6211],{"_key":6179,"_type":474,"text":6203},[6204],{"_key":6205,"_type":8,"children":6206,"markDefs":6210,"style":16},"48a78b77a4a5",[6207],{"_key":6208,"_type":12,"marks":6209,"text":6100},"d88d7e9f22c1",[],[],{"_key":6195,"_type":474,"text":6212},[6213],{"_key":6214,"_type":8,"children":6215,"markDefs":6220,"style":16},"fefca24480d7",[6216],{"_key":6217,"_type":12,"marks":6218,"text":6219},"e97cc1d805fb",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Tomkins, “Rauschenberg–BIO,” n.d., p. 3, verso.",[],[6222],{"_key":6223,"_type":1738,"alt":6224,"asset":6225,"caption":6228},"e486d408e706","A pregnant woman in a striped dress relaxes against a tree trunk, reaching up towards a hollow in the tree while surrounded by greenery.",{"_type":1741,"asset":6226},{"_ref":6227,"_type":53},"image-671bf708810deb60e39487b8cb7409a333e4a2e8-2147x2261-jpg",[6229],{"_key":6230,"_type":8,"children":6231,"markDefs":6236,"style":16},"15e985ae5038",[6232],{"_key":6233,"_type":12,"marks":6234,"text":6235},"ec6e6a1f605d",[],"Fig. 11. Susan Weil in Central Park, New York, 1951. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[],[6238],{"_key":6239,"_type":8,"children":6240,"markDefs":6250,"style":16},"4b64434ffc30",[6241,6245,6247],{"_key":6242,"_type":12,"marks":6243,"text":6244},"59476dcdc0e4",[],"Catherine Craft, “Looking Back: Rauschenberg Before Black Mountain College,” ",{"_key":112,"_type":12,"marks":6246,"text":115},[114],{"_key":117,"_type":12,"marks":6248,"text":6249},[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Flooking-back.",[],[6252],{"_key":6253,"_type":8,"children":6254,"markDefs":6259,"style":16},"d9866df37a4d",[6255],{"_key":6256,"_type":12,"marks":6257,"text":6258},"210606b18a79",[],"Pat Pearman Ludington to Rauschenberg, April 28, 1974, Ludington Family Collection. The letter (which survives only as a carbon copy; it is unknown whether it was sent or received) is dated “Sunday afternoon, April 29?, 1974.” The question mark is in the original; April 29 fell on a Monday in 1974.",[],"default",[6262],{"_key":6263,"_type":8,"children":6264,"markDefs":6273,"style":16},"5c11aba1b261",[6265,6269],{"_key":6266,"_type":12,"marks":6267,"text":6268},"c59b9f63c44c",[],"Author’s Note: ",{"_key":6270,"_type":12,"marks":6271,"text":6272},"5daaa6fe1279",[114],"In 2022, at the invitation of Helen Harrison, I gave the first public presentation of this material in a talk at the Pollock-­Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, N.Y. The following year, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation invited me to write on the topic for the first volume of the artist’s catalogue raisonné, and I completed the initial version of this essay in January 2024. I have been aided inestimably in my work by many individuals and institutions. Katie Robinson Edwards and Mark L. Smith offered their memories of Arthur Frakes, and Link Ludington generously shared recollections, memorabilia, and artwork related to Rauschenberg’s friendship with his mother, Pat Pearman Ludington. Geraldine Aramanda and her successor, Lisa Barkley, at the Menil Archives, The Menil Collection, Houston, hosted my first and all my subsequent viewings of the Frakes correspondence and ephemera over the past decade. Early on, André B. Sobocinski provided important assistance with U.S. Navy medical history. I am extremely grateful to the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and its staff, including Julia Blaut, Gina Guy, Helen Hsu, Francine Snyder and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Archives staff, and David White, along with Eric Banks, Susan Davidson, Jackie Foster, Talia Shiroma, and the contributing authors to the Rauschenberg catalogue raisonné project. I also appreciate the support and encouragement of my colleagues at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas. Lastly, Lewis Kachur has been a knowledgeable and patient reader, and so much more.",[],[6275,6283],{"_key":6276,"_type":8,"children":6277,"markDefs":6282,"style":16},"9adb242a12c2",[6278],{"_key":6279,"_type":12,"marks":6280,"text":6281},"9475fd8c0168",[],"Rauschenberg Before",[],{"_key":6284,"_type":8,"children":6285,"markDefs":6289,"style":16},"fe597a38f130",[6286],{"_key":6279,"_type":12,"marks":6287,"text":6288},[],"Black Mountain College",[],[6291],{"_key":6276,"_type":8,"children":6292,"markDefs":6296,"style":16},[6293],{"_key":6279,"_type":12,"marks":6294,"text":6295},[],"Looking Back",[],[6298,6304],{"_key":6276,"_type":8,"children":6299,"markDefs":6303,"style":16},[6300],{"_key":6279,"_type":12,"marks":6301,"text":6302},[],"Looking Back: Rauschenberg Before",[],{"_key":6284,"_type":8,"children":6305,"markDefs":6308,"style":16},[6306],{"_key":6279,"_type":12,"marks":6307,"text":6288},[],[],{"_type":424,"current":6310},"looking-back",{"_createdAt":6312,"_id":6313,"_rev":6314,"_system":6315,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":6318,"author":6319,"authorBio":6320,"body":6332,"citeAs":7528,"essayType":6260,"notes":7548,"paragraphStyle":122,"subtitle":7564,"title":7580,"tocPreviewTitle":7589,"uid":7606},"2026-08-05T17:06:30Z","b555dd93-6f31-4f1b-913b-d41c425bf17a","8Ym2rPJmQb7vha4NiGkpHZ",{"base":6316},{"id":6313,"rev":6317},"ipy1UE5T7csP8sVrOblR47","2026-10-22T16:54:26Z","Terry Winters",[6321],{"_key":6322,"_type":8,"children":6323,"markDefs":6331,"style":16},"e1a809f562b8",[6324,6327],{"_key":6325,"_type":12,"marks":6326,"text":6319},"de4fefed902e",[96],{"_key":6328,"_type":12,"marks":6329,"text":6330},"dbb2c1f6a308",[]," lives and works in New York City and Columbia County, New York. Since his first exhibition at Sonnabend Gallery in 1982, his work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at museums across the United States and Europe. Most recently, in 2026, the Menil Collection, Houston, organized a survey of his works on paper.",[],[6333,6632,7049,7405],{"_key":6334,"_type":1642,"content":6335,"images":6605},"14e2ef12205e",[6336,6367,6375,6416,6424,6496,6558,6573],{"_key":6337,"_type":8,"children":6338,"markDefs":6352,"style":16},"fec5f38c13e1",[6339,6343,6348],{"_key":6340,"_type":12,"marks":6341,"text":6342},"8d19c6323c78",[130],"This is the beginning. Robert Rauschenberg’s book of Genesis. His foundational text and establishing document. ",{"_key":6344,"_type":12,"marks":6345,"text":6347},"c3c210af23bd",[6346,130],"b8423b421a1c","Unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and this inaugural work graphically stages “light borne in darkness.”",{"_key":6349,"_type":12,"marks":6350,"text":6351},"967f66124a9e",[130]," Rauschenberg sees the light in terms of time and materials and demonstrates the physical process of moving from inky blackness toward a bright, imaginary destination. The conclusion needs to be drawn.",[6353],{"_key":6346,"_type":474,"text":6354},[6355],{"_key":6356,"_type":8,"children":6357,"markDefs":6366,"style":16},"1f88fcc81a9a",[6358,6362],{"_key":6359,"_type":12,"marks":6360,"text":6361},"f0a1f1276ff5",[114],"Light Borne in Darkness ",{"_key":6363,"_type":12,"marks":6364,"text":6365},"4197b64cc26f",[],"is the title of a cyanotype made by Rauschenberg and Susan Weil (ca. 1951; RRF 51.E007).",[],{"_key":6368,"_type":8,"children":6369,"markDefs":6374,"style":16},"84cb4e0ab8e0",[6370],{"_key":6371,"_type":12,"marks":6372,"text":6373},"d4c53108e994",[],"The work itself consists of fourteen woodcuts on paper. The prints are stapled together and partially adhered to a paperboard support. Along the top, they are bound with twine. The enigmatic title is written in pencil on a cover sheet of tracing paper, and a ghostly image of the first print, visible through the translucent layer, is a component of the composition. All fourteen prints were made from a single woodblock, into which Rauschenberg made a succession of cuts, adding one more or less straight line across the block at each stage. Progressive proofs were pulled, producing a visual record of each separate printing.",[],{"_key":6376,"_type":8,"children":6377,"markDefs":6399,"style":16},"3569f13b6410",[6378,6382,6386,6390,6394],{"_key":6379,"_type":12,"marks":6380,"text":6381},"de5bc10d305e",[114],"THIS IS THE FIRST HALF OF A PRINT DESIGNED TO EXIST IN PASSING TIME ",{"_key":6383,"_type":12,"marks":6384,"text":6385},"5e2801ef92f7",[],"(ca. 1951–52; ",{"_key":6387,"_type":12,"marks":6388,"text":1510},"87060ff92bd6",[6389],"dbf1804d8318",{"_key":6391,"_type":12,"marks":6392,"text":6393},"597bbf085227",[],") is essentially an album of trial proofs—in this case, of monoprints. In printing, impressions are generally taken to track the progress of a work and the condition of the matrix. “Proof” here is used in the sense of knowing if something is true or correct. Usually, trial proofs are steps along the way to the final state of a plate or block. For this piece, however, each cut is documented. Each page shows incremental changes, made progressively. Discrete moments. Short intervals in passing time. Physical parts of a larger, imaginary whole, the prints constitute the first half of what one envisions will eventually become a fully cut block. The work is a disappearing act, and in an ideal world, the sequence would end in a total blank. An empty sheet. But a completely cut and printed woodblock would reveal the raised edges from the application of the chisel or knife. Indications of the working process, with a resulting pattern of ridges and marks. A roughened field. Rauschenberg is operating between the actual and the virtual, and he leaves us at the midpoint. ",{"_key":6395,"_type":12,"marks":6396,"text":6398},"c3a4c80630c2",[6397],"306c800e485c","The true location, perhaps, of the famous gap between art and life.",[6400,6415],{"_key":6397,"_type":474,"text":6401},[6402],{"_key":6403,"_type":8,"children":6404,"markDefs":6414,"style":16},"4aff674ea258",[6405,6408,6411],{"_key":6406,"_type":12,"marks":6407,"text":5907},"07edbe0cdc00",[],{"_key":6409,"_type":12,"marks":6410,"text":5911},"fa5ea64d9d76",[114],{"_key":6412,"_type":12,"marks":6413,"text":5915},"ed4b295ee576",[],[],{"_key":6389,"_type":239,"crNo":1520},{"_key":6417,"_type":8,"children":6418,"markDefs":6423,"style":16},"5e21d511fda3",[6419],{"_key":6420,"_type":12,"marks":6421,"text":6422},"d29ce98b98f3",[],"The artwork itself was made at Black Mountain College, which may account for its art-school feeling. Maybe it was the result of a class exercise or assignment, using the supplies on hand in the printshop. It renders an oversize and primitive animation. Almost cinematic. Like a flip-book. Or more like a calendar, another marker and measure of time. In fact, earlier inscriptions on the title page read, first, “CALENDAR OF,” then “CALENDAR PRINT.” At least as far as can be gathered from the remaining evidence of erased text on the title page. And the configuration of the work seems to have been taken from the wall calendars typical of the time. One of those popular, page-turning, month-by-month household items, usually accompanied by a photograph or an illustration. I suspect an actual calendar provided the physical dimensions. How else to explain the odd format? And the number of pages: Do they represent two weeks, half of an imaginary calendar month? So much of Rauschenberg’s work is based on found objects. Or determined by already existing material—taken, as evidence, from “real life.”",[],{"_key":6425,"_type":8,"children":6426,"markDefs":6463,"style":16},"c9e31e561751",[6427,6431,6436,6440,6444,6448,6452,6456,6459],{"_key":6428,"_type":12,"marks":6429,"text":6430},"55663f2d944e",[],"Rauschenberg remembers having just such a childhood object. ",{"_key":6432,"_type":12,"marks":6433,"text":6435},"e9cee802eb0d",[6434],"0100822b7eb4","A calendar with a reproduction of George Frederic Watts’s painting ",{"_key":6437,"_type":12,"marks":6438,"text":6439},"fa43db273b7d",[114,6434],"Hope",{"_key":6441,"_type":12,"marks":6442,"text":6443},"ee2c6660db84",[6434]," (1886).",{"_key":6445,"_type":12,"marks":6446,"text":6447},"f222ec5694e2",[]," That, he recalls, and a deck of playing cards with images of Thomas Gainsborough’s ",{"_key":6449,"_type":12,"marks":6450,"text":6451},"5b722aab0f0c",[114],"Blue Boy",{"_key":6453,"_type":12,"marks":6454,"text":6455},"5112038032da",[]," (ca. 1770) and Thomas Lawrence’s ",{"_key":6457,"_type":12,"marks":6458,"text":3766},"08c575dfcf6d",[114],{"_key":6460,"_type":12,"marks":6461,"text":6462},"817cea3a9c37",[],"(1794) on the back were the only “artworks” in the family home.",[6464],{"_key":6434,"_type":474,"text":6465},[6466],{"_key":6467,"_type":8,"children":6468,"markDefs":6495,"style":16},"3c95a078f94c",[6469,6473,6476,6480,6484,6488,6491],{"_key":6470,"_type":12,"marks":6471,"text":6472},"6820160e5cc3",[],"“The only painting I knew (and I didn’t know it was ‘a painting’ until much later) was ",{"_key":6474,"_type":12,"marks":6475,"text":6439},"e9f406122a32",[114],{"_key":6477,"_type":12,"marks":6478,"text":6479},"753412e27da9",[],"—the woman sitting on a globe with her head in one of those bandage-nooses and I think a lyre? and the water lapping up around her? that green you only get in reproductions!” Rauschenberg, quoted in James Schuyler, “Is Today’s Artist With or Against the Past?,” ",{"_key":6481,"_type":12,"marks":6482,"text":6483},"bc9ea5f83b98",[114],"Artnews",{"_key":6485,"_type":12,"marks":6486,"text":6487},"e533ecbc5c7c",[]," 57, no. 4 (Summer 1958), p. 56. One of the two versions of ",{"_key":6489,"_type":12,"marks":6490,"text":6439},"33da992ac125",[114],{"_key":6492,"_type":12,"marks":6493,"text":6494},"ccfdba9ff2ae",[]," painted in 1886 is now in Tate’s collection (N01640).",[],{"_key":6497,"_type":8,"children":6498,"markDefs":6542,"style":16},"be27d3b86d71",[6499,6503,6507,6511,6516,6519,6522,6526,6530,6534,6538],{"_key":6500,"_type":12,"marks":6501,"text":6502},"27958a083674",[],"The final, handwritten title, ",{"_key":6504,"_type":12,"marks":6505,"text":6506},"7a62b61e3bb5",[114],"THIS IS THE FIRST \u002F HALF OF A PRINT \u002F DESIGNED TO EXIST \u002F IN PASSING TIME",{"_key":6508,"_type":12,"marks":6509,"text":6510},"4b7fdf92c846",[],", is a perfect, radical statement. It positions this handmade object as conceptual folk art of a sort, delivered in Rauschenberg’s characteristic block lettering. The wording also serves as an introduction to his overall program and motivations. Language is a shaping force for Rauschenberg. It determines the thematic parameters of each body of work, amplifying possible meanings and helping to deliver his essentially poetic vision. His titles are texts, organizing principles, and the work is both visual and linguistic from the outset. An index of signs and subjects. ",{"_key":6512,"_type":12,"marks":6513,"text":6515},"a9e126547375",[6514],"0e09a439472c","Rauschenberg described his 1953 ",{"_key":6517,"_type":12,"marks":6518,"text":334},"9e4bd8912b2b",[114,6514],{"_key":6520,"_type":12,"marks":6521,"text":338},"2560f09cb216",[6514],{"_key":6523,"_type":12,"marks":6524,"text":343},"a43ea58c246f",[6514,6525],"02c2bfabc6d2",{"_key":6527,"_type":12,"marks":6528,"text":6529},"c4e742633a12",[6514],") as “poetry,” a positive spin on the typical anti-art and Oedipal readings.",{"_key":6531,"_type":12,"marks":6532,"text":6533},"2ad7b3d22e2f",[]," That same elegant, poetic intention seems to drive him toward an event-filled emptiness. A Zen-like desire for clarity and lightness. This is the spiritual underpinning of ",{"_key":6535,"_type":12,"marks":6536,"text":6537},"43bb78e13c9b",[114],"IN PASSING TIME",{"_key":6539,"_type":12,"marks":6540,"text":6541},"1889723e442e",[],"—to always be at the beginning. A perpetual fresh start. From one situation to another. To trace and erase. Drawing, for Rauschenberg, is always a transfer—an actual-size transcription of existing material. De Kooning, degree zero.",[6543,6557],{"_key":6514,"_type":474,"text":6544},[6545],{"_key":6546,"_type":8,"children":6547,"markDefs":6556,"style":16},"1e25d05da485",[6548,6552],{"_key":6549,"_type":12,"marks":6550,"text":6551},"76e64e5f7511",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg: Man at Work",{"_key":6553,"_type":12,"marks":6554,"text":6555},"9c78333a347f",[],", directed by Chris Granlund (BBC\u002FRM Arts with Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1997), VHS video, at 30:40.",[],{"_key":6525,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":6559,"_type":8,"children":6560,"markDefs":6572,"style":16},"abeaf6980d82",[6561,6565,6568],{"_key":6562,"_type":12,"marks":6563,"text":6564},"1e14c303b5a2",[],"And the extent to which this simple, calendar-like object foretells Rauschenberg’s artistic approach is remarkable. Calendars are tools that measure astronomical movement. They track the day (one rotation of the earth on its axis), the month (one revolution of the moon around the earth), and the year (one revolution of the earth around the sun). The movement of ",{"_key":6566,"_type":12,"marks":6567,"text":6537},"167d6e9cc487",[114],{"_key":6569,"_type":12,"marks":6570,"text":6571},"5a441f71cc64",[],", from darkness to light, tracks the enlightenment Rauschenberg would seek through labor and devotion. Be fruitful and multiply. Truly. And the numerous artworks that would follow over the next several years record that insightful development, both aesthetically and personally. An exploration of vital themes takes place: substance and color; time and space; sex and spirit. These issues pervade Rauschenberg’s early years. And they are made manifest by way of his intuitive approach and direct engagement with object making. He has the visual equivalent of perfect pitch. Seemingly random, every mark is precise in its gesture, touch, and location. Rauschenberg has an uncanny capacity for the right move, in his choice of materials and the exacting architecture of his compositions. Each body of work establishes a conceptual framework to be explored as felt experience. And it all starts here, once upon a time. A story of foundations, influences, and Rauschenberg’s inexplicable and incandescent originality.",[],{"_key":6574,"_type":8,"children":6575,"markDefs":6603,"style":16},"f4390a7f5711",[6576,6580,6583,6587,6591,6595,6599],{"_key":6577,"_type":12,"marks":6578,"text":6579},"6308702cb98b",[],"That this work is a print is significant. Printmaking plays an important role in Rauschenberg’s production. It is always on an equal footing with painting and sculpture, without any sense of hierarchy among them. That is the case here, especially when we view ",{"_key":6581,"_type":12,"marks":6582,"text":6537},"5b6a558332ce",[114],{"_key":6584,"_type":12,"marks":6585,"text":6586},"4e5b4fa7a77e",[]," in conjunction with another early project, ",{"_key":6588,"_type":12,"marks":6589,"text":6590},"ff76beab0529",[114],"Automobile Tire Print ",{"_key":6592,"_type":12,"marks":6593,"text":6594},"5c18d27c89ff",[],"(1953; ",{"_key":6596,"_type":12,"marks":6597,"text":1479},"7966d85bc10b",[6598],"c43a1751ff04",{"_key":6600,"_type":12,"marks":6601,"text":6602},"9ab44abe630f",[],"), a nearly twenty-four-foot-long paper scroll impressed with black paint by John Cage’s Ford Model A. Seen together, the two works are a treatise on time: first, as discrete moments over fourteen bound pages; second, as a continuous flow across twenty sheets of paper. The book and the scroll are temporal models and spatial objects for the distribution of information—an issue of great import in all of Rauschenberg’s work. Printing delivers data, and the organization of documents across printed or painted surfaces is fundamental to Rauschenberg’s project. Leo Steinberg’s celebrated flatbed picture plane is, after all, a term borrowed from the flatbed printing press. And that mindset, as well as message, is determined by the medium.",[6604],{"_key":6598,"_type":239,"crNo":1517},[6606],{"_key":6607,"_type":1738,"alt":6608,"asset":6609,"caption":6612},"01b6f6899805","A worn, brown paper booklet with a translucent cover page featuring handwritten text that reads, \"THIS IS THE FIRST HALF OF A PRINT DESIGNED TO EXIST IN PASSING TIME.",{"_type":1741,"asset":6610},{"_ref":6611,"_type":53},"image-4c93c32e6ad72e40619322500325c9150d49ed26-1600x2140-jpg",[6613],{"_key":6614,"_type":8,"children":6615,"markDefs":6630,"style":16},"bd25bb44334d",[6616,6620,6623,6626],{"_key":6617,"_type":12,"marks":6618,"text":1510},"df1d21c6e573",[6619],"3cdb5f3b936d",{"_key":6621,"_type":12,"marks":6622,"text":793},"aff82a504e28",[],{"_key":6624,"_type":12,"marks":6625,"text":1501},"e50b1596b6f6",[114],{"_key":6627,"_type":12,"marks":6628,"text":6629},"bc6b26af0914",[],", ca. 1951–52. Fourteen woodcuts and transparent paper with pencil, mounted on paperboard with twine and staples; overall 12 × 9 × ⅜ in. (30.6 × 22.9 × 0.8 cm), each sheet 12 × 9 in. (30.6 × 22.9 cm). Robert Rauschen­berg Foundation, New York",[6631],{"_key":6619,"_type":239,"crNo":1520},{"_key":6633,"_type":1642,"content":6634,"images":7033},"2b1529dd0eb5",[6635,6661,6811,6906],{"_key":6636,"_type":8,"children":6637,"markDefs":6651,"style":16},"5908f67ea9ff",[6638,6642,6647],{"_key":6639,"_type":12,"marks":6640,"text":6641},"f6440b6d6b92",[],"In declaring this first print project “designed,” Rauschenberg signals the legacy of the Bauhaus at Black Mountain and the impact of Josef Albers, who played a profound role in determining the direction his student’s work would take. Or not take. Rauschenberg went to Black Mountain seeking Albers’s discipline. And he was looking especially for a framework to structure his energy, a way to channel his wilder instincts. At that point, his approach was largely sensuous; he was painting directly with his hands, finding even the use of brushes too distancing. Rauschenberg was making a mess, and he wanted the management skills Albers seemed to offer. His systems thinking, his guidance. Rauschenberg clearly benefited from Black Mountain and Albers’s instruction, but there was also friction. Albers wasn’t easy to talk to, and Rauschenberg was intimidated; he found his teacher’s criticism both excruciating and devastating. ",{"_key":6643,"_type":12,"marks":6644,"text":6646},"3e704602d8b9",[6645],"481edbf2439e","Still, Rauschenberg considered Albers the most important teacher he ever had.",{"_key":6648,"_type":12,"marks":6649,"text":6650},"992aa89600eb",[]," A touchstone in his development.",[6652],{"_key":6645,"_type":474,"text":6653},[6654],{"_key":6655,"_type":8,"children":6656,"markDefs":6660,"style":16},"6237a0d13728",[6657],{"_key":6658,"_type":12,"marks":6659,"text":551},"3b4369caf05b",[],[],{"_key":6662,"_type":8,"children":6663,"markDefs":6748,"style":16},"9fd0b7edf491",[6664,6669,6673,6677,6681,6684,6688,6691,6695,6700,6704,6707,6711,6714,6718,6721,6725,6728,6732,6735,6739,6744],{"_key":6665,"_type":12,"marks":6666,"text":6668},"0b4620f12ca4",[6667],"875beb16ad3d","Rauschenberg shared Albers’s avoidance of emotional expression and admired his straightforward presentation of facts.",{"_key":6670,"_type":12,"marks":6671,"text":6672},"9852e4575f8f",[]," Albers’s formal grammar, use of photographic documentation, symmetrical composition, and truth to materials all resonated with and mattered to Rauschenberg. What he resisted was his teacher’s strict, rules-based approach, and especially Albers’s controlling methods as applied to color. Why should one want to employ red to intensify green? That notion offended Rauschenberg. His feeling was that each color was ",{"_key":6674,"_type":12,"marks":6675,"text":6676},"8fde3d58ee44",[114],"itself",{"_key":6678,"_type":12,"marks":6679,"text":6680},"47e75d6ccca0",[],", a sensibility evidenced by his early work exclusively in monochromes. Initially, he limited his use of color to blacks and whites. Even producing bodies of work that were either all black or all white, to avoid any decisions involving color. It’s important to know that the ",{"_key":6682,"_type":12,"marks":6683,"text":250},"f1797ceec324",[114],{"_key":6685,"_type":12,"marks":6686,"text":6687},"1c63b3632b42",[]," and the ",{"_key":6689,"_type":12,"marks":6690,"text":843},"9187ba3dcee0",[114],{"_key":6692,"_type":12,"marks":6693,"text":6694},"c5da52dc5f95",[]," were done at nearly the same time. ",{"_key":6696,"_type":12,"marks":6697,"text":6699},"418ba2f74a21",[6698],"80e330bab0c6","Walter Hopps spoke of them as two faces of the moon.",{"_key":6701,"_type":12,"marks":6702,"text":6703},"49517d7345ba",[]," The flatly painted, uninflected ",{"_key":6705,"_type":12,"marks":6706,"text":250},"50cc618053ba",[114],{"_key":6708,"_type":12,"marks":6709,"text":6710},"f87850ec3344",[]," are in direct contrast to the variegated surfaces of the ",{"_key":6712,"_type":12,"marks":6713,"text":843},"026d84e70ea6",[114],{"_key":6715,"_type":12,"marks":6716,"text":6717},"26cf92c1f459",[],". That analogy seems right: Those pictures have a strange lunar quality, as do the ",{"_key":6719,"_type":12,"marks":6720,"text":200},"c12caded5d69",[114],{"_key":6722,"_type":12,"marks":6723,"text":6724},"084c06776f2c",[]," works of 1951, with their white orbs and crescents. Floral and nocturnal evidence. Near and far, as phases of matter. The two groups of paintings exist together, like the first physical pages and the phantom future pages of ",{"_key":6726,"_type":12,"marks":6727,"text":6537},"97723cad7374",[114],{"_key":6729,"_type":12,"marks":6730,"text":6731},"6845243753d8",[],". It was a couple of years before Rauschenberg worked his way forward to the ",{"_key":6733,"_type":12,"marks":6734,"text":1586},"3122194894dd",[114],{"_key":6736,"_type":12,"marks":6737,"text":6738},"5c2e7a63fe83",[],", eventually developing his own productive sensibility. Alternatively, he used the colored substance of a material itself as both object and subject. Dirt, gold, clay, wood, stone. Their colors are determined by the specific wavelengths of light absorbed and reflected by their surfaces, and their meanings are affected by their status and function. Rauschenberg rejected chromatic manipulation in favor of the material and immediate emotional presence of color. Perhaps his focus on the monochrome was triggered by his exposure to Albers’s color-theory class. ",{"_key":6740,"_type":12,"marks":6741,"text":6743},"6c49b0f2d473",[6742],"055ecba88572","Rauschenberg’s very own, traumatic “interaction of color.”",{"_key":6745,"_type":12,"marks":6746,"text":6747},"a7c6de6713b6",[]," Maybe that experience triggered his first black monochrome.",[6749,6766,6790],{"_key":6667,"_type":474,"text":6750},[6751],{"_key":6752,"_type":8,"children":6753,"markDefs":6765,"style":16},"dbf21d3f2ab2",[6754,6758,6761],{"_key":6755,"_type":12,"marks":6756,"text":6757},"1ae194adeee3",[],"“I’m still learning what he taught me, because what he taught had to do with the entire visual world. He didn’t teach me how to ‘do art.” … When he taught watercolor, for example, he taught the specific properties of water color [",{"_key":6759,"_type":12,"marks":6760,"text":4747},"25871925c922",[114],{"_key":6762,"_type":12,"marks":6763,"text":6764},"2ac16cf91d43",[],"]—not how to make a good water color picture.” Ibid.",[],{"_key":6698,"_type":474,"text":6767},[6768],{"_key":6769,"_type":8,"children":6770,"markDefs":6789,"style":16},"6fb373cb7e98",[6771,6775,6778,6782,6785],{"_key":6772,"_type":12,"marks":6773,"text":6774},"b20ed5794c54",[],"“If Rauschenberg is going to do ",{"_key":6776,"_type":12,"marks":6777,"text":250},"257e61d99d67",[114],{"_key":6779,"_type":12,"marks":6780,"text":6781},"66535ac89a8d",[],", he’s then going to do ",{"_key":6783,"_type":12,"marks":6784,"text":843},"45840d7d9cfe",[114],{"_key":6786,"_type":12,"marks":6787,"text":6788},"abf476808baa",[],". … This one is beautiful with its articulated surface and its glossy black nature. It’s the other side of the moon from the whites, but they’re related.” Walter Hopps, video interview of Rauschenberg by David A. Ross, Hopps, Gary Garrels, and Peter Samis, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, May 6, 1999, transcript, p. 37, SFMOMA Archives.",[],{"_key":6742,"_type":474,"text":6791},[6792],{"_key":6793,"_type":8,"children":6794,"markDefs":6810,"style":16},"777cc35c1ab3",[6795,6799,6803,6807],{"_key":6796,"_type":12,"marks":6797,"text":6798},"66517b2fd12f",[],"Josef Albers, ",{"_key":6800,"_type":12,"marks":6801,"text":6802},"7fc1a8ba938b",[114],"Interaction of Color",{"_key":6804,"_type":12,"marks":6805,"text":6806},"8f0308a8bb6e",[]," (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1963)",{"_key":6808,"_type":12,"marks":6809,"text":236},"ac0e6b5db229",[114],[],{"_key":6812,"_type":8,"children":6813,"markDefs":6854,"style":16},"197a02d8f6e7",[6814,6817,6820,6824,6827,6831,6836,6840,6845,6849],{"_key":6815,"_type":12,"marks":6816,"text":5736},"926468d2ae6d",[],{"_key":6818,"_type":12,"marks":6819,"text":6537},"d95d01f744b5",[114],{"_key":6821,"_type":12,"marks":6822,"text":6823},"85e6ba698182",[],", these concerns are expressed through the dense, dark value of the woodblock and its neutral newsprint ground. It has an everyday, ordinary feeling. Rauschenberg’s chromophobia makes this also the unofficial start of the ",{"_key":6825,"_type":12,"marks":6826,"text":843},"51e6c9481a7e",[114],{"_key":6828,"_type":12,"marks":6829,"text":6830},"4749e85c9fa4",[],", where actual newspapers would be used to produce a textured support. ",{"_key":6832,"_type":12,"marks":6833,"text":6835},"b3837ae3d32a",[6834],"e374947e691f","And provide a “gray map of words” as an entry point and guide for his application of paint.",{"_key":6837,"_type":12,"marks":6838,"text":6839},"c5c82b1cb403",[]," A predetermined scaffold, giving off the suggestion of Depression-era farmhouses, with their walls covered in newspapers as improvised insulation. ",{"_key":6841,"_type":12,"marks":6842,"text":6844},"0322f7e3cd6a",[6843],"873e430a0ab1","Echoes of Walker Evans (fig. 1), as the consideration here was also economic.",{"_key":6846,"_type":12,"marks":6847,"text":6848},"df456a6daf4f",[]," Newspaper was a fast and cheap way to gain texture. And black and white were the least expensive paints. That is one reason they were popular with an entire generation of painters. As de Kooning once said, “I needed a lot of paint. … ",{"_key":6850,"_type":12,"marks":6851,"text":6853},"19018b6bfb33",[6852],"ad26fb9bbe2c","I could get a gallon of black paint and a gallon of white paint—and I could go to town.”",[6855,6871,6889],{"_key":6834,"_type":474,"text":6856},[6857],{"_key":6858,"_type":8,"children":6859,"markDefs":6870,"style":16},"59d6617e12d0",[6860,6864,6867],{"_key":6861,"_type":12,"marks":6862,"text":6863},"82754ea729ad",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in “How Important Is the Surface to Design?: Robert Rauschenberg; An Artist Explains,” ",{"_key":6865,"_type":12,"marks":6866,"text":1211},"de7d25a73608",[114],{"_key":6868,"_type":12,"marks":6869,"text":1215},"85c37a7db654",[],[],{"_key":6843,"_type":474,"text":6872},[6873],{"_key":6874,"_type":8,"children":6875,"markDefs":6888,"style":16},"6042f11e780e",[6876,6880,6884],{"_key":6877,"_type":12,"marks":6878,"text":6879},"87f62a6221a2",[],"James Boaden expands on the resonance of Evans and other Depression-era photographers in his essay “Black Painting (with Asheville Citizen),” ",{"_key":6881,"_type":12,"marks":6882,"text":6883},"bd7083412ca2",[114],"Art History",{"_key":6885,"_type":12,"marks":6886,"text":6887},"05170e03dde6",[]," 34, no. 1 (Feb. 2011), pp. 166–91.",[],{"_key":6852,"_type":474,"text":6890},[6891],{"_key":6892,"_type":8,"children":6893,"markDefs":6905,"style":16},"313c2e300619",[6894,6898,6901],{"_key":6895,"_type":12,"marks":6896,"text":6897},"dd0b81448a37",[],"Willem de Kooning, “Interview with Willem de Kooning,” by Harold Rosenberg, ",{"_key":6899,"_type":12,"marks":6900,"text":6483},"a1a3e9b3bfac",[114],{"_key":6902,"_type":12,"marks":6903,"text":6904},"96b3f130197e",[]," 71, no. 5 (Sept. 1972), p. 57.",[],{"_key":6907,"_type":8,"children":6908,"markDefs":6976,"style":16},"7b42995698f4",[6909,6913,6916,6920,6923,6927,6932,6935,6940,6944,6949,6952,6956,6960,6965,6969,6972],{"_key":6910,"_type":12,"marks":6911,"text":6912},"8c3c3556ce7d",[],"And the open space of that last hypothetical page of ",{"_key":6914,"_type":12,"marks":6915,"text":6537},"08eb2c386572",[114],{"_key":6917,"_type":12,"marks":6918,"text":6919},"6462b608b078",[]," anticipates the blank, colorless ",{"_key":6921,"_type":12,"marks":6922,"text":250},"87e0bef6b516",[114],{"_key":6924,"_type":12,"marks":6925,"text":6926},"16835e3c2d23",[],". ",{"_key":6928,"_type":12,"marks":6929,"text":6931},"fc9af3b66d6a",[6930],"b57c127209e1","The “airports for lights, shadows, and particles” that John Cage so admired.",{"_key":6933,"_type":12,"marks":6934,"text":793},"50a68a33993e",[],{"_key":6936,"_type":12,"marks":6937,"text":6939},"e67a07844f84",[6938],"81d1f6dcfd26","Rauschenberg called them “clocks,” capturing ambient light as the day passed.",{"_key":6941,"_type":12,"marks":6942,"text":6943},"2827f819935d",[]," The paintings demonstrate the impossibility of emptiness. Looking, like listening, happens in time, and stillness equals silence. It also suggests a sacred dimension: “1 white as 1 GOD.” ",{"_key":6945,"_type":12,"marks":6946,"text":6948},"1a7b178e075d",[6947],"c345f658e6a1","That was Rauschenberg’s formulation, speaking of the ",{"_key":6950,"_type":12,"marks":6951,"text":250},"10cbc85732d0",[114,6947],{"_key":6953,"_type":12,"marks":6954,"text":6955},"9c7a4dd73aac",[6947]," in a letter to Betty Parsons written after his first show at her gallery.",{"_key":6957,"_type":12,"marks":6958,"text":6959},"4f9070027288",[]," This is straight out of his religious upbringing. ",{"_key":6961,"_type":12,"marks":6962,"text":6964},"ef00264db868",[6963],"e01a5ebddafa","The Church of Christ teaches the unity of spirit, and that spirit is found in seven forms, detailed in the book of Ephesians: one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God.",{"_key":6966,"_type":12,"marks":6967,"text":6968},"80a7fae7fc24",[]," Seven is also the number of components Rauschenberg made to suggest the modular continuity of the ",{"_key":6970,"_type":12,"marks":6971,"text":250},"e9fe8149a925",[114],{"_key":6973,"_type":12,"marks":6974,"text":6975},"c3c2d7bcc385",[],"—a happy coincidence of divine and minimalist calculation. And another possible calendar reference, to the days of the week.",[6977,7003,7013,7023],{"_key":6930,"_type":474,"text":6978},[6979],{"_key":6980,"_type":8,"children":6981,"markDefs":7002,"style":16},"99d6327ff807",[6982,6986,6990,6994,6998],{"_key":6983,"_type":12,"marks":6984,"text":6985},"2b863e23ec67",[],"John Cage, “On Robert Rauschenberg, Artist, and His Work,” ",{"_key":6987,"_type":12,"marks":6988,"text":6989},"bf54f4116e6a",[114],"Metro",{"_key":6991,"_type":12,"marks":6992,"text":6993},"d0264e183d0a",[]," (Milan), no. 2 (May 1961), reprinted in ",{"_key":6995,"_type":12,"marks":6996,"text":6997},"00a8daf5865c",[114],"Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage",{"_key":6999,"_type":12,"marks":7000,"text":7001},"8c3fbcfbe361",[]," (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), p. 102.",[],{"_key":6938,"_type":474,"text":7004},[7005],{"_key":7006,"_type":8,"children":7007,"markDefs":7012,"style":16},"d2738e9f87ec",[7008],{"_key":7009,"_type":12,"marks":7010,"text":7011},"82d5b89c8ed7",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Ross, Hopps, Garrels, and Samis, May 6, 1999, p. 37.",[],{"_key":6947,"_type":474,"text":7014},[7015],{"_key":7016,"_type":8,"children":7017,"markDefs":7022,"style":16},"0876c3e4d488",[7018],{"_key":7019,"_type":12,"marks":7020,"text":7021},"43613ec595fd",[],"Rauschenberg to Betty Parsons, postmarked Oct. 18, 1951, Lawrence Alloway Papers, 1935–2003, series II.A, box 16, folder 4, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. See p. 250.",[],{"_key":6963,"_type":474,"text":7024},[7025],{"_key":7026,"_type":8,"children":7027,"markDefs":7032,"style":16},"d086de294ac2",[7028],{"_key":7029,"_type":12,"marks":7030,"text":7031},"f61e1ec6926f",[],"“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:4–6 (New Revised Standard Version).",[],[7034],{"_key":7035,"_type":1738,"alt":7036,"asset":7037,"caption":7040},"3f7ef812dfe6","A black and white photograph depicts a small, sparsely furnished room with walls covered in pasted newspaper clippings, featuring a tall, ornate mirror and a small table.",{"_type":1741,"asset":7038},{"_ref":7039,"_type":53},"image-3231300c8a9f0443d8956cff3fee64355b5c7818-2406x3481-jpg",[7041],{"_key":7042,"_type":8,"children":7043,"markDefs":7048,"style":16},"fae2955e6cf6",[7044],{"_key":7045,"_type":12,"marks":7046,"text":7047},"7542df53b052",[],"Fig. 1. Walker Evans, [Interior with Newspaper-Covered Walls and Wicker Mirror Stand, Hale County?, Alabama], 1936. 35 mm film negative. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York",[],{"_key":7050,"_type":1642,"content":7051,"images":7364},"ca167a645be8",[7052,7137,7274],{"_key":7053,"_type":8,"children":7054,"markDefs":7108,"style":16},"0f2ff8fa8851",[7055,7059,7064,7068,7072,7076,7081,7084,7088,7092,7096,7100,7104],{"_key":7056,"_type":12,"marks":7057,"text":7058},"316c435a8719",[],"In a sense, Barnett Newman laid the spiritual foundation and gave permission for Rauschenberg’s subsequent position. Newman emphasized the importance of metaphysics in the production of contemporary art through his writing and the exhibitions he curated at Betty Parsons Gallery. It is also significant that Newman’s second solo show at Parsons (fig. 2) immediately preceded Rauschenberg’s show there. ",{"_key":7060,"_type":12,"marks":7061,"text":7063},"68f014a87955",[7062],"fa5d2c64c711","Following the principles he had outlined in a short text for ",{"_key":7065,"_type":12,"marks":7066,"text":7067},"dd42d19c9bb0",[114,7062],"The Ideographic Picture",{"_key":7069,"_type":12,"marks":7070,"text":7071},"33886531ddee",[7062],",",{"_key":7073,"_type":12,"marks":7074,"text":7075},"46909d8b1af8",[]," an exhibition he co-organized with Parsons in 1947, Newman opted not to title his works in either of his solo shows at her gallery. The characters, symbols, or figures of a painting were meant to suggest ideas, without expressing a specific name. His paintings were Talmudic statements spoken in the language of Abstract Expressionism. The metaphysical content was a direct message from the painting to the viewer. Newman’s modernist\u002Fprimitivist model provided another spiritual dimension for Rauschenberg. And his response was instinctive and immediate. He was a believer—certainly in the form, if not in all of the content. He was drawn to Newman’s exhibitions at Parsons, and it was his curiosity about that world and his possible connection to those painters that had led him, with his works in tow, to visit the dealer in the first place. Now, his job was to find his own way, his own place. ",{"_key":7077,"_type":12,"marks":7078,"text":7080},"3b8b79b6d5e5",[7079],"6fa566ebb2c1","Ultimately, Rauschenberg rejected self-expression and let the world in, and contrary to Newman’s example, Rauschenberg named names.",{"_key":7082,"_type":12,"marks":7083,"text":793},"e338a3fcd160",[],{"_key":7085,"_type":12,"marks":7086,"text":7087},"cccaade7501d",[114],"Pagan Void ",{"_key":7089,"_type":12,"marks":7090,"text":7091},"51bdfec8398c",[],"(fig. 3) becomes ",{"_key":7093,"_type":12,"marks":7094,"text":7095},"fb2faea75edd",[114],"Mother of God ",{"_key":7097,"_type":12,"marks":7098,"text":7099},"03cba8e32ddd",[],"(1951; ",{"_key":7101,"_type":12,"marks":7102,"text":724},"5daf9a044e41",[7103],"6598477700bf",{"_key":7105,"_type":12,"marks":7106,"text":7107},"930618b9099a",[],"). Newman’s terror of being emerges as Rauschenberg’s unconditional love.",[7109,7126,7136],{"_key":7062,"_type":474,"text":7110},[7111],{"_key":7112,"_type":8,"children":7113,"markDefs":7125,"style":16},"ed793637746e",[7114,7118,7121],{"_key":7115,"_type":12,"marks":7116,"text":7117},"a6fd3fc556fd",[],"B. B. [Barnett] Newman, statement accompanying checklist, ",{"_key":7119,"_type":12,"marks":7120,"text":7067},"47ad134ccd4b",[114],{"_key":7122,"_type":12,"marks":7123,"text":7124},"1a025ed59c04",[],", Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, Jan. 20–Feb. 8, 1947, Betty Parsons Gallery Records and Personal Papers, 1916–1991, series 2, box 18, folder 40, AAA.",[],{"_key":7079,"_type":474,"text":7127},[7128],{"_key":7129,"_type":8,"children":7130,"markDefs":7135,"style":16},"23741b9104c9",[7131],{"_key":7132,"_type":12,"marks":7133,"text":7134},"29269f3418ed",[],"The annotated checklist for Rauschenberg’s 1951 show at Parsons lists ten works with titles and another seven that are numbered. Betty Parsons Gallery Records and Personal Papers, 1916–1991, series 1, box 14, folder 20, AAA.",[],{"_key":7103,"_type":239,"crNo":60},{"_key":7138,"_type":8,"children":7139,"markDefs":7222,"style":16},"e03e0f96faf6",[7140,7144,7149,7153,7157,7162,7166,7170,7174,7178,7181,7185,7189,7193,7197,7202,7206,7210,7213,7218],{"_key":7141,"_type":12,"marks":7142,"text":7143},"4165c206891c",[],"Rauschenberg’s 1951 exhibition at Betty Parsons was spiritual in nature—a testing ground for his religious beliefs. Or for conflicts he was struggling to resolve. He engaged with a surprising mixture of Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and modernist references. The works were playfully funny and deadly serious—both at the same time. However, the remnants of his upbringing were still felt. He remained a churchgoer in New York well into his twenties. ",{"_key":7145,"_type":12,"marks":7146,"text":7148},"7dde702c0330",[7147],"b3e7c8cc0942","Giving that up was a major change in his life.",{"_key":7150,"_type":12,"marks":7151,"text":7152},"1bb70f5aa424",[114]," Mother of God",{"_key":7154,"_type":12,"marks":7155,"text":7156},"d41a34dc61cb",[]," presents a large, mysterious rounded object floating above a patchworked Rand McNally atlas. ",{"_key":7158,"_type":12,"marks":7159,"text":7161},"745b2c0945c3",[7160],"d1da18e1dd18","See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet.",{"_key":7163,"_type":12,"marks":7164,"text":7165},"02cded815446",[]," And as noted in a clipping at the bottom of the painting, ",{"_key":7167,"_type":12,"marks":7168,"text":7169},"1062c44dc792",[114],"The Catholic Review",{"_key":7171,"_type":12,"marks":7172,"text":7173},"559870b2a9f4",[]," provides “an invaluable spiritual road map … as simple and fundamental as life itself.” ",{"_key":7175,"_type":12,"marks":7176,"text":7177},"46b010433f42",[114],"Crucifixion and Reflection",{"_key":7179,"_type":12,"marks":7180,"text":338},"70fe7f5500a8",[],{"_key":7182,"_type":12,"marks":7183,"text":716},"840cc278219f",[7184],"187b710f34d9",{"_key":7186,"_type":12,"marks":7187,"text":7188},"95981e358cdd",[],") presents the masthead of a Yiddish newspaper hovering to the right of the cross. ",{"_key":7190,"_type":12,"marks":7191,"text":7192},"e5bdf2bb316f",[114],"Eden ",{"_key":7194,"_type":12,"marks":7195,"text":7196},"b3f49b0d33f2",[],"(",{"_key":7198,"_type":12,"marks":7199,"text":7201},"678078c509cb",[7200],"c2f5fa5e9d94","19",{"_key":7203,"_type":12,"marks":7204,"text":7205},"b2d34415c510",[],") is an absurd, abstract cartoon garden. ",{"_key":7207,"_type":12,"marks":7208,"text":7209},"4b8add09a3a9",[114],"Trinity ",{"_key":7211,"_type":12,"marks":7212,"text":7196},"52df3b3bfa08",[],{"_key":7214,"_type":12,"marks":7215,"text":7217},"6c2f738d5cbb",[7216],"1123149a7b91","20",{"_key":7219,"_type":12,"marks":7220,"text":7221},"d3b057c25f2a",[],") is a sequence of flash frames, an unavoidable association with the world’s first, then still recent, nuclear bomb test.",[7223,7241,7269,7270,7272],{"_key":7147,"_type":474,"text":7224},[7225],{"_key":7226,"_type":8,"children":7227,"markDefs":7240,"style":16},"be5c3f2cc43e",[7228,7232,7236],{"_key":7229,"_type":12,"marks":7230,"text":7231},"f1940d611bc3",[],"John Richardson, “Rauschenberg’s Epic Vision,” ",{"_key":7233,"_type":12,"marks":7234,"text":7235},"ded8f5bd279f",[114],"Vanity Fair",{"_key":7237,"_type":12,"marks":7238,"text":7239},"5fad3c66fe09",[],", no. 445 (Sept. 1997), p. 283.",[],{"_key":7160,"_type":474,"text":7242},[7243],{"_key":7244,"_type":8,"children":7245,"markDefs":7267,"style":16},"37f2362ad738",[7246,7250,7254,7258,7263],{"_key":7247,"_type":12,"marks":7248,"text":7249},"3229bc9ec8ec",[],"On ",{"_key":7251,"_type":12,"marks":7252,"text":7253},"ac0d6d91d612",[114],"Mother of God",{"_key":7255,"_type":12,"marks":7256,"text":7257},"b64f3846e63a",[],", see Susan Davidson, “Mother of God,” Rauschenberg Research Project, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, July 2013, ",{"_key":7259,"_type":12,"marks":7260,"text":7262},"74fc697ae5b6",[7261],"aa950e843bc4","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sfmoma.org\u002Fessay\u002Fmother-of-god\u002F",{"_key":7264,"_type":12,"marks":7265,"text":7266},"254dd441d2e4",[],". “See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet” is a commercial jingle written around 1949 for the Chevrolet division of General Motors, most famously performed by Dinah Shore.",[7268],{"_key":7261,"_type":375,"href":7262},{"_key":7184,"_type":239,"crNo":763},{"_key":7200,"_type":239,"crNo":7271},"50.005",{"_key":7216,"_type":239,"crNo":7273},"49.003",{"_key":7275,"_type":8,"children":7276,"markDefs":7333,"style":16},"581603045c60",[7277,7281,7285,7288,7292,7295,7300,7304,7308,7312,7315,7319,7322,7325,7330],{"_key":7278,"_type":12,"marks":7279,"text":7280},"10487e56d948",[],"A few paintings in the exhibition, with their collaged surfaces, could almost be seen as precursors of Combines, most particularly ",{"_key":7282,"_type":12,"marks":7283,"text":7284},"02d3907638b2",[114],"Should Love Come First ",{"_key":7286,"_type":12,"marks":7287,"text":7196},"3b1b61ba3846",[],{"_key":7289,"_type":12,"marks":7290,"text":732},"359d05195b99",[7291],"211c64a2e810",{"_key":7293,"_type":12,"marks":7294,"text":5318},"93d84d018bc1",[],{"_key":7296,"_type":12,"marks":7297,"text":7299},"3a40be8b8b3d",[7298],"4bd056aea3f9","With a title sourced from a popular magazine (",{"_key":7301,"_type":12,"marks":7302,"text":7303},"546771e05ab4",[114,7298],"True Confessions",{"_key":7305,"_type":12,"marks":7306,"text":7307},"b1a09d14d2a6",[7298],"), the painting, in its constellation of images, displays a range of subjects that would hold lifelong significance for Rauschenberg.",{"_key":7309,"_type":12,"marks":7310,"text":7311},"866bda473201",[]," The collaged elements include a circular diagram of air-travel times and distances, a postage stamp, a reproduction of a painting by Claude Monet, the imprint of a bare right foot, and a dance-step instruction sheet. But the poignancy of the moment must not be overlooked. Rauschenberg’s marriage was in crisis, with his wife, the artist Susan Weil, pregnant and his relationship with Cy Twombly gaining momentum. Rauschenberg is literally asking himself the question the painting poses: Should love come first? The answer was possibly found a couple of years later, when, in a decisive gesture, he painted over the picture, obliterating the question itself. This new, revised work joined his then-ongoing series ",{"_key":7313,"_type":12,"marks":7314,"text":843},"a8132585f507",[114],{"_key":7316,"_type":12,"marks":7317,"text":7318},"c107156cc15a",[],", to become ",{"_key":7320,"_type":12,"marks":7321,"text":208},"692d0fd4f1ca",[114],{"_key":7323,"_type":12,"marks":7324,"text":338},"83652bae9706",[],{"_key":7326,"_type":12,"marks":7327,"text":7329},"e6e6abcb0031",[7328],"69f56e38fd58","84",{"_key":7331,"_type":12,"marks":7332,"text":3234},"7c88383e1f12",[],[7334,7361,7362],{"_key":7298,"_type":474,"text":7335},[7336],{"_key":7337,"_type":8,"children":7338,"markDefs":7359,"style":16},"bf7a4df38ab6",[7339,7343,7347,7351,7356],{"_key":7340,"_type":12,"marks":7341,"text":7342},"3221d9240194",[],"For identification of the collaged element from the March 1951 issue of",{"_key":7344,"_type":12,"marks":7345,"text":7346},"0c11f24872af",[114]," True Confessions",{"_key":7348,"_type":12,"marks":7349,"text":7350},"23bb9a2baaf1",[],", see Greg Allen, “This Is My Problem … Should Love Come First?,” The Making Of, by Greg Allen, Dec. 4, 2018, ",{"_key":7352,"_type":12,"marks":7353,"text":7355},"cc7bc1f1fd70",[7354],"e49afe4942bc","https:\u002F\u002Fgreg.org\u002Farchive\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F04\u002Fthis-is-my-problem-should-love-come-first.html",{"_key":7357,"_type":12,"marks":7358,"text":236},"cf303091bc58",[],[7360],{"_key":7354,"_type":375,"href":7355},{"_key":7291,"_type":239,"crNo":767},{"_key":7328,"_type":239,"crNo":7363},"53.018",[7365],{"_key":7366,"_type":1738,"alt":7367,"asset":7368,"caption":7371,"stickyOnScroll":54,"width":7404},"c75fe858dfbf","The image shows a minimalist art installation featuring a tall, textured vertical sculpture on a pedestal next to two slender, smooth vertical bars mounted on a plain wall.",{"_type":1741,"asset":7369},{"_ref":7370,"_type":53},"image-6d5b4b5c41e08be6de6db0c70c72776272fb0df3-2278x2888-jpg",[7372],{"_key":7373,"_type":8,"children":7374,"markDefs":7403,"style":16},"09f98aca70a8",[7375,7379,7383,7387,7391,7395,7399],{"_key":7376,"_type":12,"marks":7377,"text":7378},"b41623dbd15e",[],"Fig. 2. Installation view of ",{"_key":7380,"_type":12,"marks":7381,"text":7382},"b61e3e6131e7",[114],"Barnett Newman ",{"_key":7384,"_type":12,"marks":7385,"text":7386},"f0bb5ad6b0a2",[],"(Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, April 23–May 12, 1951). Works shown (left to right): ",{"_key":7388,"_type":12,"marks":7389,"text":7390},"192f45097c5b",[114],"Here I",{"_key":7392,"_type":12,"marks":7393,"text":7394},"bb41a9cec999",[]," (1950; The Menil Collection, Houston), ",{"_key":7396,"_type":12,"marks":7397,"text":7398},"5f0afd1188e1",[114],"The Wild",{"_key":7400,"_type":12,"marks":7401,"text":7402},"3802899b13ce",[]," (1950; The Museum of Modern Art, New York)",[],60,{"_key":7406,"_type":1642,"content":7407,"images":7503},"16f6768dd73c",[7408,7439],{"_key":7409,"_type":8,"children":7410,"markDefs":7428,"style":16},"a46c344cd27f",[7411,7415,7419,7423],{"_key":7412,"_type":12,"marks":7413,"text":7414},"0821588ac641",[],"Newman established a theological paradigm, but he also provided an important formal model. He was one of the first Americans to make totally black paintings, and the white-on-white painting included in his second solo Parsons show offered Rauschenberg an immediate precedent. As did the tall, narrow format Newman favored, which would be reflected in much of Rauschenberg’s work of this period. Likewise, ",{"_key":7416,"_type":12,"marks":7417,"text":7418},"1a1316b2111d",[114],"Here I ",{"_key":7420,"_type":12,"marks":7421,"text":7422},"c576e29ba451",[],"(1950; fig. 2), the solitary sculpture in Newman’s exhibition, made of plaster, wood, and a jerry-rigged milk crate, must have struck a sympathetic chord. The two artists were friends and maintained a relationship over the years. Newman attended Rauschenberg’s dance performances, and he was the only artist of the older generation present at the opening of Rauschenberg’s 1963 Jewish Museum retrospective. ",{"_key":7424,"_type":12,"marks":7425,"text":7427},"e015fe114a54",[7426],"42577692a4f1","“I wanted to stand with Rauschenberg,” Hopps remembered Newman saying.",[7429],{"_key":7426,"_type":474,"text":7430},[7431],{"_key":7432,"_type":8,"children":7433,"markDefs":7438,"style":16},"55ba543f1ed4",[7434],{"_key":7435,"_type":12,"marks":7436,"text":7437},"e903b841203b",[],"Hopps, interview of Rauschenberg by Ross, Hopps, Garrels, and Samis, May 6, 1999, p. 37.",[],{"_key":7440,"_type":8,"children":7441,"markDefs":7477,"style":16},"8c5fd3ebdf79",[7442,7446,7449,7453,7457,7461,7464,7468,7473],{"_key":7443,"_type":12,"marks":7444,"text":7445},"73b618969eec",[],"Signposts of inspiration and illumination exist all along the way. They extend from ",{"_key":7447,"_type":12,"marks":7448,"text":6537},"cd19f194128a",[114],{"_key":7450,"_type":12,"marks":7451,"text":7452},"64c236be28e9",[],"’s metaphoric book of Genesis to the early Combines, specifically to ",{"_key":7454,"_type":12,"marks":7455,"text":7456},"20ee0857678e",[114],"Hymnal",{"_key":7458,"_type":12,"marks":7459,"text":7460},"a31775a66e90",[]," (1955; private collection), a work that includes an actual book, the Manhattan telephone directory. A double reference, both to a Christian songbook and to Franz Kline’s phone book drawings (ca. 1950–54)",{"_key":7462,"_type":12,"marks":7463,"text":6926},"5e8649b277d0",[114],{"_key":7465,"_type":12,"marks":7466,"text":7467},"b4dea4319317",[],"And ultimately, a recognition of his own strict religious past and permissive urban present. Rauschenberg is finding his own sense of self and place. In the process, he manages to redefine the nature of representation and abstraction. Everything exists for Rauschenberg as information. Everything is up for grabs. A holy mixture of high and low. He finds salvation in the streets, transforming found materials into artworks. The Combines approximate spirituals. Songs of joy and praise from Lower Manhattan. An assembly seeking radiance, like that imagined light at the end of his first woodcuts. It is the energy gleaned from combination and connection that drives Rauschenberg’s sense of spirituality. The Gospel of Bob. ",{"_key":7469,"_type":12,"marks":7470,"text":7472},"061b9a942b4d",[7471],"156ad3423c94","Never sentimental or sanctimonious, he offers a life-affirming grace.",{"_key":7474,"_type":12,"marks":7475,"text":7476},"f7ef9da1a828",[]," Lessons learned from the Good Book and the Golden Rule. A lifelong ethics of respect and reciprocity. In that spirit, we can all, like Barnett Newman, “stand with Rauschenberg.”",[7478],{"_key":7471,"_type":474,"text":7479},[7480],{"_key":7481,"_type":8,"children":7482,"markDefs":7502,"style":16},"9aae224c8410",[7483,7487,7491,7495,7498],{"_key":7484,"_type":12,"marks":7485,"text":7486},"dacba4d45fe1",[],"In 1999, Rauschenberg submitted a large-scale maquette to the Vatican for a commissioned mural to hang in the new pilgrimage church of San Pio da Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. At the center of the painting would be a depiction of God as a golden satellite dish. For Rauschenberg, the dish was a symbol of spiritual wisdom; for the Vatican, it was blasphemy. Rauschenberg, in a letter dated Feb. 5–6, 2000, withdrew from the project and declared himself “either spiritually under, or overqualified.” The artist ultimately donated the maquette, amusingly titled ",{"_key":7488,"_type":12,"marks":7489,"text":7490},"0f6c944c8f0e",[114],"The Happy Apocalypse",{"_key":7492,"_type":12,"marks":7493,"text":7494},"1eef9df3da3f",[],", to the Menil Collection, Houston (2005-13; RRF 99.024), in memory of Walter Hopps. See Kate Bellin, “‘What Were Halos?’: The Dispute over Robert Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":7496,"_type":12,"marks":7497,"text":7490},"aef0f6a94e16",[114],{"_key":7499,"_type":12,"marks":7500,"text":7501},"bbbe475f973a",[],"” (master’s thesis, Christie’s Education, New York, 2009).",[],[7504],{"_key":7505,"_type":1738,"alt":7506,"asset":7507,"caption":7510,"stickyOnScroll":54,"width":7527},"93a341322481","A surrealist painting depicts a stylized, dark-centered fish shape with blue and red accents against a green background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":7508},{"_ref":7509,"_type":53},"image-d515f5f4d627acdeb4027bc4be0c647f9b26e912-2213x1916-jpg",[7511],{"_key":7512,"_type":8,"children":7513,"markDefs":7526,"style":16},"0e0030251eb9",[7514,7518,7522],{"_key":7515,"_type":12,"marks":7516,"text":7517},"d6adbdac6931",[],"Fig. 3. Barnett Newman, ",{"_key":7519,"_type":12,"marks":7520,"text":7521},"078465fccb23",[114],"Pagan Void",{"_key":7523,"_type":12,"marks":7524,"text":7525},"a3e7ce761721",[],", 1946. Oil on canvas, 33 × 38 in. (83.8 × 96.5 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.",[],100,[7529],{"_key":105,"_type":8,"children":7530,"markDefs":7547,"style":16},[7531,7535,7538,7542,7544],{"_key":7532,"_type":12,"marks":7533,"text":7534},"2fc475e3fa73",[],"Terry Winters, “Rauschen­berg’s Book of Genesis: ",{"_key":7536,"_type":12,"marks":7537,"text":1501},"0ca8bad913b5",[114],{"_key":7539,"_type":12,"marks":7540,"text":7541},"c70fcb4866df",[],",” ",{"_key":112,"_type":12,"marks":7543,"text":115},[114],{"_key":117,"_type":12,"marks":7545,"text":7546},[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fbook-of-genesis.",[],[7549],{"_key":7550,"_type":8,"children":7551,"markDefs":7563,"style":16},"e3908067d81f",[7552,7556,7559],{"_key":7553,"_type":12,"marks":7554,"text":7555},"b34788d316c3",[96],"Editors’ Note:",{"_key":7557,"_type":12,"marks":7558,"text":793},"9913c72fd231",[],{"_key":7560,"_type":12,"marks":7561,"text":7562},"65cf2d0495c4",[114],"The author has chosen to render the title of the primary work under discussion entirely in capital letters, following Rauschenberg’s inscription on the cover sheet.",[],[7565,7573],{"_key":7566,"_type":8,"children":7567,"markDefs":7572,"style":16},"ec09bce6f526",[7568],{"_key":7569,"_type":12,"marks":7570,"text":7571},"20f53a62088c",[114],"This Is the First Half of a Print Designed ",[],{"_key":7574,"_type":8,"children":7575,"markDefs":7579,"style":16},"17339088a2a9",[7576],{"_key":7569,"_type":12,"marks":7577,"text":7578},[114],"to Exist in Passing Time",[],[7581],{"_key":7582,"_type":8,"children":7583,"markDefs":7588,"style":16},"b5303081514f",[7584],{"_key":7585,"_type":12,"marks":7586,"text":7587},"94d7093ecaaf",[],"Rauschen­berg’s Book of Genesis",[],[7590,7596,7601],{"_key":7582,"_type":8,"children":7591,"markDefs":7595,"style":16},[7592],{"_key":7585,"_type":12,"marks":7593,"text":7594},[],"Rauschen­berg’s Book of Genesis: ",[],{"_key":7566,"_type":8,"children":7597,"markDefs":7600,"style":16},[7598],{"_key":7569,"_type":12,"marks":7599,"text":7571},[114],[],{"_key":7574,"_type":8,"children":7602,"markDefs":7605,"style":16},[7603],{"_key":7569,"_type":12,"marks":7604,"text":7578},[114],[],{"_type":424,"current":7607},"book-of-genesis",{"_createdAt":7609,"_id":7610,"_rev":7611,"_system":7612,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":7615,"author":7616,"authorBio":7617,"body":7661,"citeAs":8434,"essayType":6260,"paragraphStyle":8457,"subtitle":8458,"title":8466,"tocPreviewTitle":8472,"uid":8482},"2026-08-05T17:20:18Z","a92ee868-b185-4889-8a00-b17cd6e115a9","fB7dObOrBlqwGHZVHFGsx4",{"base":7613},{"id":7610,"rev":7614},"fB7dObOrBlqwGHZVHE4V0m","2026-10-21T21:31:38Z","Darby English",[7618],{"_key":7619,"_type":8,"children":7620,"markDefs":7660,"style":16},"d5bfd51211f3",[7621,7624,7628,7632,7636,7640,7644,7648,7652,7656],{"_key":7622,"_type":12,"marks":7623,"text":7616},"adf16d1e391b",[96],{"_key":7625,"_type":12,"marks":7626,"text":7627},"46de85b6b303",[]," is the Carl Darling Buck Professor of Art History at the University of Chicago as well as an associate faculty member in the university’s Department of Visual Arts and Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. From 2014 to 2020, he was an adjunct curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Among his published books are ",{"_key":7629,"_type":12,"marks":7630,"text":7631},"ee154776077c",[114],"Charles Ray: Adam and Eve ",{"_key":7633,"_type":12,"marks":7634,"text":7635},"ce9a9f3ae8ff",[],"(2024), ",{"_key":7637,"_type":12,"marks":7638,"text":7639},"a18cbc035090",[114],"To Describe a Life: Notes from the Intersection of Art and Race Terror ",{"_key":7641,"_type":12,"marks":7642,"text":7643},"349016eb5be2",[],"(2019), ",{"_key":7645,"_type":12,"marks":7646,"text":7647},"a52048f137b0",[114],"1971: A Year in the Life of Color ",{"_key":7649,"_type":12,"marks":7650,"text":7651},"7cb7c53f1238",[],"(2016), and ",{"_key":7653,"_type":12,"marks":7654,"text":7655},"67917abf8b79",[114],"How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness ",{"_key":7657,"_type":12,"marks":7658,"text":7659},"007527769b2b",[],"(2007).",[],[7662,7823,8143],{"_key":7663,"_type":1642,"content":7664,"images":7796},"041046ac7268",[7665,7725,7761],{"_key":7666,"_type":8,"children":7667,"markDefs":7700,"style":16},"df4591f269a6",[7668,7672,7676,7681,7684,7688,7692,7696],{"_key":7669,"_type":12,"marks":7670,"text":7671},"2701889eca05",[96],"1.",{"_key":7673,"_type":12,"marks":7674,"text":7675},"b8c40e27c284",[]," Robert Rauschen­berg didn’t hold me until a question he put initiated a reset. ",{"_key":7677,"_type":12,"marks":7678,"text":7680},"334b2474913d",[7679],"449ce013e1db","Interviewed relating one version of the mythology of his ",{"_key":7682,"_type":12,"marks":7683,"text":334},"7975df17fc6c",[114,7679],{"_key":7685,"_type":12,"marks":7686,"text":7687},"ff51bcd1bc2c",[7679]," (1953; ",{"_key":7689,"_type":12,"marks":7690,"text":343},"db2c474ec9e0",[7679,7691],"c5da275e3584",{"_key":7693,"_type":12,"marks":7694,"text":7695},"9101e71529ed",[7679],"), Rauschen­berg asks, “Do you see how ridiculously you have to think?”",{"_key":7697,"_type":12,"marks":7698,"text":7699},"d8fe20f2d902",[]," No one can see thinking, you notice, especially one’s own. Just listening to him, you’re sharing the frank disdain for ordinary reasoning that makes his art go. The same jocular mockery accompanies his serious implication that anyone capable of ridiculous thinking could do the same things he has done. Such mordancy may be hard to square with an artist seen as one of the most affable figures in modern art.",[7701,7724],{"_key":7679,"_type":474,"text":7702},[7703],{"_key":7704,"_type":8,"children":7705,"markDefs":7722,"style":16},"4f9db5664618",[7706,7710,7714,7719],{"_key":7707,"_type":12,"marks":7708,"text":7709},"8c22cb54a694",[114],"Robert Rauschen­berg: Man at Work",{"_key":7711,"_type":12,"marks":7712,"text":7713},"63333177fd10",[],", directed by Chris Granlund (BBC\u002FRM Arts with Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1997), video, at 28:06, ",{"_key":7715,"_type":12,"marks":7716,"text":7718},"48e1c04b1009",[7717],"72834114f63e","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.kanopy.com\u002Fen\u002Fproduct\u002F166041",{"_key":7720,"_type":12,"marks":7721,"text":236},"205c05f5f427",[],[7723],{"_key":7717,"_type":375,"href":7718},{"_key":7691,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":7726,"_type":8,"children":7727,"markDefs":7758,"style":16},"f39347a5ae4b",[7728,7732,7735,7738,7742,7747,7751,7754],{"_key":7729,"_type":12,"marks":7730,"text":7731},"638c56c6be5c",[96],"2.",{"_key":7733,"_type":12,"marks":7734,"text":793},"666bdefc5a8a",[],{"_key":7736,"_type":12,"marks":7737,"text":208},"ca34b5ea8a1d",[114],{"_key":7739,"_type":12,"marks":7740,"text":7741},"b23b45154c80",[]," (ca. 1953; ",{"_key":7743,"_type":12,"marks":7744,"text":7746},"00a292555110",[7745],"de8cffe5d5f4","87",{"_key":7748,"_type":12,"marks":7749,"text":7750},"eddce3ab7704",[],"), part of the ",{"_key":7752,"_type":12,"marks":7753,"text":208},"f4626b513be7",[114],{"_key":7755,"_type":12,"marks":7756,"text":7757},"0591ea953f10",[]," series, is painted on a substrate of newspapers on canvas. Yet it ridicules a viewer’s conventional orientation to the newspaper. A newspaper is a relational medium: It puts across information about contemporary events to an audience fluent in its idioms and primed to receive. Rauschen­berg, however, thwarts the newspaper’s outward rush by intensifying the inexpressionism of his abstraction and leaving the receiver naked in both jilted readiness for that idiom and inexperience in this one. Relations on, within, and among the panels enjoy priority over any we may seek to make with them. What we can do with the transpiring on offer depends, in part, on our feeling toward what isn’t transpiring. The painting thereby enters the life of its viewers differently from any image or scene.",[7759],{"_key":7745,"_type":239,"crNo":7760},"51.019",{"_key":7762,"_type":8,"children":7763,"markDefs":7795,"style":16},"4fe411437967",[7764,7768,7772,7775,7779,7783,7787,7791],{"_key":7765,"_type":12,"marks":7766,"text":7767},"a66812cfa90f",[96],"3.",{"_key":7769,"_type":12,"marks":7770,"text":7771},"2661788825c3",[]," Rauschen­berg showed this painting at Stable Gallery in fall 1953. In that situation (fig. 1), the work was flanked by two ",{"_key":7773,"_type":12,"marks":7774,"text":1407},"4377f8480467",[114],{"_key":7776,"_type":12,"marks":7777,"text":7778},"212b7019cae5",[],", each occupying part of the viewing area in front of the painting. Rauschen­berg was, in other words, practicing integration—not so much renouncing the antipathy between one and another of art’s media as ridiculing their perceived separation, and certainly speaking to the deep fear of mixing embedded within the art culture enclosing his works. He was integrating social symbols, too, with this presentation of black and white paintings (fig. 2). Contemporary viewers extricated ",{"_key":7780,"_type":12,"marks":7781,"text":7782},"90bbddc3a95d",[114],"Black Painting ",{"_key":7784,"_type":12,"marks":7785,"text":7786},"24b8f2bfca9e",[],"from the situation it shared with the ",{"_key":7788,"_type":12,"marks":7789,"text":7790},"7010bacfcdfe",[114],"Elementals",{"_key":7792,"_type":12,"marks":7793,"text":7794},"ed4033730935",[],", but the situation was the situation. The most rigorous Rauschen­berg scholar I know warned me recently to keep this association loose: “I would not go so far as to call it an installation.” So, I won’t. But at this early stage, Rauschen­berg surely gave no quarter to the separating vision that expert beholders bring to the media of art. Moreover, he directed himself to fashioning alternatives to a modernism that attains form by unmixing the world. At times, Rauschen­berg’s protean artistic temperament is unremitting, as though it thrills at flouting the anxieties, phobias, disavowals, that keep Big Art in the separation business.",[],[7797],{"_key":7798,"_type":1738,"alt":7799,"asset":7800,"caption":7803},"b85a76c47034","A textured black surface with varying patterns and finishes, creating a visually rich and abstract appearance.",{"_type":1741,"asset":7801},{"_ref":7802,"_type":53},"image-b196afa0ac1beafe515f11fd6259346a90fd055a-13872x7112-jpg",[7804],{"_key":7805,"_type":8,"children":7806,"markDefs":7821,"style":16},"9b8fbdfa78ae",[7807,7811,7814,7817],{"_key":7808,"_type":12,"marks":7809,"text":7746},"db50d64f2c92",[7810],"35f4160d09f1",{"_key":7812,"_type":12,"marks":7813,"text":793},"916031331161",[],{"_key":7815,"_type":12,"marks":7816,"text":208},"3174a9ff8097",[114],{"_key":7818,"_type":12,"marks":7819,"text":7820},"763086cdf88d",[],", ca. 1953. Enamel, bitumen, oil, and newspaper on canvas, four panels; 7 ft. 3 in. × 14 ft. 2½ in. (2.2 × 4.3 m). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York",[7822],{"_key":7810,"_type":239,"crNo":7760},{"_key":7824,"_type":1642,"content":7825,"images":8035},"f818378d7581",[7826,7838,7926,7986,8016],{"_key":7827,"_type":8,"children":7828,"markDefs":7837,"style":16},"5a251702e438",[7829,7833],{"_key":7830,"_type":12,"marks":7831,"text":7832},"4bacc16ab1f3",[96],"4.",{"_key":7834,"_type":12,"marks":7835,"text":7836},"e7138cfbbe8c",[]," Imagining the painting’s interactions with the stones, beams, and metal plating of the Stable environs, I wonder if the setup projected a certain coldness, tactilely speaking. Distancing, too, is the way the painting involves available light, the same way glazing in front of a canvas can make you cross at whoever—­in this case, Rauschen­berg—decided to make looking so hard. He deposited such reflectivity on the painting’s surface that only moving about can compensate. We see the picture only by abdicating the stationary throne of viewing and taking to transit along multiple lines of sight.",[],{"_key":7839,"_type":8,"children":7840,"markDefs":7881,"style":16},"3be6d6a61b81",[7841,7845,7849,7852,7856,7861,7865,7870,7873,7877],{"_key":7842,"_type":12,"marks":7843,"text":7844},"3632c31a1d1e",[96],"5.",{"_key":7846,"_type":12,"marks":7847,"text":7848},"3cb293116634",[]," On this basis alone we might feel as though we’re not in a fixed, person-to-­painting relationship. A difficult place to be, but not a no-­place. What seemed a moment ago like an undifferentiated whole won’t go back together now. The irregular rhythm of the seams, the unique proportions their placements impart to each member, those members’ markedly varied characters as set members, their actual (early) and (later) implied exchangeability … is there such a thing as too much indeterminism? However well known ",{"_key":7850,"_type":12,"marks":7851,"text":208},"683de879e938",[114],{"_key":7853,"_type":12,"marks":7854,"text":7855},"dc7950cb6bc4",[]," may be as a whole, it consists of four individually proportioned members, each approximately 87 inches tall but varying in width—­they measure, respectively, 27⅛, 50⅛, 47⅛, and 46⅛ inches wide. ",{"_key":7857,"_type":12,"marks":7858,"text":7860},"f638a65afb0c",[7859],"5e85c25dc1e9","A fifth panel was destroyed, making the current work no more of a whole than are a year’s seasons.",{"_key":7862,"_type":12,"marks":7863,"text":7864},"cf29a74b4964",[]," Nothing is one thing—­not even this equivocal touchstone in the histories of modernism and the monochrome. ",{"_key":7866,"_type":12,"marks":7867,"text":7869},"bcae790e6dd0",[7868],"f722bff0821d","Rauschen­berg considered his ",{"_key":7871,"_type":12,"marks":7872,"text":843},"73a726fe46c0",[7868,114],{"_key":7874,"_type":12,"marks":7875,"text":7876},"2423ca809cbe",[7868]," “too full or too empty to be thought,”",{"_key":7878,"_type":12,"marks":7879,"text":7880},"4266a702a75e",[]," owing, I think, to their glut of trackable indeterminism, which calls for ongoing thinking—­thinking that’s in no hurry to assume a shape. Anyway, I’ve always taken Rauschen­berg to mean that these paintings are too involved with emergence to be congenial, or even available, to appropriation by a single thought.",[7882,7908],{"_key":7859,"_type":474,"text":7883},[7884],{"_key":7885,"_type":8,"children":7886,"markDefs":7907,"style":16},"486cd0867068",[7887,7891,7895,7899,7903],{"_key":7888,"_type":12,"marks":7889,"text":7890},"aed8e9b8e1a4",[],"The work has since been displayed with four panels except in 1964, when a single panel was shown in the exhibition ",{"_key":7892,"_type":12,"marks":7893,"text":7894},"17dac9cd011b",[114],"Black, White and Grey",{"_key":7896,"_type":12,"marks":7897,"text":7898},"c923f604f045",[]," at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Conn. On the fate of the fifth panel, the artist said, “I was looking at this black panel and wondering what was under it, because I always painted over and over my work. … So I got a putty knife and scraped off one of the panels.” Rauschen­berg, quoted in Barbara Rose, ",{"_key":7900,"_type":12,"marks":7901,"text":7902},"d3ec5a018247",[114],"Rauschen­berg ",{"_key":7904,"_type":12,"marks":7905,"text":7906},"66f0e0607b87",[],"(New York: Vintage Books, 1987), p. 62.",[],{"_key":7868,"_type":474,"text":7909},[7910],{"_key":7911,"_type":8,"children":7912,"markDefs":7925,"style":16},"57d794e2e0d2",[7913,7917,7921],{"_key":7914,"_type":12,"marks":7915,"text":7916},"3d1855667084",[],"“My black paintings and my white paintings are either too full or too empty to be thought—­thereby they remain visual experiences. These pictures are not Art.” Rauschenberg, quoted in Hubert Crehan, “The See Change: Raw Duck,” ",{"_key":7918,"_type":12,"marks":7919,"text":7920},"092ba9f742a2",[114],"Art Digest ",{"_key":7922,"_type":12,"marks":7923,"text":7924},"7604bb1246bf",[],"27, no. 20 (Sept. 15, 1953), p. 25.",[],{"_key":7927,"_type":8,"children":7928,"markDefs":7967,"style":16},"d047ba06d145",[7929,7933,7937,7940,7944,7949,7953,7956,7960,7964],{"_key":7930,"_type":12,"marks":7931,"text":7932},"a720a45c631d",[96],"6.",{"_key":7934,"_type":12,"marks":7935,"text":7936},"48a22df0ed1b",[]," Nowadays, no ",{"_key":7938,"_type":12,"marks":7939,"text":1407},"4f6feecc548d",[114],{"_key":7941,"_type":12,"marks":7942,"text":7943},"abe67ab932ad",[]," accompany this work. Should it appear to be one thing all the way through, such as a form, that’s merely temporary. Questions attack and break that form: What do its members’ differences represent? What does this arrangement have, or do, that another would not? And so on. The work is especially difficult to think given the partitioning (aforementioned), the emphatic a-symbolism of many exactly placed and articulated material stresses. For the work to exist in its own right, I need to do without the internal consistency—­the formalism—­that clarifies much other art despite serious bouts of disharmony. One good thing about formalism: It manages well future run-­ins with chaos. Not so here. ",{"_key":7945,"_type":12,"marks":7946,"text":7948},"86aa0c6e852c",[7947],"c5a21d9a7017","“The art audience’s stare,” as Brian O’Doherty memorably called it, differs sharply from the successive, darting looks needed to take in an entity as spread out and spatially irregular as this one.",{"_key":7950,"_type":12,"marks":7951,"text":7952},"410ec9df344a",[]," Distributed, heterogeneous facture—textures and irregularities that yield a blackness which expresses and withdraws, amplifying and nullifying light—­abjures any notion that ",{"_key":7954,"_type":12,"marks":7955,"text":208},"4048b7f977a4",[114],{"_key":7957,"_type":12,"marks":7958,"text":7959},"e317bdef7e6a",[]," is one kind of thing. Its subject comes as assorted varieties. Maybe there is news here: ",{"_key":7961,"_type":12,"marks":7962,"text":7963},"385494c0eacf",[114],"Findings Show Blackness Too Full to Be Thought. Clear Thinking Rarely Fair to Facts",{"_key":7965,"_type":12,"marks":7966,"text":236},"784cc3eaed66",[],[7968],{"_key":7947,"_type":474,"text":7969},[7970],{"_key":7971,"_type":8,"children":7972,"markDefs":7985,"style":16},"4b488d2f4611",[7973,7977,7981],{"_key":7974,"_type":12,"marks":7975,"text":7976},"0b3b6fa37861",[],"Brian O’Doherty, ",{"_key":7978,"_type":12,"marks":7979,"text":7980},"e461aab8933e",[114],"American Masters: The Voice and the Myth",{"_key":7982,"_type":12,"marks":7983,"text":7984},"d8449a29cfbd",[]," (New York: Random House, 1973), p. 198.",[],{"_key":7987,"_type":8,"children":7988,"markDefs":8005,"style":16},"1a168aa6606b",[7989,7993,7996,8001],{"_key":7990,"_type":12,"marks":7991,"text":7992},"ff3a277f0124",[96],"7.",{"_key":7994,"_type":12,"marks":7995,"text":793},"10686e7af184",[],{"_key":7997,"_type":12,"marks":7998,"text":8000},"ffb628e502f9",[7999],"44a210a8b3b2","While writing or thinking about writing, I often contemplate a definition of “equanimity” readily available on my computer: “mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.”",{"_key":8002,"_type":12,"marks":8003,"text":8004},"bc6f60e57c5f",[]," I regard equanimity as a core practice in intellectual work with art, work with art that yields representations about art. To appreciate the scarceness of equanimity, you need to stay a while with something hard. Keep to a thing, person, or place that one would instinctively flee; keep to the thinking (and even being) it needs from you now. Do not domesticate, do not escape. Flight from this difficulty—­repudiating or abandoning the dignity of a puzzling situation—­only reaffirms the integrity of self and same. In this scene, flight would represent our inattention or antipathy to what Rauschen­berg painstakingly exacerbates: the unknown in a known; that unknown’s not-­yet-fathomed density, untouched surface variety, erratic ways of showing up, advancing, and keeping to itself; and the questions of that unknown’s interior.",[8006],{"_key":7999,"_type":474,"text":8007},[8008],{"_key":8009,"_type":8,"children":8010,"markDefs":8015,"style":16},"33cc38415468",[8011],{"_key":8012,"_type":12,"marks":8013,"text":8014},"abedf87a0249",[],"This definition is a commonplace in online discussions of, among other things, mindfulness, leadership development, and parenting.",[],{"_key":8017,"_type":8,"children":8018,"markDefs":8034,"style":16},"6f4d5655ef8b",[8019,8023,8027,8030],{"_key":8020,"_type":12,"marks":8021,"text":8022},"fbc4fb39507e",[96],"8. ",{"_key":8024,"_type":12,"marks":8025,"text":8026},"1b3c2f03c01b",[],"Good luck forgetting that there’s news you’re not getting; the urge to mistake background for foreground can be intense. But here, art supersedes information, and art is an immixture of Rauschen­berg’s operational processes with, well, everything else. What matters, then, is what all that supplanting yields which is not reducible to strikethroughs. The yellowed newspapers slightly warm the black. If they pull vision past the point at hand, rather than deepening it, as conventional pentimenti or underpainting would, then that’s vision’s loss. The point being: a slightly warm, black realm between what we know—­an idiom at our disposal—and ourselves. A something-­else right here, with qualities and contradictions immediately inviting surveyal. Elements present are handmade and machined; edges, prominently featured, are straight, serrated, crimped, and torn; canvas, sporadically forthright, supports papers that appear alternately slick, wavy, apparently saturated (some were), and maybe singed (none were); undulant and flat smoothness commingles arrhythmically with rough and still rougher regions. This is a riotously textured realm with an interior, to boot: I refer to voids where the artist’s technique dictates that the black-­painted paper never touches the underlying, black-painted canvas. Upon this ",{"_key":8028,"_type":12,"marks":8029,"text":208},"3a5ac424b194",[114],{"_key":8031,"_type":12,"marks":8032,"text":8033},"60b3f8aee1b4",[],", Rauschen­berg advanced a concretion of work—­selections, attempts, attachments, decisions, amendments, and adjustments, none of it evidently dictated by a foreseen work product.",[],[8036],{"_key":8037,"_type":1738,"alt":8038,"asset":8039,"caption":8042},"91c122a567a2","A black and white photograph of an art gallery featuring large black abstract paintings on the walls, wooden flooring, and a minimalist installation with a string and a small object on the ground.",{"_type":1741,"asset":8040},{"_ref":8041,"_type":53},"image-969b19db0306eb8be74b08b92f919672b300587d-2330x2400-jpg",[8043],{"_key":8044,"_type":8,"children":8045,"markDefs":8136,"style":16},"1b8be79bb805",[8046,8050,8054,8058,8061,8064,8067,8070,8073,8077,8080,8083,8087,8090,8093,8097,8101,8104,8109,8112,8116,8119,8124,8128,8132],{"_key":8047,"_type":12,"marks":8048,"text":8049},"4f8b225d7752",[],"Fig. 1. Installation view of ",{"_key":8051,"_type":12,"marks":8052,"text":8053},"4654904cfb69",[114],"Rauschenberg: Paintings and Sculpture",{"_key":8055,"_type":12,"marks":8056,"text":8057},"802b6abbbc0a",[]," (Stable Gallery, New York, September 15–October 3, 1953). 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",{"_key":8158,"_type":12,"marks":8159,"text":8161},"47ef9eca6e9c",[8160],"9cb02485034b","Figures of accompaniment proliferated on its debut: Painting accompanied sculpture; traveling friends and lovers accompanied each other’s works in a two-­man show; a new art gallery fitted itself into a renovated equine architecture.",[8163],{"_key":8160,"_type":474,"text":8164},[8165],{"_key":8166,"_type":8,"children":8167,"markDefs":8188,"style":16},"28feedabb29c",[8168,8172,8176,8180,8184],{"_key":8169,"_type":12,"marks":8170,"text":8171},"665e7f8f321a",[],"[",{"_key":8173,"_type":12,"marks":8174,"text":8175},"2dfe1a7f9911",[114],"Rauschen­berg: Paintings and Sculpture",{"_key":8177,"_type":12,"marks":8178,"text":8179},"46c9a2e83ca2",[],", Stable Gallery, New York, Sept. 15–Oct. 3, 1953, is catalogued in this publication as a solo show, concurrent with ",{"_key":8181,"_type":12,"marks":8182,"text":8183},"867cf7facff6",[114],"Cy Twombly: Paintings and Drawings",{"_key":8185,"_type":12,"marks":8186,"text":8187},"16aa8891cf33",[],". —RRF]",[],{"_key":8190,"_type":8,"children":8191,"markDefs":8200,"style":16},"ac8db5ee4229",[8192,8196],{"_key":8193,"_type":12,"marks":8194,"text":8195},"756a208bb12d",[96],"10.",{"_key":8197,"_type":12,"marks":8198,"text":8199},"07122a373896",[]," Given how occupied the painting is with self-­differing, a strong feeling of rest or relief is hard to find before it. This is one way the things and beings of the world resist closure within concepts. Those that manage as long as this one has prove that felicitous effects stem even from theories that bring very little by way of understanding what they try to explain. It’s marvelous how readings slide off this work—­how it terrorizes its writing. The work’s satisfactions are not those characteristic of understanding but rather of change, aliveness, fresh perception, and survivable meetings with intolerable uncertainty.",[],{"_key":8202,"_type":8,"children":8203,"markDefs":8244,"style":16},"78d496dcc5a2",[8204,8208,8212,8217,8220,8224,8228,8233,8237,8240],{"_key":8205,"_type":12,"marks":8206,"text":8207},"264e87da31f7",[96],"11.",{"_key":8209,"_type":12,"marks":8210,"text":8211},"b9ebee36df73",[]," A perfectly fluent course of thought about this artwork would have to pass it by. As substantial a thing as it is, sometimes I feel more present to my furious ego’s desire to interpret this phantasmagoria into significance than to accept it as a proper object of knowledge. ",{"_key":8213,"_type":12,"marks":8214,"text":8216},"dcbcd5872057",[8215],"675f7101bba8","Dore Ashton wrote in 1953, of Rauschen­berg’s Stable Gallery show, that his ",{"_key":8218,"_type":12,"marks":8219,"text":843},"2f4fa3e2ca2e",[114,8215],{"_key":8221,"_type":12,"marks":8222,"text":8223},"8ebc85e04ce7",[8215]," “come as black beasts.”",{"_key":8225,"_type":12,"marks":8226,"text":8227},"66f8f83747da",[]," Far be it from me to question the earnestness, but it’s hard to dissociate Ashton’s comment from antiblack racism, from its refusals to think in situations calling, above all else, for reflection (not projection). “Others come as black beasts,” goes the full clause. Also: not news. Surely this was more blackness than the public for whom Ashton wrote had ever confronted in visual art. ",{"_key":8229,"_type":12,"marks":8230,"text":8232},"26be3c9b050c",[8231],"6c27593d575e","Just as surely, racism, in its incomparable figurative fecundity, provided Ashton with the means that felt needed to make an improper object proper.",{"_key":8234,"_type":12,"marks":8235,"text":8236},"d2810c1912b4",[]," Her grossly inapt cliché corroborates my suggestion that what’s being thought in the ",{"_key":8238,"_type":12,"marks":8239,"text":843},"8b4036e78ea2",[114],{"_key":8241,"_type":12,"marks":8242,"text":8243},"de6358da7166",[]," isn’t for thinking in signs. The real scandal, which never was one, inheres in Ashton’s having deserted the blindingly obvious question: How—­by what means—do we locate another when thinking becomes impossible? When art is new and different to us, we must be willing to analogize the situation to the interhuman situation. Amid so much sense data about black, the Western, post-­Enlightenment intellect rarely admits defeat. It falls to intellectuals, though not them alone, to admit and enter into these failures, modifying knowledge—­our understanding of what understanding means—­accordingly.",[8245,8263],{"_key":8215,"_type":474,"text":8246},[8247],{"_key":8248,"_type":8,"children":8249,"markDefs":8262,"style":16},"a1ab3cf0b63a",[8250,8254,8258],{"_key":8251,"_type":12,"marks":8252,"text":8253},"7725d92d6dd7",[],"Dore Ashton, “57th Street: Bob Rauschen­berg,” ",{"_key":8255,"_type":12,"marks":8256,"text":8257},"332624c569fa",[114],"Art Digest",{"_key":8259,"_type":12,"marks":8260,"text":8261},"8d7714a1d117",[]," 27, no. 20 (Sept. 15, 1953), p. 21.",[],{"_key":8231,"_type":474,"text":8264},[8265],{"_key":8266,"_type":8,"children":8267,"markDefs":8279,"style":16},"87c80fc7e035",[8268,8272,8275],{"_key":8269,"_type":12,"marks":8270,"text":8271},"9d01915a1117",[],"Another reviewer, Hubert Crehan, described Rauschen­berg’s ",{"_key":8273,"_type":12,"marks":8274,"text":250},"bd357fe14ac7",[114],{"_key":8276,"_type":12,"marks":8277,"text":8278},"eea529489a03",[]," as “albinos,” building skin pigmentation into the pictures as manifest content. Crehan, “The See Change,” p. 25.",[],{"_key":8281,"_type":8,"children":8282,"markDefs":8307,"style":16},"7891fd5798e9",[8283,8287,8291,8294,8298,8303],{"_key":8284,"_type":12,"marks":8285,"text":8286},"a75f35472f19",[96],"12.",{"_key":8288,"_type":12,"marks":8289,"text":8290},"d938568a2d44",[]," When my blackness and ",{"_key":8292,"_type":12,"marks":8293,"text":208},"73f724c8f90d",[114],{"_key":8295,"_type":12,"marks":8296,"text":8297},"b36e55c32179",[]," dance, what dance do we do? I admit to wanting a lot for, and from, blackness. Much momentous blackness resides here. It’s got weight and history. It’s irregular, and always shifting in its vividness. ",{"_key":8299,"_type":12,"marks":8300,"text":8302},"faf044c5a7b8",[8301],"028ab8b4a749","Sometimes it’s yellow: old papers plus Whitney lighting; Ashton correctly perceived “amber overtones.”",{"_key":8304,"_type":12,"marks":8305,"text":8306},"0cb790c20986",[]," Too, though, it’s full of racial difference, being the work of a Southern white man. And it’s regionally ambivalent, part South, part North, Rauschen­berg having painted at least one of the panels at Black Mountain College in North Carolina before completing and assembling the work in his Manhattan studio. These are textural qualities, too. I could still take it my own way, make from it the art that I need to satisfy ends determined by my emotional and practical subjectivity. My framework’s survival, though, feels far less important than seeking a writing that honors the quiddity of this versatile, irresolute thing. No adeptness in the pertinent vocabularies, no degree of investment in topical ones, excuses pretending that it doesn’t abhor clear thinking.",[8308],{"_key":8301,"_type":474,"text":8309},[8310],{"_key":8311,"_type":8,"children":8312,"markDefs":8324,"style":16},"019109309c27",[8313,8317,8320],{"_key":8314,"_type":12,"marks":8315,"text":8316},"c7789b74f101",[],"Ashton, “57th Street,” p. 21. ",{"_key":8318,"_type":12,"marks":8319,"text":208},"cb9d037f18e7",[114],{"_key":8321,"_type":12,"marks":8322,"text":8323},"e5a6a944f4e3",[]," was acquired by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 2002.",[],{"_key":8326,"_type":8,"children":8327,"markDefs":8343,"style":16},"e1fecbcc62cd",[8328,8332,8336,8339],{"_key":8329,"_type":12,"marks":8330,"text":8331},"f840e3ad2a5f",[96],"13.",{"_key":8333,"_type":12,"marks":8334,"text":8335},"865be26ec7f8",[]," Rauschen­berg loaded this ",{"_key":8337,"_type":12,"marks":8338,"text":208},"66baa4ad0d90",[114],{"_key":8340,"_type":12,"marks":8341,"text":8342},"ea40203f0897",[]," with messages, then submerged them, twinning the privacy of a secret with the publicness of a gallery wall. Where, still now, it seems to imagine a lamplit night that daybreak will never brighten. Making its actuality an enduring contradiction, a terminally unfocused range. A range, exhibited, that opens a place to notice the spread and events texturizing reflection. To follow the glide, crinkle, and pucker of objectless thinking.",[],[8345],{"_key":8346,"_type":1738,"alt":8347,"asset":8348,"caption":8351},"f52c73d5bf66","A man stands in a dimly lit basement gallery surrounded by abstract sculptures and large canvases on the walls.",{"_type":1741,"asset":8349},{"_ref":8350,"_type":53},"image-800cfed8ec3c405e4822ea7ed2ef991dbe53f08f-2539x2400-jpg",[8352],{"_key":8353,"_type":8,"children":8354,"markDefs":8425,"style":16},"62d6ed1a1013",[8355,8359,8362,8365,8368,8371,8376,8379,8383,8387,8390,8393,8398,8401,8406,8409,8414,8418,8421],{"_key":8356,"_type":12,"marks":8357,"text":8358},"34f853be102d",[],"Fig. 2. Robert Rauschenberg standing in the basement gallery of Stable Gallery, New York, between ",{"_key":8360,"_type":12,"marks":8361,"text":208},"7357a2aa96ec",[114],{"_key":8363,"_type":12,"marks":8364,"text":204},"aa38e4bfa98e",[],{"_key":8366,"_type":12,"marks":8367,"text":367},"65bc38f31ed8",[114],{"_key":8369,"_type":12,"marks":8370,"text":338},"bcf05ee1a843",[],{"_key":8372,"_type":12,"marks":8373,"text":8375},"a7a8c0ce3ab0",[8374],"707b459ee260","31",{"_key":8377,"_type":12,"marks":8378,"text":263},"6b0bc9ef3555",[],{"_key":8380,"_type":12,"marks":8381,"text":268},"14dcd51a6877",[8382],"6d92fb31220f",{"_key":8384,"_type":12,"marks":8385,"text":8386},"85fab06ae55e",[],") and behind three ",{"_key":8388,"_type":12,"marks":8389,"text":1407},"518e30500632",[114],{"_key":8391,"_type":12,"marks":8392,"text":338},"7d066bde9338",[],{"_key":8394,"_type":12,"marks":8395,"text":8397},"a28b3fc4c96b",[8396],"c49b1566c646","97",{"_key":8399,"_type":12,"marks":8400,"text":263},"05fd2dbfa9a6",[],{"_key":8402,"_type":12,"marks":8403,"text":8405},"ca124bd4e104",[8404],"575be58763a0","94",{"_key":8407,"_type":12,"marks":8408,"text":263},"b799d80f4640",[],{"_key":8410,"_type":12,"marks":8411,"text":8413},"2d29f71bfc8b",[8412],"4eecbe357eaa","98",{"_key":8415,"_type":12,"marks":8416,"text":8417},"269d8e2df707",[],") on the occasion of the exhibition ",{"_key":8419,"_type":12,"marks":8420,"text":8053},"f4c16d09595e",[114],{"_key":8422,"_type":12,"marks":8423,"text":8424},"85c8e5cd251a",[]," (September 15–October 3, 1953)",[8426,8427,8428,8430,8432],{"_key":8374,"_type":239,"crNo":62},{"_key":8382,"_type":239,"crNo":319},{"_key":8404,"_type":239,"crNo":8429},"53.004",{"_key":8396,"_type":239,"crNo":8431},"53.005",{"_key":8412,"_type":239,"crNo":8433},"53.006",[8435],{"_key":8436,"_type":8,"children":8437,"markDefs":8456,"style":16},"bde4b414dcdf",[8438,8442,8445,8449,8452],{"_key":8439,"_type":12,"marks":8440,"text":8441},"504d8441a8f2",[],"Darby English, “",{"_key":8443,"_type":12,"marks":8444,"text":208},"b644ac31827b",[114],{"_key":8446,"_type":12,"marks":8447,"text":8448},"6b5a0009c0fb",[],": An Act in the Gap,” ",{"_key":8450,"_type":12,"marks":8451,"text":115},"6a7f58b2833e",[114],{"_key":8453,"_type":12,"marks":8454,"text":8455},"22825bd20d7f",[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fblack-painting.",[],"spaces",[8459],{"_key":8460,"_type":8,"children":8461,"markDefs":8465,"style":16},"c38784509420",[8462],{"_key":8446,"_type":12,"marks":8463,"text":8464},[],"An Act in the Gap",[],[8467],{"_key":8460,"_type":8,"children":8468,"markDefs":8471,"style":16},[8469],{"_key":8443,"_type":12,"marks":8470,"text":208},[114],[],[8473],{"_key":8474,"_type":8,"children":8475,"markDefs":8481,"style":16},"e02290e17138",[8476,8478],{"_key":8443,"_type":12,"marks":8477,"text":208},[114],{"_key":8446,"_type":12,"marks":8479,"text":8480},[],": An Act in the Gap",[],{"_type":424,"current":8483},"black-painting",{"_createdAt":8485,"_id":8486,"_rev":8487,"_system":8488,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":8491,"author":8492,"authorBio":8493,"body":8513,"citeAs":10011,"epigraph":10036,"essayType":6260,"paragraphStyle":122,"subtitle":10069,"title":10086,"tocPreviewTitle":10094,"uid":10119},"2026-08-05T17:20:39Z","61afba21-145e-4fdd-948f-01e4ae3a621d","AT3m2ak6bZ701LMshpwYLk",{"base":8489},{"id":8486,"rev":8490},"AT3m2ak6bZ701LMshpvMq0","2026-10-22T16:55:24Z","Giorgio Di Domenico",[8494],{"_key":8495,"_type":8,"children":8496,"markDefs":8512,"style":16},"eb2c5991945e",[8497,8500,8504,8508],{"_key":8498,"_type":12,"marks":8499,"text":8492},"1b7a7737f4eb",[96],{"_key":8501,"_type":12,"marks":8502,"text":8503},"c80ef0ed46a1",[]," is a research fellow at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, where he received his PhD in 2025 with a dissertation on the Italian reception of Surrealism from 1959 to 1977. He also studied at New York University’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò and was a research fellow at the Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA), New York. He is the author of a monograph on the 1970s artists’ magazine ",{"_key":8505,"_type":12,"marks":8506,"text":8507},"2f5c83ee7b00",[114],"La Città di Riga",{"_key":8509,"_type":12,"marks":8510,"text":8511},"8f8a5f32a93b",[]," and has published essays and articles on postwar Italian art, the relationship between Alberto Burri and Robert Rauschenberg, and the Italian reception of Dada and Surrealism. He writes and publishes regularly about contemporary art.",[],[8514,8534,8696,9114,9494,9703,9926],{"_key":8515,"_type":8516,"content":8517},"803abf6bbf16","richText",[8518,8526],{"_key":8519,"_type":8,"children":8520,"markDefs":8525,"style":16},"57a34d08bcde",[8521],{"_key":8522,"_type":12,"marks":8523,"text":8524},"6ba5385dffd2",[130],"As children we all had a box which we kept hidden; it contained a butterfly wing, a beetle, a lucky penny. For each, that box was private, intimate, and secret; and yet we all (most of us) had it. Communication of art is between those boxes, between subjectives, the secret that we all share, each privately.",[],{"_key":8527,"_type":8,"children":8528,"markDefs":8533,"style":1661},"4c786e210bc9",[8529],{"_key":8530,"_type":12,"marks":8531,"text":8532},"0b06014fb808",[],"—Maya Deren, 1951",[],{"_key":8535,"_type":1642,"content":8536,"images":8666},"ae6b62c7b773",[8537,8598],{"_key":8538,"_type":8,"children":8539,"markDefs":8579,"style":16},"83d34606c39e",[8540,8544,8547,8550,8555,8559,8563,8567,8571,8575],{"_key":8541,"_type":12,"marks":8542,"text":8543},"664126884f10",[130],"The filmmaker Maya Deren’s comments at a Cleveland Museum of Art talk in 1951 encapsulate much of the spirit of Robert Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":8545,"_type":12,"marks":8546,"text":1232},"cc40c5cee8e3",[114,130],{"_key":8548,"_type":12,"marks":8549,"text":6926},"bd5e0df1406b",[130],{"_key":8551,"_type":12,"marks":8552,"text":8554},"f13d54b2d174",[8553,130],"2790af82de55","As a child, Rauschenberg gathered similar materials, and this youthful pastime likely played a role in his creation, as an adult, of such works as the ",{"_key":8556,"_type":12,"marks":8557,"text":8558},"257d73a82777",[114,8553,130],"Scatole.",{"_key":8560,"_type":12,"marks":8561,"text":8562},"57ef374aa56f",[130]," More pertinently, each of the adjectives used by Deren—“private,” “intimate,” “secret”—sheds light on a different aspect of the modifier, ",{"_key":8564,"_type":12,"marks":8565,"text":8566},"3d9e15323e6f",[114,130],"personali",{"_key":8568,"_type":12,"marks":8569,"text":8570},"08434c8be31c",[130],", that was attached to the ",{"_key":8572,"_type":12,"marks":8573,"text":8574},"c5d8ae03827a",[114,130],"Scatole e Feticci",{"_key":8576,"_type":12,"marks":8577,"text":8578},"0774de2c9ecc",[130]," when they were first exhibited in March 1953 at Galleria dell’Obelisco in Rome.",[8580],{"_key":8553,"_type":474,"text":8581},[8582],{"_key":8583,"_type":8,"children":8584,"markDefs":8597,"style":16},"f950b455b297",[8585,8589,8593],{"_key":8586,"_type":12,"marks":8587,"text":8588},"d242d1b79a82",[],"While there is no record of Rauschenberg referring to an individual box as such, I refer to an individual work in the series by the singular ",{"_key":8590,"_type":12,"marks":8591,"text":8592},"8613ac5d1fe7",[114],"Scatola ",{"_key":8594,"_type":12,"marks":8595,"text":8596},"d737e75a24c5",[],"(“box”).",[],{"_key":8599,"_type":8,"children":8600,"markDefs":8615,"style":16},"dda2e8e17040",[8601,8606,8610],{"_key":8602,"_type":12,"marks":8603,"text":8605},"a8502634bc05",[8604],"e20acd323dce","As Rauschenberg noted in a typewritten statement produced at the time (fig. 1), the show, organized shortly after his return from a long trip to North Africa and Spain, was “posted as: Scatole e Feticci Personali.”",{"_key":8607,"_type":12,"marks":8608,"text":8609},"670f52889416",[]," The title can be translated either as “boxes and personal fetishes” or as “personal boxes and fetishes.” I would opt for the latter, for I consider all the works “personal.” ",{"_key":8611,"_type":12,"marks":8612,"text":8614},"83b9490799bb",[8613],"9bd8c38860e4","However, just half a week after the conclusion of the Rome presentation, when the exhibition opened in Florence, no trace remained of that unexpected adjective. There, the works were presented as “contemplative.”",[8616,8642],{"_key":8604,"_type":474,"text":8617},[8618],{"_key":8619,"_type":8,"children":8620,"markDefs":8641,"style":16},"4045e2ed2e56",[8621,8625,8629,8633,8637],{"_key":8622,"_type":12,"marks":8623,"text":8624},"9ce7a6708d57",[],"Rauschenberg’s typed statement with handwritten edits for Galleria dell’Obelisco exhibition, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives. It is unclear whether the artist bestowed the title himself or the gallerists came up with it, as he did not speak Italian. For a detailed account of the exhibition, see Rossella Caruso, “Robert Rauschenberg alla Galleria L’Obelisco: ",{"_key":8626,"_type":12,"marks":8627,"text":8628},"6825a49204cb",[114],"Scatole e feticci personali",{"_key":8630,"_type":12,"marks":8631,"text":8632},"95eaa7c09080",[],",” in ",{"_key":8634,"_type":12,"marks":8635,"text":8636},"34bb3714807d",[114],"Irene Brin, Gaspero del Corso e la Galleria L’Obelisco",{"_key":8638,"_type":12,"marks":8639,"text":8640},"b21e39f5de50",[],", ed. Vittoria Caterina Caratozzolo et al. (Rome: Drago, 2018), pp. 204–15.",[],{"_key":8613,"_type":474,"text":8643},[8644],{"_key":8645,"_type":8,"children":8646,"markDefs":8665,"style":16},"63e9402a2515",[8647,8651,8654,8658,8661],{"_key":8648,"_type":12,"marks":8649,"text":8650},"a4e6f6ec089c",[],"On the invitation card, the Florence exhibition, held at Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea, is titled ",{"_key":8652,"_type":12,"marks":8653,"text":1303},"bb07cef67e4b",[114],{"_key":8655,"_type":12,"marks":8656,"text":8657},"a37ac6c50dd3",[]," (literally, “contemplative boxes and constructions by Bob Rauschenberg”). The artist seemed to have referred to the works variously, and interchangeably, during his lifetime, calling them “fetishes,” “boxes,” “rope objects and boxes,” and “rope pieces and box pieces.” Calvin Tomkins translated “scatole … contemplative” as “thought boxes” in Tomkins, “Profiles: Moving Out,” ",{"_key":8659,"_type":12,"marks":8660,"text":699},"8cba13272ab2",[114],{"_key":8662,"_type":12,"marks":8663,"text":8664},"de262dc72f88",[],"40, no. 2 (Feb. 29, 1964), p. 62.",[],[8667],{"_key":8668,"_type":1738,"alt":8669,"asset":8670,"caption":8673},"8353c11f470e","A small, decorative box with a painted design featuring a glass and checkered pattern, accompanied by colorful threads and tassels.",{"_type":1741,"asset":8671},{"_ref":8672,"_type":53},"image-1b59a5d6779b9366f91fb33f823d6e23f8b37bcf-8362x5240-jpg",[8674],{"_key":8675,"_type":8,"children":8676,"markDefs":8693,"style":16},"5545a56d74ee",[8677,8682,8686,8689],{"_key":8678,"_type":12,"marks":8679,"text":8681},"4af35cb1a966",[8680],"87678f2500a7","62",{"_key":8683,"_type":12,"marks":8684,"text":8685},"828e202c62f1",[]," Untitled (",{"_key":8687,"_type":12,"marks":8688,"text":1232},"5cd4ff00b6f5",[114],{"_key":8690,"_type":12,"marks":8691,"text":8692},"8f6dec267f4e",[],"), ca. 1953. Wood box, paint, printed paper, bird skull, fabric, photograph, ribbon, paper, string, thread, twine, feathers, tassels, bell, and rhinestone; box (closed) 2⅛ × 4⅝ × 1¾ in. (5.4 × 11.9 × 4.4 cm). The Menil Collection, Houston",[8694],{"_key":8680,"_type":239,"crNo":8695},"52.021",{"_key":8697,"_type":1642,"content":8698,"images":9091},"e9554af9bde9",[8699,8816],{"_key":8700,"_type":8,"children":8701,"markDefs":8750,"style":16},"6f73548db17a",[8702,8705,8708,8711,8715,8719,8723,8728,8732,8737,8741,8746],{"_key":8703,"_type":12,"marks":8704,"text":8086},"3df010f1f921",[114],{"_key":8706,"_type":12,"marks":8707,"text":7196},"582d1e77f8ad",[],{"_key":8709,"_type":12,"marks":8710,"text":1232},"b893b256b5c7",[114],{"_key":8712,"_type":12,"marks":8713,"text":8714},"314bb0f6da70",[]," ) (",{"_key":8716,"_type":12,"marks":8717,"text":8681},"78ccb80fc168",[8718],"504fbe17baeb",{"_key":8720,"_type":12,"marks":8721,"text":8722},"f6ff4781b77d",[],"), now in the Menil Collection, Houston, holds a special place within the series. The work is described in detail in the statement that accompanied the Rome exhibition: “In one case the skull of a bird has been decorated in a rich false history and tassels with a bell on a string attached to her in reminiscence of her song.” ",{"_key":8724,"_type":12,"marks":8725,"text":8727},"8de0cb90fdad",[8726],"f938426cabfb","The skull is housed in a small wood container, perhaps a box that originally held pencils or thread.",{"_key":8729,"_type":12,"marks":8730,"text":8731},"7d53c4846bcb",[]," The container is decorated as profusely as its contents, to a degree unique in the series. ",{"_key":8733,"_type":12,"marks":8734,"text":8736},"c91f8f5b6414",[8735],"5f3c2dbb9b8c","The artist collaged the box with fabric fragments and bits of paper, some of which contain Arabic script (fig. 2), as well as prints taken from scientific books, including one of the head of a bird of prey in profile.",{"_key":8738,"_type":12,"marks":8739,"text":8740},"0edd35ef81c8",[]," On the inside is a less technical, more colorful picture of a rooster. Affixed to one end of the top of the lid is a rectangular flap of black fabric to which the artist added squares of white fabric, creating a checked pattern. ",{"_key":8742,"_type":12,"marks":8743,"text":8745},"0b8fa3d2a9fb",[8744],"3010c02a5498","When the flap is raised, it reveals a printed Arabic text adhered to its underside and, attached to the lid below, a trimmed photograph of a horse-drawn carriage taken by Rauschenberg in Morocco.",{"_key":8747,"_type":12,"marks":8748,"text":8749},"45150dc991eb",[]," The overall enigma of the work is heightened through this layering and juxtaposition of materials.",[8751,8779,8805,8815],{"_key":8726,"_type":474,"text":8752},[8753],{"_key":8754,"_type":8,"children":8755,"markDefs":8776,"style":16},"6cd070772f9d",[8756,8760,8764,8767,8772],{"_key":8757,"_type":12,"marks":8758,"text":8759},"4f8e50dfb370",[],"Cy Twombly mentioned pencil boxes in an interview by Walter Hopps, March 13, 1991, handwritten notes by Don Quaintance, p. 5, Susan Davidson Papers, RRF Archives. However, the bottom of a different ",{"_key":8761,"_type":12,"marks":8762,"text":8763},"0784a4f71a18",[114],"Scatola",{"_key":8765,"_type":12,"marks":8766,"text":338},"310d099e29db",[],{"_key":8768,"_type":12,"marks":8769,"text":8771},"7c0f988686b7",[8770],"43340deb0bd6","49",{"_key":8773,"_type":12,"marks":8774,"text":8775},"8e53656fe530",[],") is stamped with the logo of Ancora, an Italian brand of embroidery thread.",[8777],{"_key":8770,"_type":375,"href":8778},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.044",{"_key":8735,"_type":474,"text":8780},[8781],{"_key":8782,"_type":8,"children":8783,"markDefs":8804,"style":16},"3e930a8675c7",[8784,8788,8792,8796,8800],{"_key":8785,"_type":12,"marks":8786,"text":8787},"0e0a6a8cf1bf",[],"The illustration of the cube floating in a goblet is from Adolphe Ganot, ",{"_key":8789,"_type":12,"marks":8790,"text":8791},"1a76b3af3f4d",[114],"Traité élémentaire de physique expérimentale et appliquée et de météorologie",{"_key":8793,"_type":12,"marks":8794,"text":8795},"e270e01176c0",[]," (first published in Paris in 1851), p. 63, fig. 50. Rauschenberg used illustrations from this book in several other ",{"_key":8797,"_type":12,"marks":8798,"text":8799},"bcf5da33cdaf",[114],"Scatole",{"_key":8801,"_type":12,"marks":8802,"text":8803},"f6b8802ac384",[]," and in his North African collages (1952–53).",[],{"_key":8744,"_type":474,"text":8806},[8807],{"_key":8808,"_type":8,"children":8809,"markDefs":8814,"style":16},"82e9f3741bdc",[8810],{"_key":8811,"_type":12,"marks":8812,"text":8813},"f32053e820e5",[],"The negative is in the RRF Archives (VP118_NEG01).",[],{"_key":8718,"_type":239,"crNo":8695},{"_key":8817,"_type":8,"children":8818,"markDefs":8897,"style":16},"efa6539813eb",[8819,8824,8827,8831,8835,8839,8843,8847,8850,8855,8858,8862,8865,8870,8873,8878,8881,8885,8889,8893],{"_key":8820,"_type":12,"marks":8821,"text":8823},"874d3551e5c4",[8822],"eb4ed46a83df","Of the extant ",{"_key":8825,"_type":12,"marks":8826,"text":8799},"d6196e8db3ae",[114,8822],{"_key":8828,"_type":12,"marks":8829,"text":8830},"9e111fb16d35",[8822],", this is the only one made to produce a sound—a feature it shares with Marcel Duchamp’s ",{"_key":8832,"_type":12,"marks":8833,"text":8834},"c9d660662108",[114,8822],"With Hidden Noise ",{"_key":8836,"_type":12,"marks":8837,"text":8838},"28f9ec661388",[8822],"(1916) and Joseph Cornell’s ",{"_key":8840,"_type":12,"marks":8841,"text":8842},"fe25bb3b2bee",[114,8822],"Untitled (Minutiae Objects) ",{"_key":8844,"_type":12,"marks":8845,"text":8846},"abd850aceb9d",[8822],"(ca. early 1930s), artworks Rauschenberg probably did not know at the time.",{"_key":8848,"_type":12,"marks":8849,"text":793},"75deba1911c1",[],{"_key":8851,"_type":12,"marks":8852,"text":8854},"9aeefc39c576",[8853],"f0571d011ba9","Roman visitors to the 1953 exhibition could pick up this ",{"_key":8856,"_type":12,"marks":8857,"text":8763},"2d396b658ab8",[114,8853],{"_key":8859,"_type":12,"marks":8860,"text":8861},"f5810d70d50f",[8853],", see the image of a bird on the lid, shake the box, hear the bell, open the box, find the skull, and look at the picture of the rooster.",{"_key":8863,"_type":12,"marks":8864,"text":793},"8538cf14a4dd",[],{"_key":8866,"_type":12,"marks":8867,"text":8869},"74dfe0b9057c",[8868],"695de3c54aa0","The theme of the box—which is more evident through physical interaction and what Kate Nesin has described as the “mutual agency of viewer and work” than in photographs or museum display cases—is birds.",{"_key":8871,"_type":12,"marks":8872,"text":793},"1457c8a02166",[],{"_key":8874,"_type":12,"marks":8875,"text":8877},"56f03644fc2b",[8876],"3274a4a88387","Two other ",{"_key":8879,"_type":12,"marks":8880,"text":8799},"a4a44cd0c843",[114,8876],{"_key":8882,"_type":12,"marks":8883,"text":8884},"a1a7a58e4001",[8876],"—which, like this one, the artist gave to Cy Twombly—feature a similar avian theme.",{"_key":8886,"_type":12,"marks":8887,"text":8888},"6f50b48daa70",[]," Moreover, while in Italy, Rauschenberg photographed a carnival stall inspired by ",{"_key":8890,"_type":12,"marks":8891,"text":8892},"d26bc720ab2e",[114],"tiro al piccione",{"_key":8894,"_type":12,"marks":8895,"text":8896},"6cf5f85788f7",[],", or pigeon shooting, filled with bird-shaped targets and caged birds (fig. 3).",[8898,8964,8974,8999],{"_key":8822,"_type":474,"text":8899},[8900],{"_key":8901,"_type":8,"children":8902,"markDefs":8963,"style":16},"332f357b659d",[8903,8907,8911,8915,8919,8923,8927,8931,8935,8939,8943,8947,8951,8955,8959],{"_key":8904,"_type":12,"marks":8905,"text":8906},"e5b84e73b5b3",[],"Rauschenberg probably first saw a “replica,” or photographic reproduction (later called a ",{"_key":8908,"_type":12,"marks":8909,"text":8910},"d773a16f5fa7",[114],"feuille libre",{"_key":8912,"_type":12,"marks":8913,"text":8914},"68c64f9da5e7",[]," by Duchamp), of ",{"_key":8916,"_type":12,"marks":8917,"text":8918},"7efd0698d9c6",[114],"With Hidden Noise",{"_key":8920,"_type":12,"marks":8921,"text":8922},"3f146ccc2aee",[]," at the exhibition ",{"_key":8924,"_type":12,"marks":8925,"text":8926},"1f775ddb4d67",[114],"Dada 1916–1923",{"_key":8928,"_type":12,"marks":8929,"text":8930},"46784bc60760",[],", held at Sidney Janis Gallery from April 15 to May 9, 1953, right after his return to New York from Italy. Cornell’s rarely exhibited ",{"_key":8932,"_type":12,"marks":8933,"text":8934},"9c155a3c7b12",[114],"Minutiae Objects ",{"_key":8936,"_type":12,"marks":8937,"text":8938},"02108487bf50",[],"consist of small, circular boxes decorated with entomological prints and containing objects chosen for the sounds they make when the containers are manipulated. There is no evidence that Rauschenberg knew of them, but the title of Merce Cunningham’s 1954 dance ",{"_key":8940,"_type":12,"marks":8941,"text":8942},"d360ec43bd22",[114],"Minutiae",{"_key":8944,"_type":12,"marks":8945,"text":8946},"209fdc6593f6",[],", for which Rauschenberg created one of his first Combines, may be a sign of their circulation in New York’s avant-garde circles. On Cornell’s ",{"_key":8948,"_type":12,"marks":8949,"text":8950},"fed7f29dea7f",[114],"Minutiae Objects",{"_key":8952,"_type":12,"marks":8953,"text":8954},"2a84f26daa0d",[],", see Sarah Lea and Jasper Sharp, eds., ",{"_key":8956,"_type":12,"marks":8957,"text":8958},"49ef47689a5f",[114],"Joseph Cornell: Wanderlust",{"_key":8960,"_type":12,"marks":8961,"text":8962},"364e9c1ca638",[],", exh. cat. (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2015), pp. 88–89.",[],{"_key":8853,"_type":474,"text":8965},[8966],{"_key":8967,"_type":8,"children":8968,"markDefs":8973,"style":16},"2c8dc7ec3a25",[8969],{"_key":8970,"_type":12,"marks":8971,"text":8972},"6c0e1f285e5a",[],"Conservators at the Menil Collection, in collaboration with the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Rice University, Houston, have identified the skull as most likely that of a laughing gull. Kari Dodson, Assistant Objects Conservator, to Julie Thies, TMS Administrator, Menil Collection, Houston, email, June 1, 2016.",[],{"_key":8868,"_type":474,"text":8975},[8976],{"_key":8977,"_type":8,"children":8978,"markDefs":8998,"style":16},"708e288b7607",[8979,8983,8986,8990,8994],{"_key":8980,"_type":12,"marks":8981,"text":8982},"f2c780eabd52",[],"Kate Nesin, “‘Miniature Monument’: Travel and Work in Italy and North Africa,” in ",{"_key":8984,"_type":12,"marks":8985,"text":1867},"7d4548a8b0cf",[114],{"_key":8987,"_type":12,"marks":8988,"text":8989},"d2b36329e344",[],", by Leah Dickerman and Achim Borchardt-Hume, exh. cat. (New York: Museum of Modern Art; London: Tate Publishing, 2016), p. 65. The possibility of interacting with the works at the 1953 exhibitions is confirmed by an Italian reviewer who mentions “boxes … on opening which an unsuspecting [visitor] may even surprise himself, and a child dream.” A[lessandro] P[arronchi], “Mostre d’arte: Scatole contemplative,” ",{"_key":8991,"_type":12,"marks":8992,"text":8993},"e610f0f6d44c",[114],"La nazione italiana",{"_key":8995,"_type":12,"marks":8996,"text":8997},"f31c0cf3cfec",[],", March 31, 1953 (my translation).",[],{"_key":8876,"_type":474,"text":9000},[9001],{"_key":9002,"_type":8,"children":9003,"markDefs":9075,"style":16},"91f663ba7cf3",[9004,9008,9011,9016,9020,9023,9026,9031,9034,9039,9042,9047,9050,9055,9058,9063,9066,9071],{"_key":9005,"_type":12,"marks":9006,"text":8771},"dafc06768431",[9007],"60c73d34b3d2",{"_key":9009,"_type":12,"marks":9010,"text":204},"9298db3080b9",[],{"_key":9012,"_type":12,"marks":9013,"text":9015},"59bd90c89b82",[9014],"91ec83d83a7f","61",{"_key":9017,"_type":12,"marks":9018,"text":9019},"b7886adc5961",[]," in this catalogue. The former, containing a feather, is inscribed on the bottom “Cy \u002F Rauschenberg 53 \u002F Tanger.” Several of the hanging ",{"_key":9021,"_type":12,"marks":9022,"text":1232},"ab7203029aa9",[114],{"_key":9024,"_type":12,"marks":9025,"text":338},"58b86e56a05e",[],{"_key":9027,"_type":12,"marks":9028,"text":9030},"637ab3461de3",[9029],"05f449e69b65","68",{"_key":9032,"_type":12,"marks":9033,"text":263},"6c01e436ab66",[],{"_key":9035,"_type":12,"marks":9036,"text":9038},"e29135036061",[9037],"163a307a8dee","71",{"_key":9040,"_type":12,"marks":9041,"text":263},"2537d59fdaff",[],{"_key":9043,"_type":12,"marks":9044,"text":9046},"4629007aac68",[9045],"46c5faff28ad","73",{"_key":9048,"_type":12,"marks":9049,"text":263},"30d99106fe93",[],{"_key":9051,"_type":12,"marks":9052,"text":9054},"8d0540170709",[9053],"a37ce042789b","74",{"_key":9056,"_type":12,"marks":9057,"text":263},"efbc7f53a1a1",[],{"_key":9059,"_type":12,"marks":9060,"text":9062},"a56b1f46889d",[9061],"64c10d553293","76",{"_key":9064,"_type":12,"marks":9065,"text":263},"31d877c90b4a",[],{"_key":9067,"_type":12,"marks":9068,"text":9070},"b5fc6ee5d4f9",[9069],"79e2fb949b29","78",{"_key":9072,"_type":12,"marks":9073,"text":9074},"47e4c8de5bea",[],"), all nonextant, seem to have incorporated feathers as well.",[9076,9077,9079,9081,9083,9085,9087,9089],{"_key":9007,"_type":375,"href":8778},{"_key":9014,"_type":375,"href":9078},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F52.022",{"_key":9029,"_type":375,"href":9080},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.062",{"_key":9037,"_type":375,"href":9082},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.065",{"_key":9045,"_type":375,"href":9084},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.067",{"_key":9053,"_type":375,"href":9086},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.068",{"_key":9061,"_type":375,"href":9088},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.071",{"_key":9069,"_type":375,"href":9090},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.073",[9092],{"_key":9093,"_type":1738,"alt":9094,"asset":9095,"caption":9098},"b1b8a7c2e6b5","This is a typed document titled \"L'OBELISCO March 3 - 10, 1953,\" describing an art exhibition by Bob Rauschenberg, detailing the materials used and the conceptual focus on everyday objects and their transformation into art.",{"_type":1741,"asset":9096},{"_ref":9097,"_type":53},"image-d9557c8c30a891e734a7498540f8918fed4f2af5-4542x6605-jpg",[9099],{"_key":9100,"_type":8,"children":9101,"markDefs":9113,"style":16},"f12f4fc6bb81",[9102,9106,9109],{"_key":9103,"_type":12,"marks":9104,"text":9105},"7ec398156d4d",[],"Fig. 1. Robert Rauschenberg’s typed statement with handwritten edits for the exhibition ",{"_key":9107,"_type":12,"marks":9108,"text":1277},"94ba278e2148",[114],{"_key":9110,"_type":12,"marks":9111,"text":9112},"3ae7cf486df5",[],", Galleria dell’Obelisco, Rome, 1953. Robert Rauschenberg Papers, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Archives, New York",[],{"_key":9115,"_type":1642,"content":9116,"images":9419},"426600f48637",[9117,9212,9239],{"_key":9118,"_type":8,"children":9119,"markDefs":9175,"style":16},"97e0fcf62135",[9120,9124,9128,9132,9137,9140,9144,9147,9151,9155,9159,9163,9167,9171],{"_key":9121,"_type":12,"marks":9122,"text":9123},"b9130e16ad20",[],"Whatever its private meaning—and notwithstanding its possible relation to Cornell’s ",{"_key":9125,"_type":12,"marks":9126,"text":9127},"974d9af14270",[114],"Aviary",{"_key":9129,"_type":12,"marks":9130,"text":9131},"fac4127ca0cd",[]," series of the 1940s (fig. 4)—the subject of birds is worth attention for the importance it holds in Rauschenberg’s later oeuvre. ",{"_key":9133,"_type":12,"marks":9134,"text":9136},"9b16d1f56933",[9135],"b0819cb15546","The skull contained in this ",{"_key":9138,"_type":12,"marks":9139,"text":8763},"9f97e379993e",[114,9135],{"_key":9141,"_type":12,"marks":9142,"text":9143},"da8161b9903e",[9135],"—the lightweight and easily transportable bodily remains of a bird—seems to anticipate the taxidermied birds that later featured in some of his most famous Combines, such as ",{"_key":9145,"_type":12,"marks":9146,"text":8086},"391baccf795f",[114,9135],{"_key":9148,"_type":12,"marks":9149,"text":9150},"528e6403b379",[9135],"(ca. 1954\u002F1958), ",{"_key":9152,"_type":12,"marks":9153,"text":9154},"cd847abd030c",[114,9135],"Odalisk ",{"_key":9156,"_type":12,"marks":9157,"text":9158},"4fe24ac8c5bc",[9135],"(1955\u002F1958), ",{"_key":9160,"_type":12,"marks":9161,"text":9162},"1b4779b61c8d",[114,9135],"Satellite",{"_key":9164,"_type":12,"marks":9165,"text":9166},"dcf7c53952f5",[9135]," (1955), and ",{"_key":9168,"_type":12,"marks":9169,"text":9170},"96342b8fdf78",[114,9135],"Canyon ",{"_key":9172,"_type":12,"marks":9173,"text":9174},"0fe44b384cd3",[9135],"(1959).",[9176],{"_key":9135,"_type":474,"text":9177},[9178],{"_key":9179,"_type":8,"children":9180,"markDefs":9211,"style":16},"4b469934e6e7",[9181,9184,9188,9192,9196,9199,9203,9207],{"_key":9182,"_type":12,"marks":9183,"text":1372},"bf4ec161dc53",[114],{"_key":9185,"_type":12,"marks":9186,"text":9187},"83db22adbab9",[],", ca. 1954\u002F1958 (The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles [84.7]; RRF 55.007); ",{"_key":9189,"_type":12,"marks":9190,"text":9191},"c1fed68681d3",[114],"Odalisk",{"_key":9193,"_type":12,"marks":9194,"text":9195},"b0a15c82afdb",[],", 1955\u002F1958 (Museum Ludwig, Cologne [ML 01206]; RRF 58.001); ",{"_key":9197,"_type":12,"marks":9198,"text":9162},"0c1f3f341ae6",[114],{"_key":9200,"_type":12,"marks":9201,"text":9202},"a11106e42d8c",[],", 1955 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York [91.85]; RRF 55.002); ",{"_key":9204,"_type":12,"marks":9205,"text":9206},"866501bbeb34",[114],"Canyon",{"_key":9208,"_type":12,"marks":9209,"text":9210},"474c292e8845",[],", 1959 (The Museum of Modern Art, New York [1782.2012]; RRF 59.008).",[],{"_key":9213,"_type":8,"children":9214,"markDefs":9228,"style":16},"63b10b4238bb",[9215,9219,9224],{"_key":9216,"_type":12,"marks":9217,"text":9218},"a0a06fe0f6de",[],"Rauschenberg decorated the skull extensively. He attached to it several strands of colorful embroidery thread and one piece of twine, the latter holding the bell, and wrapped white thread around the jaw to keep it from moving. He also adhered various feathers to the skull, around the back and sides, and attached a rhinestone at the joint between the beak and the cranium. ",{"_key":9220,"_type":12,"marks":9221,"text":9223},"33f091a6304c",[9222],"753974ddca8a","The skull, probably collected in Tangier, thus became, for Rauschenberg, an instrument of ritual: “You may develop your own ritual about the objects. The order and logic of the arrangements are the direct creation of the viewer assisted by the costumed provocativeness and literal sensuality of the objects.”",{"_key":9225,"_type":12,"marks":9226,"text":9227},"4f35d2816e4a",[]," Rauschenberg transformed the remains of the bird into a would-be ethnographic artifact, one enriched with what he called a “rich false history.”",[9229],{"_key":9222,"_type":474,"text":9230},[9231],{"_key":9232,"_type":8,"children":9233,"markDefs":9238,"style":16},"c72bbfc3373c",[9234],{"_key":9235,"_type":12,"marks":9236,"text":9237},"ed6302e9af61",[],"Rauschenberg, statement for Galleria dell’Obelisco exhibition. For the skull’s origination in Tangier, see Twombly, interview by Hopps, March 13, 1991, p. 5.",[],{"_key":9240,"_type":8,"children":9241,"markDefs":9328,"style":16},"84841a55e099",[9242,9246,9251,9254,9259,9262,9267,9271,9275,9278,9282,9286,9291,9295,9299,9303,9308,9311,9314,9318,9321,9324],{"_key":9243,"_type":12,"marks":9244,"text":9245},"45fa91ac4386",[],"As is even more evident in the hanging assemblages in the series, the artist was probably trying to emulate objects he had seen in North Africa or Rome. ",{"_key":9247,"_type":12,"marks":9248,"text":9250},"56fafeb7a905",[9249],"e86254beb6fe","The art historian Nicholas Cullinan, who sees Rauschenberg in the role of “amateur ethnographer” in his approach to such objects, stresses the importance of Twombly’s visits to Rome’s Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini in the making of his North African sketchbooks (1953).",{"_key":9252,"_type":12,"marks":9253,"text":793},"673dacfbdba3",[],{"_key":9255,"_type":12,"marks":9256,"text":9258},"438dc1225923",[9257],"7c730f97a08d","Twombly later told Calvin Tomkins, “Bob went to all the museums,” which certainly included the Museo Africano, presumably included the Museo Pigorini, and may have included the Pontificio Museo Missionario-Etnologico, at the time still housed in its original location at the Lateran Palace and featuring dusty displays dating back to the 1920s.",{"_key":9260,"_type":12,"marks":9261,"text":793},"c2c1f2b53a36",[],{"_key":9263,"_type":12,"marks":9264,"text":9266},"d3a709e40dc3",[9265],"018fd87ed33e","One of its rooms housed materials related to the peoples of North America, which Rauschenberg could hardly have expected to encounter in Italy.",{"_key":9268,"_type":12,"marks":9269,"text":9270},"8a663e60464c",[]," The objects exhibited in the vitrines, surrounded by statues and paintings imaginatively depicting Indigenous peoples, could well have inspired the ",{"_key":9272,"_type":12,"marks":9273,"text":9274},"1b6a6116c8b5",[114],"Scatole e",{"_key":9276,"_type":12,"marks":9277,"text":793},"2078ea5003c1",[],{"_key":9279,"_type":12,"marks":9280,"text":9281},"027a2a2a2893",[114],"Feticci",{"_key":9283,"_type":12,"marks":9284,"text":9285},"1467d3fd61a1",[]," themselves; indeed, the word “fetish” belongs to the ethnographic lexicon of the period. Arriving in Rome expecting to experience classical art, Rauschenberg may have found himself confronted with what he perceived as an element of his own nation’s saga. Coupled with his recent firsthand experiences of North Africa’s art, crafts, and cultures, visits to ethnographic museums may have stimulated his decision to present himself in his first solo exhibition in Europe through ritual objects of his own invention. ",{"_key":9287,"_type":12,"marks":9288,"text":9290},"be6b6879f051",[9289],"b0783a704c2e","In line with recent critical interpretations of 1950s Rome as a “contact zone” between Americans and Italians, the ",{"_key":9292,"_type":12,"marks":9293,"text":9294},"e4a76e34e4a3",[114,9289],"Scatole e Feticci ",{"_key":9296,"_type":12,"marks":9297,"text":9298},"adb5c20ec554",[9289],"may be an indirect example of what the literary scholar Mary Louise Pratt has defined as “auto-ethnography”—that is, a practice in which “people undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with representations others have made of them.”",{"_key":9300,"_type":12,"marks":9301,"text":9302},"f2d0097c7e3f",[]," Calvin Tomkins’s account of the artist’s return to the United States seems to confirm this reading. ",{"_key":9304,"_type":12,"marks":9305,"text":9307},"834a6cf41ff9",[9306],"4fd1bb1182f2","Questioned by a customs officer about the ",{"_key":9309,"_type":12,"marks":9310,"text":8799},"c9dc2252d074",[114,9306],{"_key":9312,"_type":12,"marks":9313,"text":793},"3039b2fc6312",[9306],{"_key":9315,"_type":12,"marks":9316,"text":9317},"e71480f64cdb",[114,9306],"e",{"_key":9319,"_type":12,"marks":9320,"text":793},"c76198e3ca11",[9306],{"_key":9322,"_type":12,"marks":9323,"text":9281},"eff31db6a6b4",[114,9306],{"_key":9325,"_type":12,"marks":9326,"text":9327},"d71c07e15506",[9306]," he was transporting, Rauschenberg replied, “without thinking, [that] they were ceremonial objects made by American Indians.”",[9329,9355,9365,9375,9401],{"_key":9249,"_type":474,"text":9330},[9331],{"_key":9332,"_type":8,"children":9333,"markDefs":9354,"style":16},"08eb63830921",[9334,9338,9342,9346,9350],{"_key":9335,"_type":12,"marks":9336,"text":9337},"88147eed3913",[],"Nicholas Cullinan, “Double Exposure: Robert Rauschenberg’s and Cy Twombly’s Roman Holiday,” ",{"_key":9339,"_type":12,"marks":9340,"text":9341},"2297ac6e3544",[114],"Burlington Magazine",{"_key":9343,"_type":12,"marks":9344,"text":9345},"2a4c07138049",[]," 150, no. 1264 (July 2008), p. 466. For “amateur ethnographer,” see Nicholas Cullinan, “To Exist in Passing Time,” in ",{"_key":9347,"_type":12,"marks":9348,"text":9349},"7620747fc6cb",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg: Photographs 1949–1962",{"_key":9351,"_type":12,"marks":9352,"text":9353},"5ced57a234fb",[],", ed. Susan Davidson and David White (London: Thames & Hudson, 2011), p. 29.",[],{"_key":9257,"_type":474,"text":9356},[9357],{"_key":9358,"_type":8,"children":9359,"markDefs":9364,"style":16},"ebf796885cc3",[9360],{"_key":9361,"_type":12,"marks":9362,"text":9363},"5befefdb920e",[],"Since 2016, the collections of both the Museo Pigorini and the Museo Africano have been part of the MUCIV–Museo delle Civiltà, Rome. Those of the Pontificio Museo Missionario-Etnologico are now in the Museo Etnologico Anima Mundi, Musei Vaticani. Photographs taken by Rauschenberg, perhaps instructed by Twombly, depict funerary stelae from the Gurage region in Ethiopia, which, in 1952–53, were in the collection of the Museo Africano. The negatives are in the RRF Archives (VP016_NEG06, VP092_NEG08, VP092_NEG09). For Twombly’s comment to Tomkins, see Calvin Tomkins, “Cy,” n.d., Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 9, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":9265,"_type":474,"text":9366},[9367],{"_key":9368,"_type":8,"children":9369,"markDefs":9374,"style":16},"84e2378b331f",[9370],{"_key":9371,"_type":12,"marks":9372,"text":9373},"60518f9401fc",[],"The appearance of the room is documented in a photograph in the collection of MUCIV–Museo delle Civiltà, Rome, taken in the Lateran around 1943 and identified during research for this publication. Francesca Martusciello, Fototeca, Musei Vaticani, to Myriam Pierri, Collezioni Archivistiche Fotografiche, Storico-Documentali, di Disegni e Rilievi, MUCIV–Museo delle Civiltà, Rome, email, Sept. 3, 2025; Myriam Pierri to Erin O’Flynn, Image Coordinator, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York, email, Sept. 8, 2025.",[],{"_key":9289,"_type":474,"text":9376},[9377],{"_key":9378,"_type":8,"children":9379,"markDefs":9400,"style":16},"05de75483766",[9380,9384,9388,9392,9396],{"_key":9381,"_type":12,"marks":9382,"text":9383},"1f51824aa475",[],"Mary Louise Pratt, “Arts of the Contact Zone,” ",{"_key":9385,"_type":12,"marks":9386,"text":9387},"0d085fe8b2be",[114],"Profession",{"_key":9389,"_type":12,"marks":9390,"text":9391},"1429d2668967",[],", 1991, p. 35. For “contact zone,” see Peter Benson Miller, “Resident\u002FAlien: American Artists in Postwar Rome,” in ",{"_key":9393,"_type":12,"marks":9394,"text":9395},"c5b412e17494",[114],"Roma e gli artisti stranieri: Integrazione, rete e identità (XVI–XX s.)",{"_key":9397,"_type":12,"marks":9398,"text":9399},"186404fed016",[],", ed. Ariela Varela Braga and Thomas-Leo True (Rome: Artemide, 2018), pp. 221–38.",[],{"_key":9306,"_type":474,"text":9402},[9403],{"_key":9404,"_type":8,"children":9405,"markDefs":9418,"style":16},"34c206e14c19",[9406,9410,9414],{"_key":9407,"_type":12,"marks":9408,"text":9409},"231de2936592",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, ",{"_key":9411,"_type":12,"marks":9412,"text":9413},"fbb725f16346",[114],"Off the Wall: A Portrait of Robert Rauschenberg",{"_key":9415,"_type":12,"marks":9416,"text":9417},"a5af8b557a97",[]," (New York: Picador, 2005), p. 74.",[],[9420,9457],{"_key":9421,"_type":1738,"alt":9422,"asset":9423,"caption":9426,"stickyOnScroll":54,"width":7527},"57883925de40","An open, box displaying a mix of handwritten notes, illustrations, and a black-and-white photograph, all set against a gray background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":9424},{"_ref":9425,"_type":53},"image-f2213b3f163e5d320e3e9a994e6bb4880e7f7afd-2698x5835-jpg",[9427],{"_key":9428,"_type":8,"children":9429,"markDefs":9455,"style":16},"4286f8c44f20",[9430,9434,9437,9440,9443,9447,9451],{"_key":9431,"_type":12,"marks":9432,"text":9433},"1cc507b43395",[],"Fig. 2a. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":9435,"_type":12,"marks":9436,"text":8086},"89cd6bcb9964",[114],{"_key":9438,"_type":12,"marks":9439,"text":7196},"acbe2716ed18",[],{"_key":9441,"_type":12,"marks":9442,"text":1232},"9b72821d4406",[114],{"_key":9444,"_type":12,"marks":9445,"text":9446},"5cd9bbd0bd6f",[],"), ca. 1953 (detail of ",{"_key":9448,"_type":12,"marks":9449,"text":8681},"655825e8d2f7",[9450],"737ebe79b230",{"_key":9452,"_type":12,"marks":9453,"text":9454},"573e7834e575",[],", top of lid)",[9456],{"_key":9450,"_type":239,"crNo":8695},{"_key":9458,"_type":1738,"alt":9459,"asset":9460,"caption":9463},"e730e1a5d26c","A wooden box containing a colorful abstract artwork with red and yellow shapes, accompanied by a piece of fabric and a label in Arabic.",{"_type":1741,"asset":9461},{"_ref":9462,"_type":53},"image-807881b6e203b7afd1e7daca382647074eaa45ac-4105x8959-jpg",[9464],{"_key":9465,"_type":8,"children":9466,"markDefs":9492,"style":16},"edead993488f",[9467,9471,9474,9477,9480,9484,9488],{"_key":9468,"_type":12,"marks":9469,"text":9470},"fa485d2ce77b",[],"Fig. 2b. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":9472,"_type":12,"marks":9473,"text":8086},"c74d7b30eaff",[114],{"_key":9475,"_type":12,"marks":9476,"text":7196},"fbff80f5b71d",[],{"_key":9478,"_type":12,"marks":9479,"text":1232},"f097ce182b68",[114],{"_key":9481,"_type":12,"marks":9482,"text":9483},"800207880146",[],"), ca. 1953 (details of ",{"_key":9485,"_type":12,"marks":9486,"text":8681},"df74396348e9",[9487],"5e75c88b4cd1",{"_key":9489,"_type":12,"marks":9490,"text":9491},"a895ab56a1ea",[],", underside of lid)",[9493],{"_key":9487,"_type":239,"crNo":8695},{"_key":9495,"_type":1642,"content":9496,"images":9687},"b2e7dd257429",[9497,9581],{"_key":9498,"_type":8,"children":9499,"markDefs":9536,"style":16},"80b0a1955c70",[9500,9504,9507,9511,9516,9520,9525,9529,9532],{"_key":9501,"_type":12,"marks":9502,"text":9503},"3271f0ca0495",[],"In addition to ethnographic museums, flea markets were a second generative space for the conception of the ",{"_key":9505,"_type":12,"marks":9506,"text":1232},"e90f5c5680cf",[114],{"_key":9508,"_type":12,"marks":9509,"text":9510},"a721c2881ce9",[],". Twombly was an avid collector of antiquities and archaeological remains, while Rauschenberg took numerous photographs of outmoded curiosities up for sale in the stalls (fig. 5). ",{"_key":9512,"_type":12,"marks":9513,"text":9515},"69baff52a50b",[9514],"048ca9a1b45e","In Rome, he trained his secondhand Rolleicord, a medium-format camera, on wrecked objects, frayed textiles, and worn posters, offering an image of Italy far removed from contemporaneous Hollywood narratives.",{"_key":9517,"_type":12,"marks":9518,"text":9519},"a80adea17437",[]," In North Africa, Rauschenberg likely visited the local flea markets vividly described by the American expatriate writer Paul Bowles, whom Rauschenberg and Twombly met in Morocco: “Here everything had to be bought … ",{"_key":9521,"_type":12,"marks":9522,"text":9524},"c10e1d3736b7",[9523],"de33e0815e5b","nothing was discarded, which means that nothing was left around. An old tin can, a broken cup, an empty pill bottle, these things were put on sale. [The protagonist] remembered walking through the Joteya in Tangier and seeing the thousands of things on display, hopelessly useless articles, but for which the people must have managed to find a use.”",{"_key":9526,"_type":12,"marks":9527,"text":9528},"9d44f4d8bb3c",[]," These last words capture something of the spirit with which Rauschenberg assembled his ",{"_key":9530,"_type":12,"marks":9531,"text":8574},"c002f6792e5d",[114],{"_key":9533,"_type":12,"marks":9534,"text":9535},"6508c40bb67b",[],", finding a use for hopelessly useless materials, perhaps collected at the same markets described by Bowles.",[9537,9563],{"_key":9514,"_type":474,"text":9538},[9539],{"_key":9540,"_type":8,"children":9541,"markDefs":9562,"style":16},"3b9d3d928dec",[9542,9546,9550,9554,9558],{"_key":9543,"_type":12,"marks":9544,"text":9545},"0df159e36632",[],"As mentioned in a postcard Rauschenberg mailed to his parents from Rome, the director William Wyler was in the city to film ",{"_key":9547,"_type":12,"marks":9548,"text":9549},"5caf530e6c10",[114],"Roman Holiday ",{"_key":9551,"_type":12,"marks":9552,"text":9553},"69f29fce59fd",[],"(1953). Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, postcard, ca. Sept. 1952, RFC. More than any other Hollywood blockbuster, the movie shaped the American perception of postwar Italy and transformed Rome into a romantic and glamorous destination. At the same time, the underground, experimental gay filmmaker Kenneth Anger was filming ",{"_key":9555,"_type":12,"marks":9556,"text":9557},"627dd7db1ecf",[114],"Eaux d’artifice ",{"_key":9559,"_type":12,"marks":9560,"text":9561},"4a470c021b6d",[],"(1953) at Villa d’Este, in Tivoli.",[],{"_key":9523,"_type":474,"text":9564},[9565],{"_key":9566,"_type":8,"children":9567,"markDefs":9580,"style":16},"ba3b9474df41",[9568,9572,9576],{"_key":9569,"_type":12,"marks":9570,"text":9571},"48972ce0fa3f",[],"Paul Bowles, ",{"_key":9573,"_type":12,"marks":9574,"text":9575},"4f8820b55995",[114],"Let It Come Down",{"_key":9577,"_type":12,"marks":9578,"text":9579},"9b6a0c8bfb94",[]," (London: John Lehmann, 1952), p. 271.",[],{"_key":9582,"_type":8,"children":9583,"markDefs":9636,"style":16},"420c52481c3d",[9584,9588,9593,9596,9599,9603,9607,9611,9614,9618,9622,9625,9630,9633],{"_key":9585,"_type":12,"marks":9586,"text":9587},"1a7a12cd3f22",[],"In the early 1950s, drawing inspiration and materials from ethnographic museums and flea markets meant, deliberately or not, reconnecting to Surrealism. ",{"_key":9589,"_type":12,"marks":9590,"text":9592},"e46f17d359f0",[9591],"00af6e1d231d","Indeed, the materials Rauschenberg used to create his ",{"_key":9594,"_type":12,"marks":9595,"text":8799},"e76986936528",[114,9591],{"_key":9597,"_type":12,"marks":9598,"text":793},"a859f3f3901e",[9591],{"_key":9600,"_type":12,"marks":9601,"text":9602},"4d4d38ef32a0",[114,9591],"e Feticci ",{"_key":9604,"_type":12,"marks":9605,"text":9606},"4dcf99783a5c",[9591],"correspond almost perfectly to the beach detritus described by André Breton in his 1937 novel ",{"_key":9608,"_type":12,"marks":9609,"text":9610},"d6669ca56ff4",[114,9591],"L’amour fou",{"_key":9612,"_type":12,"marks":9613,"text":338},"c6d88409a330",[9591],{"_key":9615,"_type":12,"marks":9616,"text":9617},"30607dbd9e1f",[114,9591],"Mad Love",{"_key":9619,"_type":12,"marks":9620,"text":9621},"2c1420f0ed82",[9591],") as suitable for assembling Surrealist talismans: “a few small electric light bulbs, some blue bits of driftwood, a champagne cork, remnants of a pink candle, a cuttlefish bone no less pink, a little round metallic candy box inscribed with the word ‘violet,’ a tiny crab skeleton marvelously intact and chalk-white.”",{"_key":9623,"_type":12,"marks":9624,"text":793},"919a0cc46726",[],{"_key":9626,"_type":12,"marks":9627,"text":9629},"ab0e7bd92a8b",[9628],"8c94d17df194","As noted by the literary critic Francesco Orlando, Breton’s imagination in this passage succeeded in “striking a glimmer of preciousness or magic in every piece of debris that at least had the merit of being unexpected”—arguably the same result Rauschenberg aimed to achieve with his ",{"_key":9631,"_type":12,"marks":9632,"text":8574},"0124ce0aa5d0",[114,9628],{"_key":9634,"_type":12,"marks":9635,"text":236},"b1b1e7acaa12",[9628],[9637,9661],{"_key":9591,"_type":474,"text":9638},[9639],{"_key":9640,"_type":8,"children":9641,"markDefs":9660,"style":16},"dee6216e0770",[9642,9646,9649,9653,9656],{"_key":9643,"_type":12,"marks":9644,"text":9645},"1d2d9c22ee48",[],"André Breton, ",{"_key":9647,"_type":12,"marks":9648,"text":9617},"db752ee5d683",[114],{"_key":9650,"_type":12,"marks":9651,"text":9652},"e1ec3b457d2e",[],", trans. Mary Anne Caws (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1988), p. 101, originally published as ",{"_key":9654,"_type":12,"marks":9655,"text":9610},"6bbac18ab6af",[114],{"_key":9657,"_type":12,"marks":9658,"text":9659},"90009fca4e32",[]," (Paris: Gallimard, 1937).",[],{"_key":9628,"_type":474,"text":9662},[9663],{"_key":9664,"_type":8,"children":9665,"markDefs":9686,"style":16},"e7083c02bed2",[9666,9670,9674,9678,9682],{"_key":9667,"_type":12,"marks":9668,"text":9669},"396e8a63e436",[],"Francesco Orlando, ",{"_key":9671,"_type":12,"marks":9672,"text":9673},"85eb3f0f20c0",[114],"Obsolete Objects in the Literary Imagination: Ruins, Relics, Rarities, Rubbish, Uninhabited Places, and Hidden Treasures",{"_key":9675,"_type":12,"marks":9676,"text":9677},"02fe5606c86b",[],", trans. Alessandra Grego et al. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2006), originally published as ",{"_key":9679,"_type":12,"marks":9680,"text":9681},"fa36688466cd",[114],"Gli oggetti desueti nelle immagini della letteratura: Rovine, reliquie, rarità, robaccia, luoghi inabitati e tesori nascosti",{"_key":9683,"_type":12,"marks":9684,"text":9685},"cf06b8a2b91b",[]," (Turin: Einaudi, 1994), p. 40.",[],[9688],{"_key":9689,"_type":1738,"alt":9690,"asset":9691,"caption":9694},"9d1d1cf52610","A black and white photograph of a small animal enclosure featuring a birdcage, decorative elements on the wall, and various items displayed on shelves.",{"_type":1741,"asset":9692},{"_ref":9693,"_type":53},"image-5dfc8faa5c90a7c6dca8cb07d5c2088ad2bbd1aa-2618x2618-jpg",[9695],{"_key":9696,"_type":8,"children":9697,"markDefs":9702,"style":16},"05a55a66c326",[9698],{"_key":9699,"_type":12,"marks":9700,"text":9701},"c423963991eb",[],"Fig. 3. Carnival stall, Italy, 1952 or 1953. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[],{"_key":9704,"_type":1642,"content":9705,"images":9902},"27a364ac4a3b",[9706,9803],{"_key":9707,"_type":8,"children":9708,"markDefs":9750,"style":16},"ca431f6c8a04",[9709,9713,9716,9720,9725,9728,9733,9736,9739,9742,9746],{"_key":9710,"_type":12,"marks":9711,"text":9712},"2f5c56890ff1",[],"The Italian audience, though less exposed to Surrealism than those in other European countries and the United States, received the ",{"_key":9714,"_type":12,"marks":9715,"text":1232},"09861df5d6f8",[114],{"_key":9717,"_type":12,"marks":9718,"text":9719},"518eb4a09e77",[]," as Surrealist. ",{"_key":9721,"_type":12,"marks":9722,"text":9724},"52c94d5489d9",[9723],"00fa59bf2053","One reviewer of the Florence exhibition considered the works “fairly faithful to the Surrealist manner”; another remarked on “Surrealist jokes”; and a third branded Rauschenberg and Twombly “American Surrealists” and described their Florentine debut as the “first [Surrealist exhibition] to go on show in Italy.”",{"_key":9726,"_type":12,"marks":9727,"text":793},"aecaaa95a408",[],{"_key":9729,"_type":12,"marks":9730,"text":9732},"b6a2c68699cf",[9731],"af9f839085af","Although the ",{"_key":9734,"_type":12,"marks":9735,"text":9274},"c8de6a4dd873",[114,9731],{"_key":9737,"_type":12,"marks":9738,"text":793},"c8b8f7b0257a",[9731],{"_key":9740,"_type":12,"marks":9741,"text":9281},"42823b038782",[114,9731],{"_key":9743,"_type":12,"marks":9744,"text":9745},"d63b9fe52dc4",[9731]," have often been related to works by Cornell and other Surrealists that Rauschenberg may have encountered in New York,",{"_key":9747,"_type":12,"marks":9748,"text":9749},"02684894037f",[]," the deeper reasons that led him to resort to a Surrealist language in Rome remain uninvestigated.",[9751,9785],{"_key":9723,"_type":474,"text":9752},[9753],{"_key":9754,"_type":8,"children":9755,"markDefs":9784,"style":16},"d4b5124f42dc",[9756,9760,9764,9768,9772,9776,9780],{"_key":9757,"_type":12,"marks":9758,"text":9759},"ba96dee4fc81",[],"Vice, “Twombly and Rauschenberg,” 1953, in ",{"_key":9761,"_type":12,"marks":9762,"text":9763},"290649588d39",[114],"Writings on Cy Twombly",{"_key":9765,"_type":12,"marks":9766,"text":9767},"d56e7bee0808",[],", ed. Nicola Del Roscio, trans. Michael Sullivan (Munich: Schirmer\u002FMosel, 2002), p. 32, originally published as “Twombly e Rauschenberg” in ",{"_key":9769,"_type":12,"marks":9770,"text":9771},"719cffea73b0",[114],"Il mattino dell’Italia centrale",{"_key":9773,"_type":12,"marks":9774,"text":9775},"1d382ad0d9ff",[],", March 24, 1953; P[arronchi], “Mostre d’arte,” March 31, 1953; V. d’a., “Paintings, Monotypes and Other Things,” 1953, in Del Roscio, ",{"_key":9777,"_type":12,"marks":9778,"text":9779},"61ff9d060b1b",[114],"Writings on Twombly",{"_key":9781,"_type":12,"marks":9782,"text":9783},"305bb4fec239",[],", p. 33, originally published as “Pitture, monotipi e altre cose” in an unidentified Italian newspaper. This last reviewer was incorrect. As an example, Galleria dell’Obelisco itself had already hosted solo exhibitions of Salvador Dalí (Nov. 1948), Roberto Matta (Jan. 1950), René Magritte (Jan. 1953), and Yves Tanguy (Feb. 1953).",[],{"_key":9731,"_type":474,"text":9786},[9787],{"_key":9788,"_type":8,"children":9789,"markDefs":9802,"style":16},"927dc38ee24b",[9790,9794,9798],{"_key":9791,"_type":12,"marks":9792,"text":9793},"b3a3d81114ff",[],"In preparation for his major 1997–99 retrospective, Rauschenberg addressed this point directly in a note to Susan Davidson: “One thing that keeps popping up is the comparison with my work and Cornell’s. A big difference in our attitudes is that I dragged ordinary materials into the art world for a direct confrontation, and I felt Cornell incorporated highly select materials to celebrate their rarefication, often protecting their existence with as many as four to six sheets of glass. I love his work, but I think we lived in different worlds.” Walter Hopps, “Introduction: Rauschenberg’s Art of Fusion,” in ",{"_key":9795,"_type":12,"marks":9796,"text":9797},"3083afac08cc",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective",{"_key":9799,"_type":12,"marks":9800,"text":9801},"b2181b0d5f8f",[],", by Walter Hopps and Susan Davidson, exh. cat. (New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1997) p. 29n12.",[],{"_key":9804,"_type":8,"children":9805,"markDefs":9840,"style":16},"d7bfd689c442",[9806,9810,9815,9819,9824,9827,9832,9836],{"_key":9807,"_type":12,"marks":9808,"text":9809},"522a9860c124",[],"The context of the works’ first exhibition may help shed some light on them. Postwar Rome was a haven for offbeat foreigners whose lingua franca was Surrealism. ",{"_key":9811,"_type":12,"marks":9812,"text":9814},"b0195603087c",[9813],"32a9c191b5d4","Galleria dell’Obelisco was instrumental in the spread of Surrealism in Italy—a fact that, along with its “plush walls,” captured Twombly’s attention",{"_key":9816,"_type":12,"marks":9817,"text":9818},"740f6de27a9b",[],". In addition to exhibiting works by historical Surrealists, including René Magritte and Yves Tanguy, L’Obelisco was a hotspot of the late-Surrealist and Neo-Romantic queer expatriate milieu in Rome. ",{"_key":9820,"_type":12,"marks":9821,"text":9823},"d49ad0c143ca",[9822],"d5493f244760","Figures connected to the gallery included the painters Eugene Berman, Carlyle Brown, and Pavel Tchelitchew; the Italian-born U.S. Army veteran and painter Corrado Cagli; the photographer Herbert List; and the poet Charles Henri Ford, Tchelitchew’s partner.",{"_key":9825,"_type":12,"marks":9826,"text":793},"119c0429add1",[],{"_key":9828,"_type":12,"marks":9829,"text":9831},"ec52d4a11148",[9830],"53422241acbe","As L’Obelisco’s co-owner Irene Brin later recalled, Rauschenberg created a friendly atmosphere around his exhibition: “Bob left [Italy] with his twenty thousand lire. No, he had less, he offered an incredible number of ",{"_key":9833,"_type":12,"marks":9834,"text":9835},"1d6ad956d1e1",[114,9830],"aperitivi",{"_key":9837,"_type":12,"marks":9838,"text":9839},"dda61e2d4f08",[9830],", at the bar on Via Sistina, so wonderful did the occasion appear to him.”",[9841,9859,9884],{"_key":9813,"_type":474,"text":9842},[9843],{"_key":9844,"_type":8,"children":9845,"markDefs":9858,"style":16},"d972243ebb72",[9846,9850,9854],{"_key":9847,"_type":12,"marks":9848,"text":9849},"be2b3b6afbad",[],"Walter Hopps, ",{"_key":9851,"_type":12,"marks":9852,"text":9853},"258605f2067f",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg: The Early 1950s",{"_key":9855,"_type":12,"marks":9856,"text":9857},"030e9b2afc4b",[],", exh. cat. (Houston: Menil Collection; Houston Fine Art Press, 1991), p. 115.",[],{"_key":9822,"_type":474,"text":9860},[9861],{"_key":9862,"_type":8,"children":9863,"markDefs":9883,"style":16},"4c2f77c11154",[9864,9868,9871,9875,9879],{"_key":9865,"_type":12,"marks":9866,"text":9867},"e2a0490a6485",[],"On the connections between “the young Italian Fantasts [",{"_key":9869,"_type":12,"marks":9870,"text":4747},"e080ef89ea7b",[114],{"_key":9872,"_type":12,"marks":9873,"text":9874},"7a71459ee9ae",[],"] and the American Surrealists,” see Ilaria Schiaffini, “It’s a Roman Holiday for Artists: The American Artists of L’Obelisco After World War II,” ",{"_key":9876,"_type":12,"marks":9877,"text":9878},"f2aa482006d7",[114],"Italian Modern Art",{"_key":9880,"_type":12,"marks":9881,"text":9882},"00a48e569177",[],", no. 3 (Jan. 2020), https:\u002F\u002Fwww.italianmodernart.org\u002Fjournal\u002Farticles\u002Fits-a-roman-holiday-for-artists-the-american-artists-of-lobelisco-after-world-war-ii\u002F, accessed Sept. 22, 2022 (no longer accessible).",[],{"_key":9830,"_type":474,"text":9885},[9886],{"_key":9887,"_type":8,"children":9888,"markDefs":9901,"style":16},"ccd46db28c80",[9889,9893,9897],{"_key":9890,"_type":12,"marks":9891,"text":9892},"bb11e3112c68",[],"Irene Brin, “La prima mostra italiana del re della Pop Art, vincitore della Biennale, fu organizzata solo per divertimento,” ",{"_key":9894,"_type":12,"marks":9895,"text":9896},"84eb8257b6b3",[114],"Bellezza: Mensile dell’alta moda e di vita italiana",{"_key":9898,"_type":12,"marks":9899,"text":9900},"df609c5c69d0",[]," 24, no. 10 (Oct. 1964), p. 100 (my translation). Twenty thousand lire in 1953 is equivalent to about four hundred U.S. dollars today.",[],[9903],{"_key":9904,"_type":1738,"alt":9905,"asset":9906,"caption":9909},"62def25c2d2b","A wooden box depicts a miniature scene of three yellow birds perched on a branch within a small, earthy landscape.",{"_type":1741,"asset":9907},{"_ref":9908,"_type":53},"image-24d34a6957151214598e02626c611ca89a423ecb-2064x2662-jpg",[9910],{"_key":9911,"_type":8,"children":9912,"markDefs":9925,"style":16},"82b3fdd77594",[9913,9917,9921],{"_key":9914,"_type":12,"marks":9915,"text":9916},"a07477fbbb5d",[],"Fig. 4. Joseph Cornell, ",{"_key":9918,"_type":12,"marks":9919,"text":9920},"580f414b20b9",[114],"Untitled (Aviary with Yellow Birds)",{"_key":9922,"_type":12,"marks":9923,"text":9924},"c2e39f9dcafa",[],", ca. 1948. Wood, cork, paint, and cardboard in glass-faced wood box; 21⅛ × 15 × 6⅜ in. (53.7 × 38.2 × 16.3 cm). Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.",[],{"_key":9927,"_type":1642,"content":9928,"images":9995},"e545f6f9b66d",[9929,9960],{"_key":9930,"_type":8,"children":9931,"markDefs":9941,"style":16},"1274adbdc0f2",[9932,9936],{"_key":9933,"_type":12,"marks":9934,"text":9935},"1c555f778591",[],"It is not hard to imagine that during such convivial get-togethers Twombly and Rauschenberg may have been integrated into the city’s queer expatriate, Surrealist-influenced community. Such an affinity seems confirmed by their visit to Bowles, a close friend of Ford’s and List’s. Rauschenberg’s peculiar take on Surrealism, which differed from that of most of his Roman counterparts in being nonpictorial and nonfigurative, could nevertheless have been instrumental in penetrating the milieu he was navigating in the city. Back in New York, he would quickly abandon such unfashionable undertones. ",{"_key":9937,"_type":12,"marks":9938,"text":9940},"7c5044127625",[9939],"740dfa1f4666","As noted by the art historian Roni Feinstein, “These less than avant-garde concerns, however, were to be the very cornerstones of his later art.”",[9942],{"_key":9939,"_type":474,"text":9943},[9944],{"_key":9945,"_type":8,"children":9946,"markDefs":9959,"style":16},"27179866e435",[9947,9951,9955],{"_key":9948,"_type":12,"marks":9949,"text":9950},"e8d60078056b",[],"Roni Feinstein, ",{"_key":9952,"_type":12,"marks":9953,"text":9954},"8370c0fefdf2",[114],"Random Order: The First Fifteen Years of Robert Rauschenberg’s Art, 1949–1964",{"_key":9956,"_type":12,"marks":9957,"text":9958},"55f4c0ec6131",[]," (PhD diss., New York University, 1990), ProQuest (303859753), p. 128.",[],{"_key":9961,"_type":8,"children":9962,"markDefs":9984,"style":16},"494dddad1999",[9963,9967,9972,9976,9980],{"_key":9964,"_type":12,"marks":9965,"text":9966},"e226bee0d7a5",[],"Emitting birdlike sounds, this small box gathers and conceals several fundamental strands of fascination for the young Rauschenberg. In a few cubic inches, it accommodates his interest in ethnography, his reconnection to his roots and his childhood, his engagement with Surrealism, perhaps a subtle nod to a queer milieu and his relationship with Twombly, the visits he made to flea markets and museums, the beginning of a lasting investment in avian themes, and his American gaze on Europe and North Africa. It contributed to the shaping of the image he wanted to present of himself to the European public, and it responded to the image he expected the public to otherwise have of him as an American artist. ",{"_key":9968,"_type":12,"marks":9969,"text":9971},"d9471927b5de",[9970],"b1e0827cf596","Outmoded and out of time, the work was kept out of sight for decades,",{"_key":9973,"_type":12,"marks":9974,"text":9975},"22efe869d6ee",[]," omitted from Rauschenberg’s canon but still sending out quiet echoes that would be heard in the artist’s later works. Inherently ",{"_key":9977,"_type":12,"marks":9978,"text":9979},"d87e5372e5e0",[114],"personale",{"_key":9981,"_type":12,"marks":9982,"text":9983},"ab5c7ad4f00e",[],", it is at once “private, intimate, and secret.” ",[9985],{"_key":9970,"_type":474,"text":9986},[9987],{"_key":9988,"_type":8,"children":9989,"markDefs":9994,"style":16},"59265ce47e01",[9990],{"_key":9991,"_type":12,"marks":9992,"text":9993},"4d1afbdb2649",[],"After remaining at Twombly’s family home in Lexington, Virginia, until 1989, the work found its way to auction in 1992 (Sotheby’s, New York, May 7, 1992, lot 299), where it was acquired by the Menil Collection.",[],[9996],{"_key":9997,"_type":1738,"alt":9998,"asset":9999,"caption":10002},"df7fbdb60091","A collection of framed paintings and empty picture frames leaning against a textured stone wall, with a bicycle wheel resting on the ground beside them.",{"_type":1741,"asset":10000},{"_ref":10001,"_type":53},"image-3b01982b48c0ef0d8e12061241dd35ed5d7b39c0-3000x3000-jpg",[10003],{"_key":10004,"_type":8,"children":10005,"markDefs":10010,"style":16},"2fb2ced83576",[10006],{"_key":10007,"_type":12,"marks":10008,"text":10009},"1a55bf2fba4c",[],"Fig. 5. Flea market, Rome, ca. 1952. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[],[10012],{"_key":105,"_type":8,"children":10013,"markDefs":10035,"style":16},[10014,10017,10020,10023,10026,10030,10032],{"_key":7532,"_type":12,"marks":10015,"text":10016},[],"Giorgio Di Domenico, “‘In a rich, false history’: ",{"_key":10018,"_type":12,"marks":10019,"text":8086},"5e50189109c8",[114],{"_key":10021,"_type":12,"marks":10022,"text":7196},"86f2ba47589d",[],{"_key":10024,"_type":12,"marks":10025,"text":1232},"db9b2c29b100",[114],{"_key":10027,"_type":12,"marks":10028,"text":10029},"d0de57e4738c",[],"),” ",{"_key":112,"_type":12,"marks":10031,"text":115},[114],{"_key":117,"_type":12,"marks":10033,"text":10034},[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fscatole-e-fettici.",[],[10037],{"_key":10038,"_type":8,"children":10039,"markDefs":10068,"style":16},"7315b151c395",[10040,10044,10048,10052,10056,10060,10064],{"_key":10041,"_type":12,"marks":10042,"text":10043},"8c534393ffce",[],"Maya Deren, lecture, Cleveland Museum of Art, April 6, 1951, published as “New Directions in Film Art,” ",{"_key":10045,"_type":12,"marks":10046,"text":10047},"82813decedb5",[114],"Film Culture",{"_key":10049,"_type":12,"marks":10050,"text":10051},"6616611d1d10",[],", no. 29 (Summer 1963), p. 64, quoted and mentioned in relation to the ",{"_key":10053,"_type":12,"marks":10054,"text":10055},"ce4063d61749",[114],"Scatole ",{"_key":10057,"_type":12,"marks":10058,"text":10059},"8d07b5a1e3a5",[],"in Judith F. Rodenbeck, ",{"_key":10061,"_type":12,"marks":10062,"text":10063},"c3507e4085a6",[114],"Radical Prototypes: Allan Kaprow and the Invention of Happenings",{"_key":10065,"_type":12,"marks":10066,"text":10067},"797264c81fd0",[]," (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2011), pp. 68–69. The word “subjectives” in Deren’s third sentence matches the original.",[],[10070],{"_key":10071,"_type":8,"children":10072,"markDefs":10085,"style":16},"cfd746ac17df",[10073,10075,10078,10081],{"_key":10018,"_type":12,"marks":10074,"text":8086},[114],{"_key":10076,"_type":12,"marks":10077,"text":7196},"2e948b92c81d",[],{"_key":10079,"_type":12,"marks":10080,"text":1232},"9932870cafb1",[114],{"_key":10082,"_type":12,"marks":10083,"text":10084},"7ebb1a0c5050",[],")",[],[10087],{"_key":10071,"_type":8,"children":10088,"markDefs":10093,"style":16},[10089],{"_key":10090,"_type":12,"marks":10091,"text":10092},"90135a96b0b5",[],"“In a rich, false history”",[],[10095,10109],{"_key":10071,"_type":8,"children":10096,"markDefs":10108,"style":16},[10097,10100,10102,10105],{"_key":10090,"_type":12,"marks":10098,"text":10099},[],"“In a rich, false history”: ",{"_key":10018,"_type":12,"marks":10101,"text":8086},[114],{"_key":10103,"_type":12,"marks":10104,"text":7196},"621b54bfa54a",[],{"_key":10106,"_type":12,"marks":10107,"text":10055},"ecb28d9382c2",[114],[],{"_key":10110,"_type":8,"children":10111,"markDefs":10118,"style":16},"50b9b937fb68",[10112,10115],{"_key":10018,"_type":12,"marks":10113,"text":10114},[114],"e Feticci Personali",{"_key":10116,"_type":12,"marks":10117,"text":10084},"a24e5395712c",[],[],{"_type":424,"current":10120},"scatole-e-fettici",{"_createdAt":10122,"_id":10123,"_rev":10124,"_system":10125,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":10128,"author":10129,"authorBio":10130,"body":10190,"citeAs":11921,"essayType":6260,"paragraphStyle":122,"subtitle":11940,"title":11955,"tocPreviewTitle":11961,"uid":11978},"2026-08-05T17:21:00Z","c09170d7-15db-4006-8e97-861f4cf1006f","AT3m2ak6bZ701LMshpxGVb",{"base":10126},{"id":10123,"rev":10127},"ipy1UE5T7csP8sVrObjuUF","2026-10-22T17:00:36Z","Helen Molesworth",[10131],{"_key":10132,"_type":8,"children":10133,"markDefs":10189,"style":16},"e34a1463a787",[10134,10137,10141,10145,10149,10153,10157,10161,10165,10169,10173,10177,10181,10185],{"_key":10135,"_type":12,"marks":10136,"text":10129},"fac8b08dee78",[96],{"_key":10138,"_type":12,"marks":10139,"text":10140},"891692902395",[]," is a writer, podcaster, and curator. In 2023, Phaidon published ",{"_key":10142,"_type":12,"marks":10143,"text":10144},"637f7301f01d",[114],"Open Questions: Thirty Years of Writing About Art",{"_key":10146,"_type":12,"marks":10147,"text":10148},"589dcef74785",[],", an anthology of her essays. She is the host of ",{"_key":10150,"_type":12,"marks":10151,"text":10152},"9a0ffa7fe0d9",[114],"Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast",{"_key":10154,"_type":12,"marks":10155,"text":10156},"c1f22b401424",[],", featuring interviews with artists. Her museum exhibitions include",{"_key":10158,"_type":12,"marks":10159,"text":10160},"67fcee3948de",[114]," Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College, 1933–1957 ",{"_key":10162,"_type":12,"marks":10163,"text":10164},"681288cc78d6",[],"(Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, et al.); ",{"_key":10166,"_type":12,"marks":10167,"text":10168},"1a5b45582079",[114],"This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s ",{"_key":10170,"_type":12,"marks":10171,"text":10172},"5fe45e7543f4",[],"(Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago et al.); ",{"_key":10174,"_type":12,"marks":10175,"text":10176},"682a40ada473",[114],"Part Object, Part Sculpture ",{"_key":10178,"_type":12,"marks":10179,"text":10180},"146675b4880a",[],"(Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus); and ",{"_key":10182,"_type":12,"marks":10183,"text":10184},"392498c3f288",[114],"Work Ethic ",{"_key":10186,"_type":12,"marks":10187,"text":10188},"1eb0ece8e3fd",[],"(Baltimore Museum of Art et al.). She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Award for Curatorial Excellence from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, and the Clark Prize for Excellence in Art Writing.",[],[10191,10210,10398,10528,10884,11058,11236,11436,11744],{"_key":10192,"_type":8516,"content":10193},"8ce610a65713",[10194,10202],{"_key":10195,"_type":8,"children":10196,"markDefs":10201,"style":16},"e672382d105f",[10197],{"_key":10198,"_type":12,"marks":10199,"text":10200},"cd259ab3ba3f",[114,130],"In memory of Achim Borchardt-Hume",[],{"_key":10203,"_type":8,"children":10204,"markDefs":10209,"style":16},"ffb1d4d601d9",[10205],{"_key":10206,"_type":12,"marks":10207,"text":10208},"ac7f41a453e5",[130],"",[],{"_key":10211,"_type":1642,"content":10212,"images":10371},"292bc655d3fc",[10213,10283,10311,10342],{"_key":10214,"_type":8,"children":10215,"markDefs":10254,"style":16},"07c50d8c1b1c",[10216,10221,10225,10229,10232,10236,10239,10243,10247,10250],{"_key":10217,"_type":12,"marks":10218,"text":10220},"581d0c8381ee",[10219,130],"b6cbec00dfeb","“I bought a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. And hoped that he wouldn’t be home when I knocked on his door.”",{"_key":10222,"_type":12,"marks":10223,"text":10224},"70f0c8ef0355",[130]," That’s Robert Rauschenberg, from a video recorded in 1999, around the time the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) purchased a group of Rauschenberg’s early works, including his iconic and iconoclastic ",{"_key":10226,"_type":12,"marks":10227,"text":10228},"7529bc0754fc",[114,130],"Erased de Kooning",{"_key":10230,"_type":12,"marks":10231,"text":793},"ea5f5280f6da",[130],{"_key":10233,"_type":12,"marks":10234,"text":10235},"0a0c1fa392c4",[114,130],"Drawing",{"_key":10237,"_type":12,"marks":10238,"text":7687},"884055ddb9d8",[130],{"_key":10240,"_type":12,"marks":10241,"text":343},"5742978dd63f",[10242,130],"ac563059ac51",{"_key":10244,"_type":12,"marks":10245,"text":10246},"e4859914c0d5",[130],"). Already seventy-four years old, he looks impishly boyish as he describes an artwork that vacillates between being a prank (in the spirit of Marcel Duchamp) and a bedrock of the American neo-avant-garde. It’s perhaps easier, in the twenty-first century, to imagine the intimacy between the young Rauschenberg and the older Willem de Kooning than it is to recall those twentieth-century days when people showed up on your doorstep unannounced, bottle in hand. Rauschenberg’s story recalls the small-town vibe of downtown Manhattan’s art scene in the mid-1950s. The curator Sarah Roberts describes how news of ",{"_key":10248,"_type":12,"marks":10249,"text":334},"8c487b89d86f",[114,130],{"_key":10251,"_type":12,"marks":10252,"text":10253},"7c4ee422a0e0",[130]," traveled fast in this close-knit world:",[10255,10282],{"_key":10219,"_type":474,"text":10256},[10257],{"_key":10258,"_type":8,"children":10259,"markDefs":10280,"style":16},"276c9cb69081",[10260,10264,10267,10271,10276],{"_key":10261,"_type":12,"marks":10262,"text":10263},"7552af806605",[],"Rauschenberg, “Robert Rauschenberg Discusses ",{"_key":10265,"_type":12,"marks":10266,"text":334},"1d3ff7e7868c",[114],{"_key":10268,"_type":12,"marks":10269,"text":10270},"43b051166e98",[]," at SFMOMA, May 6, 1999,” interview by David A. Ross, Walter Hopps, Gary Garrels, and Peter Samis, May 6, 1999, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, video, at 8:35, ",{"_key":10272,"_type":12,"marks":10273,"text":10275},"65e6fcf2d4ac",[10274],"b875891c3854","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sfmoma.org\u002Fresearch-materials\u002Fedek_98-298_031\u002F",{"_key":10277,"_type":12,"marks":10278,"text":10279},"612d84ba62de",[],". [In 1953, de Kooning lived and worked at 88 East 10th Street, near Astor Place, New York. —Eds.]",[10281],{"_key":10274,"_type":375,"href":10275},{"_key":10242,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":10284,"_type":8,"children":10285,"markDefs":10291,"style":1652},"619e6dc13a1e",[10286],{"_key":10287,"_type":12,"marks":10288,"text":10290},"97fd5959a042",[10289,130],"dcd85ec7086d","Most early viewers likely encountered the work in Rauschenberg’s New York studio, where it hung on the wall, visible to anyone who stopped in on the gregarious artist. The story behind the work was certainly filtering through the city’s art circles in the mid- to late 1950s, as Rauschenberg began telling people that he had erased a de Kooning drawing almost immediately. Passed on by word of mouth, the basic plot points of the story had become known among art insiders by 1957, the year Steinberg later reported hearing about the work and being so perplexed that he picked up the phone to call the artist for clarification.",[10292],{"_key":10289,"_type":474,"text":10293},[10294],{"_key":10295,"_type":8,"children":10296,"markDefs":10309,"style":16},"410318bee895",[10297,10301,10306],{"_key":10298,"_type":12,"marks":10299,"text":10300},"36e3ba83f85f",[],"Sarah Roberts, “Erased de Kooning Drawing,” Rauschenberg Research Project, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, July 2013, ",{"_key":10302,"_type":12,"marks":10303,"text":10305},"49d0df30f0d3",[10304],"19a46a4be895","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sfmoma.org\u002Fessay\u002Ferased-de-kooning-drawing\u002F",{"_key":10307,"_type":12,"marks":10308,"text":236},"4c88e96c0b4a",[],[10310],{"_key":10304,"_type":375,"href":10305},{"_key":10312,"_type":8,"children":10313,"markDefs":10323,"style":16},"426f7e2d9998",[10314,10319],{"_key":10315,"_type":12,"marks":10316,"text":10318},"3edf92c1fe9a",[10317,130],"e8f2330ec473","Leo Steinberg, the critic in question, recounted later, “The piece had not been exhibited; you heard of it by word of mouth.”",{"_key":10320,"_type":12,"marks":10321,"text":10322},"ecdb8ef02177",[130]," Here, we might catch another whiff of how informal the art world once was: small enough that most folks saw the work in Rauschenberg’s studio long before it became a treasured museum object; intimate enough that gossip carried the news of art-historical breakthroughs; collegial enough that critics could call artists to check the veracity of such news.",[10324],{"_key":10317,"_type":474,"text":10325},[10326],{"_key":10327,"_type":8,"children":10328,"markDefs":10341,"style":16},"18040c96745c",[10329,10333,10337],{"_key":10330,"_type":12,"marks":10331,"text":10332},"ae6241d6ec8b",[],"Leo Steinberg, ",{"_key":10334,"_type":12,"marks":10335,"text":10336},"5001fa3045fa",[114],"Encounters with Rauschenberg (A Lavishly Illustrated Lecture)",{"_key":10338,"_type":12,"marks":10339,"text":10340},"10db7d8a4c03",[]," (Houston: Menil Collection, 2000), p. 16.",[],{"_key":10343,"_type":8,"children":10344,"markDefs":10370,"style":16},"906e49db42c3",[10345,10349,10352,10356,10359,10363,10366],{"_key":10346,"_type":12,"marks":10347,"text":10348},"1888979eff4f",[],"No matter how you learn about Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":10350,"_type":12,"marks":10351,"text":334},"abcd592631f2",[114],{"_key":10353,"_type":12,"marks":10354,"text":10355},"386f0260470b",[],", it comes with a story, one hinted at in its title. Indeed, the work is an object lesson in how art is never autonomous. All art comes to have meaning through narration. All art is dependent on a caption, a backstory, a context from which it emerges. One of the many effects of ",{"_key":10357,"_type":12,"marks":10358,"text":334},"10e6086dff42",[114],{"_key":10360,"_type":12,"marks":10361,"text":10362},"05be2c3bafce",[]," is to gesture toward the supporting characters, the framing devices, and the labor that goes into maintaining the category of Art. Hence, every account of ",{"_key":10364,"_type":12,"marks":10365,"text":334},"40bbbcfc1d2b",[114],{"_key":10367,"_type":12,"marks":10368,"text":10369},"a80f396c4cbd",[]," must rehearse the tale leading up to the work. This is such a consistent attribute of the work’s reception that it is safe to say that the backstory is as much a part of the work as the work itself. This account is no different.",[],[10372],{"_key":10373,"_type":1738,"alt":10374,"asset":10375,"caption":10378},"45871888e41a","A framed, blank piece of paper with a small label at the bottom center, displayed against a white background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":10376},{"_ref":10377,"_type":53},"image-207515f2eb89b62272a27f6a71429c0ca31c31d6-8491x9827-jpg",[10379],{"_key":10380,"_type":8,"children":10381,"markDefs":10396,"style":16},"c287bf226d17",[10382,10386,10389,10392],{"_key":10383,"_type":12,"marks":10384,"text":343},"5611c3448a01",[10385],"33281ae6b9b4",{"_key":10387,"_type":12,"marks":10388,"text":793},"c87d6bdc3269",[],{"_key":10390,"_type":12,"marks":10391,"text":334},"495ae36913b0",[114],{"_key":10393,"_type":12,"marks":10394,"text":10395},"5636199301ce",[],", 1953. Erased drawing with label and gilded frame; 25¼ × 21¾ in. (64.1 × 55.3 cm). San Francisco Museum of Modern Art",[10397],{"_key":10385,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":10399,"_type":1642,"content":10400,"images":10504},"d4b2abde776e",[10401,10450],{"_key":10402,"_type":8,"children":10403,"markDefs":10432,"style":16},"a0cb1442f032",[10404,10408,10411,10415,10420,10424,10428],{"_key":10405,"_type":12,"marks":10406,"text":10407},"116389bbe147",[],"After Rauschenberg achieved the affectless surfaces of the ",{"_key":10409,"_type":12,"marks":10410,"text":250},"3644c174d87c",[114],{"_key":10412,"_type":12,"marks":10413,"text":10414},"daea237e6587",[]," (1951), he turned his attention to making a drawing that would behave similarly. ",{"_key":10416,"_type":12,"marks":10417,"text":10419},"c880ed944263",[10418],"0a6e5a5a5b72","“I ",{"_key":10421,"_type":12,"marks":10422,"text":10423},"dc0e0045948e",[114,10418],"love",{"_key":10425,"_type":12,"marks":10426,"text":10427},"5e60c91619f0",[10418]," drawing,” he says in the SFMOMA video, his voice adding a touch of emphasis to establish his bona fides in this arena.",{"_key":10429,"_type":12,"marks":10430,"text":10431},"52dadd3525c1",[]," The act of putting white paint on a canvas in a manner akin to the application of house paint, utterly devoid of brushstrokes, was an exercise in both covering up and making clean. The goal was to traffic in blankness. What would be the medium-specific analogue in drawing? This led him to think about erasure. Having learned from Josef Albers, his instructor at Black Mountain College, that any color was as good as any other color—so much so that choosing between colors was merely a matter of personal preference—Rauschenberg was primed for the realization that making marks and erasing marks might also have a similar valence.",[10433],{"_key":10418,"_type":474,"text":10434},[10435],{"_key":10436,"_type":8,"children":10437,"markDefs":10449,"style":16},"a7af50c577d9",[10438,10442,10445],{"_key":10439,"_type":12,"marks":10440,"text":10441},"f2b190d2ed07",[],"Rauschenberg, “Rauschenberg Discusses ",{"_key":10443,"_type":12,"marks":10444,"text":334},"df2e17e0da25",[114],{"_key":10446,"_type":12,"marks":10447,"text":10448},"82f625adf82d",[],",” May 6, 1999, at 6:59.",[],{"_key":10451,"_type":8,"children":10452,"markDefs":10483,"style":16},"5bedc2d98edc",[10453,10457,10462,10466,10471,10475,10479],{"_key":10454,"_type":12,"marks":10455,"text":10456},"7136631dab6c",[],"He started by erasing one of his own drawings but was quickly dissatisfied. ",{"_key":10458,"_type":12,"marks":10459,"text":10461},"1d4809add209",[10460],"75378f007d2a","In the SFMOMA video, Rauschenberg (still) looks a touch mystified when he says, “It wasn’t art yet.”",{"_key":10463,"_type":12,"marks":10464,"text":10465},"f44a36af059f",[]," For the erased drawing to be art, the original drawing had to be a work of art. ",{"_key":10467,"_type":12,"marks":10468,"text":10470},"e7b8e1f89139",[10469],"be0e54a86e3d","Such are the contours of his explanation as to why he chose de Kooning: because he was the “best-known” artist, because his work was “indisputably considered art.”",{"_key":10472,"_type":12,"marks":10473,"text":10474},"75db174ad18e",[]," In addition to seeing drawing and erasure as forms of personal preference à la Albers, I think Rauschenberg also understood one of the most trenchant implications of the Duchampian readymade: Art is what other people value as art. And: Art requires context. (This lesson was also offered by the composer John Cage’s ",{"_key":10476,"_type":12,"marks":10477,"text":10478},"bab52c40bd00",[114],"4'33\" ",{"_key":10480,"_type":12,"marks":10481,"text":10482},"e60de729cf6e",[],"[1952], which only “works” because of the context of the concert hall, the grand piano, and David Tudor appearing in a black tuxedo to perform the piece.) In 1953, de Kooning was a confirmed Artist, whereas Rauschenberg was still on his way.",[10484,10494],{"_key":10460,"_type":474,"text":10485},[10486],{"_key":10487,"_type":8,"children":10488,"markDefs":10493,"style":16},"013e812a94de",[10489],{"_key":10490,"_type":12,"marks":10491,"text":10492},"aab09ab5df13",[],"Ibid., at 7:39.",[],{"_key":10469,"_type":474,"text":10495},[10496],{"_key":10497,"_type":8,"children":10498,"markDefs":10503,"style":16},"ee58a9d3347b",[10499],{"_key":10500,"_type":12,"marks":10501,"text":10502},"c2f94a2c8988",[],"Ibid., at 7:50.",[],[10505],{"_key":10506,"_type":1738,"alt":10507,"asset":10508,"caption":10511},"bbcd27a31aa6","A charcoal and pastel drawing by Willem De Kooning depicts a stylized, grotesque figure..",{"_type":1741,"asset":10509},{"_ref":10510,"_type":53},"image-296e6478b792ab629004ffd6a232ce2c0c93da02-2105x1712-jpg",[10512],{"_key":10513,"_type":8,"children":10514,"markDefs":10527,"style":16},"e1e7dceb5332",[10515,10519,10523],{"_key":10516,"_type":12,"marks":10517,"text":10518},"159285de78da",[],"Fig. 1. Willem de Kooning, ",{"_key":10520,"_type":12,"marks":10521,"text":10522},"6bc656197efa",[114],"Woman I",{"_key":10524,"_type":12,"marks":10525,"text":10526},"733f30e115bb",[],", 1952. Pastel, crayon, and pencil on paper; approx. 9 × 11¼ in. (22.9 × 28.5 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.",[],{"_key":10529,"_type":1642,"content":10530,"images":10868},"d642cb196790",[10531,10584,10592,10608,10616,10635,10650,10741,10797],{"_key":10532,"_type":8,"children":10533,"markDefs":10555,"style":16},"5c94f99f4267",[10534,10538,10543,10546,10551],{"_key":10535,"_type":12,"marks":10536,"text":10537},"754ca7dd9822",[],"As they drank the Jack Daniel’s, Rauschenberg explained his idea, and while de Kooning said he didn’t like it, he decided to play along. ",{"_key":10539,"_type":12,"marks":10540,"text":10542},"2b3ad9657681",[10541],"95210e56ce3e","The near-mythic story continues: Maybe the booze egged de Kooning on as he looked through multiple portfolios of drawings to pick a work that would be difficult to erase, ultimately choosing one that contained a mixture Rauschenberg described as “crayon, pencil, charcoal.”",{"_key":10544,"_type":12,"marks":10545,"text":793},"4faa0b37f69d",[],{"_key":10547,"_type":12,"marks":10548,"text":10550},"1c88f6686e19",[10549],"695b23a438ee","In the same video, Rauschenberg recounts that de Kooning told him he was looking for a drawing he would “miss,” and in the recounting, Rauschenberg betrays a touch of nervousness once the realization struck that this gesture would be as consequential for de Kooning as it was for him.",{"_key":10552,"_type":12,"marks":10553,"text":10554},"be95700b9a27",[]," David A. Ross, SFMOMA’s director, asks him about the specific de Kooning drawing:",[10556,10566],{"_key":10541,"_type":474,"text":10557},[10558],{"_key":10559,"_type":8,"children":10560,"markDefs":10565,"style":16},"93f9096a3d3e",[10561],{"_key":10562,"_type":12,"marks":10563,"text":10564},"16514971dc54",[],"Ibid., at 10:50.",[],{"_key":10549,"_type":474,"text":10567},[10568],{"_key":10569,"_type":8,"children":10570,"markDefs":10583,"style":16},"0c25e9d44754",[10571,10575,10579],{"_key":10572,"_type":12,"marks":10573,"text":10574},"461e96024017",[],"Ibid., at 10:03. The artist offers a different account in Calvin Tomkins, ",{"_key":10576,"_type":12,"marks":10577,"text":10578},"83b886711caa",[114],"Off the Wall: A Portrait of Robert Rauschenberg ",{"_key":10580,"_type":12,"marks":10581,"text":10582},"972e34903a79",[],"(New York: Picador, 2005); there (p. 88), de Kooning instead rejects certain drawings because he would miss them “too much.”",[],{"_key":10585,"_type":8,"children":10586,"markDefs":10591,"style":1652},"e7ed08b4668d",[10587],{"_key":10588,"_type":12,"marks":10589,"text":10590},"42f342b45325",[130],"Ross: Do you remember what the drawing looked like, in your mind?",[],{"_key":10593,"_type":8,"children":10594,"markDefs":10607,"style":1652},"c1b2673110a6",[10595,10599,10603],{"_key":10596,"_type":12,"marks":10597,"text":10598},"ce139bb03ace",[130],"Rauschenberg: It’s part of the ",{"_key":10600,"_type":12,"marks":10601,"text":10602},"c1db4b56110b",[114,130],"Woman",{"_key":10604,"_type":12,"marks":10605,"text":10606},"c00bdfd99a71",[130]," series.",[],{"_key":10609,"_type":8,"children":10610,"markDefs":10615,"style":1652},"b78d7413a481",[10611],{"_key":10612,"_type":12,"marks":10613,"text":10614},"c519d683e41e",[130],"Ross: I mean, do you have that image, though, burned into your head?",[],{"_key":10617,"_type":8,"children":10618,"markDefs":10624,"style":1652},"99799c4d70f8",[10619],{"_key":10620,"_type":12,"marks":10621,"text":10623},"5892b4b66a1e",[10622,130],"a7122be02e20","Rauschenberg: Sort of. It’s not burnt in. And so, when I titled it, it was very difficult to figure out exactly how to phrase this [pointing at the label]. And Jasper Johns was living upstairs. So, I asked him to do the writing.",[10625],{"_key":10622,"_type":474,"text":10626},[10627],{"_key":10628,"_type":8,"children":10629,"markDefs":10634,"style":16},"3a13080c529a",[10630],{"_key":10631,"_type":12,"marks":10632,"text":10633},"6daa7e70019e",[],"Rauschenberg, “Rauschenberg Discusses,” at 11:24.",[],{"_key":10636,"_type":8,"children":10637,"markDefs":10649,"style":16},"8b8d50ed8e61",[10638,10642,10645],{"_key":10639,"_type":12,"marks":10640,"text":10641},"cd6b388b5885",[130],"Part of the ",{"_key":10643,"_type":12,"marks":10644,"text":10602},"651c64a86961",[114,130],{"_key":10646,"_type":12,"marks":10647,"text":10648},"5dd2e79ec4aa",[130]," series? Who knows? Apocryphal or not, it’s an indication of the seriousness of the gesture for both men. No one was fooling around (fig. 1).",[],{"_key":10651,"_type":8,"children":10652,"markDefs":10686,"style":16},"ef28cd71fd99",[10653,10657,10661,10665,10670,10673,10678,10681],{"_key":10654,"_type":12,"marks":10655,"text":10656},"7b0997418e00",[],"When Rauschenberg showed up at de Kooning’s door in 1953, he was in his late twenties, while de Kooning was almost fifty. Much has been made of their generational divide: Rauschenberg the brash young American upstart, de Kooning the European old master in the making. Add a touch of iconoclasm and art history’s teleological impulse (with chestnuts about novelty and progress), and it is no surprise that many art historians have narrated",{"_key":10658,"_type":12,"marks":10659,"text":10660},"b43ce93f5b7d",[114]," Erased de Kooning Drawing",{"_key":10662,"_type":12,"marks":10663,"text":10664},"c54407c1cc1d",[]," as an Oedipal scenario. ",{"_key":10666,"_type":12,"marks":10667,"text":10669},"69bd8b059558",[10668],"cd42a45ebcfe","Steinberg, Rauschenberg’s earliest and most important critic, said, “An Oedipal gesture? Young Rauschenberg killing the father figure? Well, maybe.”",{"_key":10671,"_type":12,"marks":10672,"text":793},"738a1e7139bf",[],{"_key":10674,"_type":12,"marks":10675,"text":10677},"09151c6761c0",[10676],"0fadcfb3589e","The critic and biographer Calvin Tomkins wrote, “The implications were so blatantly Freudian, the act itself so obviously a symbolic (if good-natured) patricide.”",{"_key":10679,"_type":12,"marks":10680,"text":793},"35890e12ed57",[],{"_key":10682,"_type":12,"marks":10683,"text":10685},"cdbac6851720",[10684],"2b88e6262f2e","Such suggestions led the art historian Jonathan Katz to opine, “It is as if Rauschenberg’s assertion of self could only be presented as a negation of macho Abstract Expressionist identity, not as an alternative co-equal form.”",[10687,10705,10723],{"_key":10668,"_type":474,"text":10688},[10689],{"_key":10690,"_type":8,"children":10691,"markDefs":10704,"style":16},"b840f7e2ea12",[10692,10696,10700],{"_key":10693,"_type":12,"marks":10694,"text":10695},"425c78b29534",[],"Steinberg, ",{"_key":10697,"_type":12,"marks":10698,"text":10699},"52ee23272d07",[114],"Encounters with Rauschenberg",{"_key":10701,"_type":12,"marks":10702,"text":10703},"5a3c30efd3b5",[],", p. 16.",[],{"_key":10676,"_type":474,"text":10706},[10707],{"_key":10708,"_type":8,"children":10709,"markDefs":10722,"style":16},"bbd7259aa006",[10710,10714,10718],{"_key":10711,"_type":12,"marks":10712,"text":10713},"3aa115db1ec3",[],"Tomkins, ",{"_key":10715,"_type":12,"marks":10716,"text":10717},"cbce849860d9",[114],"Off the Wall",{"_key":10719,"_type":12,"marks":10720,"text":10721},"3f63b1fc4bf1",[],", p. 87.",[],{"_key":10684,"_type":474,"text":10724},[10725],{"_key":10726,"_type":8,"children":10727,"markDefs":10740,"style":16},"c24574cb2e68",[10728,10732,10736],{"_key":10729,"_type":12,"marks":10730,"text":10731},"4f5ce0742ecb",[],"Jonathan Katz, “The Art of Code: Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg,” in ",{"_key":10733,"_type":12,"marks":10734,"text":10735},"664a7a52df8f",[114],"Significant Others: Creativity and Intimate Partnership",{"_key":10737,"_type":12,"marks":10738,"text":10739},"b867072e92f0",[],", ed. Whitney Chadwick and Isabelle de Courtivron (London: Thames & Hudson, 1993), p. 196.",[],{"_key":10742,"_type":8,"children":10743,"markDefs":10778,"style":16},"3f5cdd6fd180",[10744,10748,10751,10755,10760,10764,10767,10771,10774],{"_key":10745,"_type":12,"marks":10746,"text":10747},"d969d435ae4a",[],"While this makes sense rhetorically, “I bought a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. And hoped that he wouldn’t be home when I knocked on his door” doesn’t exactly read like the opener to vengeful murder or “assertion of self.” Rauschenberg isn’t loaded for bear. There’s no rage, no swashbuckling masculinity to defend or prove, no aesthetic difference masquerading as political opposition. If anything, the bottle of Jack speaks of nervousness, while “hop[ing] that he wouldn’t be home” is the classic structure of desire. Might it be that ",{"_key":10749,"_type":12,"marks":10750,"text":334},"727dbdb5195d",[114],{"_key":10752,"_type":12,"marks":10753,"text":10754},"6bd209054d96",[]," is less about hostility and more about aspiration? ",{"_key":10756,"_type":12,"marks":10757,"text":10759},"364cb8906dba",[10758],"3343a00e790d","The writer Catherine Lord intimated just that: “Though Rauschenberg’s motives have been interpreted as violently Oedipal, the labour of erasure would have been slow and delicate.”",{"_key":10761,"_type":12,"marks":10762,"text":10763},"a117a6f47b03",[]," As in, let’s face it, if this was about either Oedipally inflected rivalry or vandalism, then Rauschenberg easily could have torn the thing up. The fact is, he didn’t burn the drawing, he didn’t paint over it, he didn’t destroy it. Rather, he engaged in a process “slow and delicate.” Further, Rauschenberg only erased the drawing, not de Kooning. If anything, the title ensured that Rauschenberg was bringing de Kooning along with him for the ride. Seen this way, ",{"_key":10765,"_type":12,"marks":10766,"text":334},"493e89bcda0d",[114],{"_key":10768,"_type":12,"marks":10769,"text":10770},"258618a18e11",[]," is more like a hedged bet. If, in the game of art, Rauschenberg is the victor, he’s showing us his fellow travelers. There is a generosity implicit here. Should de Kooning end up on art history’s trash heap, Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":10772,"_type":12,"marks":10773,"text":334},"34aeaed100bc",[114],{"_key":10775,"_type":12,"marks":10776,"text":10777},"171ddd55ea79",[]," means that de Kooning won’t be “left behind.” So, too, should a capricious art history relegate Rauschenberg to the dustbin, his name would appear, if nowhere else, as a footnote in de Kooning’s catalogue raisonné.",[10779],{"_key":10758,"_type":474,"text":10780},[10781],{"_key":10782,"_type":8,"children":10783,"markDefs":10796,"style":16},"25975274d335",[10784,10788,10792],{"_key":10785,"_type":12,"marks":10786,"text":10787},"8d1c82d0de43",[],"Catherine Lord, “Closet Organizers (1950–64),” in ",{"_key":10789,"_type":12,"marks":10790,"text":10791},"43ae54463c50",[114],"Art and Queer Culture,",{"_key":10793,"_type":12,"marks":10794,"text":10795},"2c7baed166e9",[]," ed. Catherine Lord and Richard Meyer (London: Phaidon, 2013), p. 106.",[],{"_key":10798,"_type":8,"children":10799,"markDefs":10839,"style":16},"e26157edfd34",[10800,10804,10807,10811,10816,10820,10823,10827,10830,10834],{"_key":10801,"_type":12,"marks":10802,"text":10803},"73101324f9cb",[],"Central to the legacy of ",{"_key":10805,"_type":12,"marks":10806,"text":334},"52e66079dc08",[114],{"_key":10808,"_type":12,"marks":10809,"text":10810},"91c6e82f4c9d",[]," is the cascade of interpretations it has engendered over seven decades. To write about the work is to enter a nearly Talmudic situation. ",{"_key":10812,"_type":12,"marks":10813,"text":10815},"30753cf345aa",[10814],"b67193dc1d45","By the time of Rauschenberg’s major museum retrospective in 1976, the drawing had come to be seen as a preeminent piece both in the artist’s body of work and in the history of twentieth-century art at large.",{"_key":10817,"_type":12,"marks":10818,"text":10819},"a73c478fcfb5",[]," It is now routine for ",{"_key":10821,"_type":12,"marks":10822,"text":334},"ac3f03123fee",[114],{"_key":10824,"_type":12,"marks":10825,"text":10826},"6b787884a13d",[]," to be posited as, among other things, the de facto progenitor of conceptual art, of institutional critique, and even of performance—an emblem of the truism that, for mid-twentieth-century art, process is more important than product. Thinking about the drawing from the vantage of the twenty-first century, I want to pick up a slightly less heroic thread. What if, instead, we were to see ",{"_key":10828,"_type":12,"marks":10829,"text":334},"1f4c0234052c",[114],{"_key":10831,"_type":12,"marks":10832,"text":10833},"bb438d03e3ee",[]," as offering a model of artistic production—which is also a model of subjectivity—rooted in collaboration and intimacy? ",{"_key":10835,"_type":12,"marks":10836,"text":10838},"b2454a86db4e",[10837],"5caef273ed96","This is what leaps out at me when, for example, the art historian Thomas Crow writes of the “complex reflections on paternal and erotic love between men” that much of Rauschenberg’s work provokes.",[10840,10850],{"_key":10814,"_type":474,"text":10841},[10842],{"_key":10843,"_type":8,"children":10844,"markDefs":10849,"style":16},"176f5d0a68c4",[10845],{"_key":10846,"_type":12,"marks":10847,"text":10848},"aace6a99bc98",[],"See Sarah Roberts, “Erased de Kooning Drawing.”",[],{"_key":10837,"_type":474,"text":10851},[10852],{"_key":10853,"_type":8,"children":10854,"markDefs":10867,"style":16},"ae0beb16d2c0",[10855,10859,10863],{"_key":10856,"_type":12,"marks":10857,"text":10858},"70148c2ed11e",[],"Thomas Crow, “This Is Now: Becoming Robert Rauschenberg,” ",{"_key":10860,"_type":12,"marks":10861,"text":10862},"ee8317d6eb12",[114],"Artforum",{"_key":10864,"_type":12,"marks":10865,"text":10866},"4accc88ffc8b",[]," 36, no. 1 (Sept. 1997), p. 100.",[],[10869],{"_key":10870,"_type":1738,"alt":10871,"asset":10872,"caption":10875},"56b5504cf111","A man stands on the edge of a bathtub, painting a mural on the wall, while a woman sits on the floor nearby, holding a bucket and looking up at him in a vintage bathroom setting.",{"_type":1741,"asset":10873},{"_ref":10874,"_type":53},"image-70e8b1622bb73a3951f5b753f10e1916e1fcae1f-3184x3994-jpg",[10876],{"_key":10877,"_type":8,"children":10878,"markDefs":10883,"style":16},"3af013df671a",[10879],{"_key":10880,"_type":12,"marks":10881,"text":10882},"6b0990d66504",[],"Fig. 2. Robert Rauschenberg and Susan Weil making cyanotypes in their West 95th Street apartment, New York, 1951",[],{"_key":10885,"_type":1642,"content":10886,"images":11035},"a8d1fad11156",[10887],{"_key":10888,"_type":8,"children":10889,"markDefs":10967,"style":16},"ffc5149e5236",[10890,10894,10897,10901,10906,10910,10915,10919,10924,10928,10933,10937,10941,10945,10949,10953,10956,10960,10963],{"_key":10891,"_type":12,"marks":10892,"text":10893},"ed7c3a084c11",[],"To say that our common culture doesn’t have sophisticated language for love between men is an understatement, even more so if one considers the relations between heterosexual and queer men. (“I bought a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. And hoped that he wouldn’t be home when I knocked on his door.”) Seventy years on, in the wake of the mainstreaming and increasing legalization of queer life, the tone of the literature on ",{"_key":10895,"_type":12,"marks":10896,"text":334},"4c9d7e66fffc",[114],{"_key":10898,"_type":12,"marks":10899,"text":10900},"1e585a200e98",[],", owing to its imbrication in a thick network of creative relationships among a close group of male friends, has become demonstrably more tender. ",{"_key":10902,"_type":12,"marks":10903,"text":10905},"7acd2c24669c",[10904],"dc5eb1e9a285","The art historian Hal Foster, for instance, describes Rauschenberg’s Fulton Street studio as a place of “definition through dialogue and creation through collaboration.”",{"_key":10907,"_type":12,"marks":10908,"text":10909},"0cfc9619aa9d",[]," Rauschenberg had engaged in a rich array of creative partnerships before Fulton Street. ",{"_key":10911,"_type":12,"marks":10912,"text":10914},"83c1479d989f",[10913],"0fc6eb87c16a","At Black Mountain College, he was the subject of photographs by Hazel Larsen Archer (as well as being her student) ",{"_key":10916,"_type":12,"marks":10917,"text":10918},"9069fddf6d61",[],"and helped make costumes for and appeared in numerous performances, instantiating the college’s blurring of performers and audience—",{"_key":10920,"_type":12,"marks":10921,"text":10923},"049f480f5dad",[10922],"1ab8c33bafbd","a lesson in switching places as a form of community.",{"_key":10925,"_type":12,"marks":10926,"text":10927},"08e925d28411",[]," With the artist Susan Weil, whom he married in 1950, he made cyanotypes (it was she who taught him the technique; fig. 2). ",{"_key":10929,"_type":12,"marks":10930,"text":10932},"651a51b65508",[10931],"e73c78202adb","He and his work appeared in John Cage’s ",{"_key":10934,"_type":12,"marks":10935,"text":10936},"23350d90e1bf",[114,10931],"Theater Piece No. 1 ",{"_key":10938,"_type":12,"marks":10939,"text":10940},"d1ac6b09fa58",[10931],"(1952), and he participated in wildly generative conversations involving the composer and Merce Cunningham, which Cage acknowledged when he said, “[Rauschenberg’s] white paintings came first; my silent piece came later.”",{"_key":10942,"_type":12,"marks":10943,"text":10944},"79b8ff8c562e",[]," And there were other forms of fellowship and reciprocity with (usually male) artists, such as Alberto Burri, with whom he exchanged works, and Cy Twombly, whom he used as a model in photographs such as ",{"_key":10946,"_type":12,"marks":10947,"text":10948},"aba7e6573406",[114],"Cy + Roman Steps (I–V)",{"_key":10950,"_type":12,"marks":10951,"text":10952},"3ebe34fd3bde",[]," (fig. 3). Later in the decade, Rauschenberg made these various affiliations and collaborations explicit in the Combine ",{"_key":10954,"_type":12,"marks":10955,"text":3221},"ff07dfff5f4d",[114],{"_key":10957,"_type":12,"marks":10958,"text":10959},"f208b6966ecc",[],"(fig. 4) by initially including actual works of art by Weil and Jasper Johns, his lover at the time, and eventually, after the Johns was stolen, replacing it with a work by Sturtevant (the ultimate artist-as-collaborator). All of which is to say: One way of looking at ",{"_key":10961,"_type":12,"marks":10962,"text":334},"e113605025ad",[114],{"_key":10964,"_type":12,"marks":10965,"text":10966},"5580a97c3437",[]," is to see it as part of a run of collaborations. Rather than describe it as “aggressive,” we could instead narrate this “slow and delicate” act as one in which Rauschenberg was compelled to trace—to literally go over, to repeat or rehearse—de Kooning’s prior marks. Here, the act of erasing stands in for the time-honored artistic act of copying after a master.",[10968,10985,10995,11017],{"_key":10904,"_type":474,"text":10969},[10970],{"_key":10971,"_type":8,"children":10972,"markDefs":10984,"style":16},"3551334e717c",[10973,10977,10980],{"_key":10974,"_type":12,"marks":10975,"text":10976},"5cefc76f29b7",[],"Hal Foster, “‘Made out of the Real World’: Lessons from the Fulton Street Studio,” in ",{"_key":10978,"_type":12,"marks":10979,"text":1867},"cd3f890ffb83",[114],{"_key":10981,"_type":12,"marks":10982,"text":10983},"4d18ed62a7e9",[],", by Leah Dickerman and Achim Borchardt-Hume, exh. cat. (New York: Museum of Modern Art; London: Tate Publishing, 2016), p. 96.",[],{"_key":10913,"_type":474,"text":10986},[10987],{"_key":10988,"_type":8,"children":10989,"markDefs":10994,"style":16},"59816378c0a6",[10990],{"_key":10991,"_type":12,"marks":10992,"text":10993},"0fb7756ebcd3",[],"Archer was then known by her maiden name, Hazel-Frieda Larsen.",[],{"_key":10931,"_type":474,"text":10996},[10997],{"_key":10998,"_type":8,"children":10999,"markDefs":11016,"style":16},"5b148d4b5b48",[11000,11003,11006,11009,11012],{"_key":11001,"_type":12,"marks":11002,"text":6985},"c33794556e0c",[],{"_key":11004,"_type":12,"marks":11005,"text":6989},"3a8d55b980c1",[114],{"_key":11007,"_type":12,"marks":11008,"text":6993},"8205a30bf37d",[],{"_key":11010,"_type":12,"marks":11011,"text":6997},"f8f762bba722",[114],{"_key":11013,"_type":12,"marks":11014,"text":11015},"28c3d8770091",[]," (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), p. 98.",[],{"_key":10922,"_type":474,"text":11018},[11019],{"_key":11020,"_type":8,"children":11021,"markDefs":11034,"style":16},"f93f2c22ce63",[11022,11026,11030],{"_key":11023,"_type":12,"marks":11024,"text":11025},"f76f0d1ce539",[],"Rauschenberg’s early creative partnerships are documented in Helen Molesworth with Ruth Erickson,",{"_key":11027,"_type":12,"marks":11028,"text":11029},"09abf4b0489d",[114]," Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College, 1933–1957",{"_key":11031,"_type":12,"marks":11032,"text":11033},"8f5f5fb55d44",[],", exh. cat. (Boston: Institute of Contemporary Art; New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2015).",[],[11036],{"_key":11037,"_type":1738,"alt":11038,"asset":11039,"caption":11042},"d27049c6516e","A sequence of five black and white images showing a person gradually descending a set of stone steps, with only their legs visible in the final frame.",{"_type":1741,"asset":11040},{"_ref":11041,"_type":53},"image-54c6f729dfa840c6dbe1274bbc82bf3abd00343f-6350x1300-jpg",[11043],{"_key":11044,"_type":8,"children":11045,"markDefs":11057,"style":16},"8e5836bacf18",[11046,11050,11053],{"_key":11047,"_type":12,"marks":11048,"text":11049},"0cf89039c763",[],"Fig. 3. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":11051,"_type":12,"marks":11052,"text":10948},"2f5f63a446b4",[114],{"_key":11054,"_type":12,"marks":11055,"text":11056},"812d30a840ad",[],", ca. 1952. Suite of five gelatin silver prints; each image 14¾ × 14¾ in. (37.5 × 37.5 cm). Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York",[],{"_key":11059,"_type":1642,"content":11060,"images":11212},"91a46258e424",[11061,11099,11115,11123,11131,11139,11147,11155,11181,11189],{"_key":11062,"_type":8,"children":11063,"markDefs":11081,"style":16},"66c84f32581f",[11064,11068,11072,11076],{"_key":11065,"_type":12,"marks":11066,"text":11067},"9f7a3e48085e",[],"By reframing this work as a collaboration, we can see more clearly that the work’s ethics are rooted in ",{"_key":11069,"_type":12,"marks":11070,"text":11071},"e9220873fb9d",[114],"consent",{"_key":11073,"_type":12,"marks":11074,"text":11075},"f148f758b6c6",[],". Everyone acknowledges that Rauschenberg asked de Kooning and that de Kooning said yes, but we tend to bump over this rather remarkable negotiation of power. This is especially pronounced when one considers a pair of prior encounters with de Kooning’s drawings that Rauschenberg described to Tomkins, both of which skirted the ethics of consent: Once, he took home a beer coaster on which de Kooning had doodled during a dinner, and even more jejune, he admitted to having taken a drawing from de Kooning’s studio trash can and photographed works in progress while the artist was away (fig. 5). ",{"_key":11077,"_type":12,"marks":11078,"text":11080},"b9c9f33bee56",[11079],"9d044e43d834","About this, Rauschenberg said, “It was just total idolizing,” and “I couldn’t use the drawings I’d stolen from him, because the process required his cooperation.”",[11082],{"_key":11079,"_type":474,"text":11083},[11084],{"_key":11085,"_type":8,"children":11086,"markDefs":11098,"style":16},"916f0e7d59ef",[11087,11091,11094],{"_key":11088,"_type":12,"marks":11089,"text":11090},"caffec910a7f",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Tomkins, ",{"_key":11092,"_type":12,"marks":11093,"text":10717},"45d1d7d9cbe8",[114],{"_key":11095,"_type":12,"marks":11096,"text":11097},"5e19535df452",[],", pp. 85, 88. The pilfering is thought to have taken place at de Kooning’s studio at 85 Fourth Avenue, across the hall from Jack Tworkov’s studio, which Rauschenberg visited during his breaks from Black Mountain College. De Kooning moved out of this studio in fall 1952.",[],{"_key":11100,"_type":8,"children":11101,"markDefs":11114,"style":16},"11f9d1cf0834",[11102,11106,11110],{"_key":11103,"_type":12,"marks":11104,"text":11105},"7a9140f51f4b",[],"I’d like to linger here for a moment, if only in an imaginative way, to express my admiration for both men, the one who asked and the one who agreed, for it is ",{"_key":11107,"_type":12,"marks":11108,"text":11109},"bb0a8937b0a1",[114],"this",{"_key":11111,"_type":12,"marks":11112,"text":11113},"3229c465c469",[]," part of the exchange, more than any other, that signals the near-total absence of (male) aggression. You can hear this lack of aggression, too, in Rauschenberg’s 1999 conversation with Ross:",[],{"_key":11116,"_type":8,"children":11117,"markDefs":11122,"style":1652},"543992652809",[11118],{"_key":11119,"_type":12,"marks":11120,"text":11121},"b55e13993989",[130],"Ross: I imagine that it had to be done very delicately, so that the paper wouldn’t tear.",[],{"_key":11124,"_type":8,"children":11125,"markDefs":11130,"style":1652},"808b3e606bf9",[11126],{"_key":11127,"_type":12,"marks":11128,"text":11129},"d6406c4d5ddf",[130],"Rauschenberg: Yeah.",[],{"_key":11132,"_type":8,"children":11133,"markDefs":11138,"style":1652},"5f4c92548255",[11134],{"_key":11135,"_type":12,"marks":11136,"text":11137},"3991dd8e5984",[130],"Ross: I mean, the idea of erasure there was a very delicate piece of surgery. But was it also about a kind of negation? I mean, there seems to be—",[],{"_key":11140,"_type":8,"children":11141,"markDefs":11146,"style":1652},"dfd7e166fe19",[11142],{"_key":11143,"_type":12,"marks":11144,"text":11145},"4c308a6f768c",[130],"Rauschenberg: No.",[],{"_key":11148,"_type":8,"children":11149,"markDefs":11154,"style":1652},"4764040f5a4e",[11150],{"_key":11151,"_type":12,"marks":11152,"text":11153},"35526b90dc5b",[130],"Ross: —something kind of—",[],{"_key":11156,"_type":8,"children":11157,"markDefs":11170,"style":1652},"3d5571f2c365",[11158,11163,11166],{"_key":11159,"_type":12,"marks":11160,"text":11162},"20588621c929",[11161,130],"eec19c1940ab","Rauschenberg: No. Like, neither is the ",{"_key":11164,"_type":12,"marks":11165,"text":367},"8b8810f983ca",[114,11161,130],{"_key":11167,"_type":12,"marks":11168,"text":11169},"0c4dd2c7d410",[11161,130],". It’s not a negation, it’s a celebration. It’s just the idea.",[11171],{"_key":11161,"_type":474,"text":11172},[11173],{"_key":11174,"_type":8,"children":11175,"markDefs":11180,"style":16},"8ef62f4b08a2",[11176],{"_key":11177,"_type":12,"marks":11178,"text":11179},"8d87ade0af58",[],"Rauschenberg, “Rauschenberg Discusses,” at 12:30.",[],{"_key":11182,"_type":8,"children":11183,"markDefs":11188,"style":16},"6d448ffc829c",[11184],{"_key":11185,"_type":12,"marks":11186,"text":11187},"48683672c615",[130],"It’s almost as if Rauschenberg doesn’t see himself, in this period, as a solo artist. Or, to put it differently: The litany of collaborators listed above suggests that Rauschenberg saw art, fundamentally, as something you do with others. Here is another passage from 1999:",[],{"_key":11190,"_type":8,"children":11191,"markDefs":11201,"style":1652},"f5e7a984dbcd",[11192,11196],{"_key":11193,"_type":12,"marks":11194,"text":11195},"796c9949b5bd",[130],"Oh, I love collaborating, because art can be a really lonely business, if you’re really just working from your ego. … ",{"_key":11197,"_type":12,"marks":11198,"text":11200},"4fb7f254cd79",[11199,130],"e5fb4929efab","And when you have two people thinking at the same time about a single outcome, or object, well then, it’s just like—it’s multiplied and mirrored back and forth, until it becomes, you know, like a whole group of brains and feelings and solutions. And that’s why I like collaborating.",[11202],{"_key":11199,"_type":474,"text":11203},[11204],{"_key":11205,"_type":8,"children":11206,"markDefs":11211,"style":16},"c3858d17182d",[11207],{"_key":11208,"_type":12,"marks":11209,"text":11210},"695b2ef11067",[],"Rauschenberg, video interview by David A. Ross, Walter Hopps, Gary Garrels, and Peter Samis, May 6, 1999, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, transcript, p. 27, SFMOMA Archives. The quotation has been edited slightly for clarity.",[],[11213],{"_key":11214,"_type":1738,"alt":11215,"asset":11216,"caption":11219},"e870d2c28f32","An open wooden cabinet displays a fragmented American flag, a painted scene of riders, and various collaged elements, including a portrait and a handwritten \"OPEN\" sign.",{"_type":1741,"asset":11217},{"_ref":11218,"_type":53},"image-c0e052409594bde39e31b20fbec48aead5a90a39-6357x3593-jpg",[11220],{"_key":11221,"_type":8,"children":11222,"markDefs":11235,"style":16},"0b0f2fa9f35c",[11223,11227,11231],{"_key":11224,"_type":12,"marks":11225,"text":11226},"1fd962894c49",[],"Fig. 4. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":11228,"_type":12,"marks":11229,"text":11230},"f45310b74440",[114],"Short Circuit",{"_key":11232,"_type":12,"marks":11233,"text":11234},"43aa264e070b",[],", 1955. Combine: oil, fabric, notebook paper, printed reproductions, postcard, concert program, and autograph on canvas, wood supports, and cabinets with paintings by Sturtevant and Susan Weil; 40¾ × 37½ × 4¼ in. (103.5 × 95.3 × 10.8 cm). Art Institute of Chicago",[],{"_key":11237,"_type":1642,"content":11238,"images":11404},"fdc43e1feeec",[11239,11336,11374],{"_key":11240,"_type":8,"children":11241,"markDefs":11299,"style":16},"8352d61ea49d",[11242,11246,11249,11253,11257,11261,11265,11269,11274,11278,11281,11285,11290,11295],{"_key":11243,"_type":12,"marks":11244,"text":11245},"d8321beb6da6",[],"This logic is evidenced by the very title of ",{"_key":11247,"_type":12,"marks":11248,"text":334},"7b58b601b65d",[114],{"_key":11250,"_type":12,"marks":11251,"text":11252},"a9e5fcc8f6b0",[],": How many other works of art (other than portraits) can you think of that foreground the name of an artist other than the one who made it? Rauschenberg’s sense of collaboration wasn’t bound up simply with making something with someone else. The title is the key: Rauschenberg was interested in doing things in ",{"_key":11254,"_type":12,"marks":11255,"text":11256},"20148dc94b60",[114],"his",{"_key":11258,"_type":12,"marks":11259,"text":11260},"7023916f673a",[]," work that other people did in ",{"_key":11262,"_type":12,"marks":11263,"text":11264},"bfef0d311f2c",[114],"their",{"_key":11266,"_type":12,"marks":11267,"text":11268},"625ae7f32b57",[]," work. ",{"_key":11270,"_type":12,"marks":11271,"text":11273},"0bf9538bf838",[11272],"c911aec2bf34","Steinberg pointed out that erasure was part of de Kooning’s own drawing repertoire; he was “the one who belabored his drawings with an eraser.”",{"_key":11275,"_type":12,"marks":11276,"text":11277},"2ac1491772d1",[]," Rauschenberg’s collaboration rides slipstream on the older artist’s practice, inhabiting it like an avatar, as if extending his own artistic subjectivity by absorbing the methods of another artist. This happens again with the inclusion of the title in the matted and framed version of ",{"_key":11279,"_type":12,"marks":11280,"text":334},"9e205586bb89",[114],{"_key":11282,"_type":12,"marks":11283,"text":11284},"838573b2ab1e",[],". The label smuggles in yet another collaboration, albeit a tacit one, with Jasper Johns (fig. 6). ",{"_key":11286,"_type":12,"marks":11287,"text":11289},"850ed8dffeb9",[11288],"7d4b82651570","In a 2024 email, Johns writes, “When he told me that he had nothing to contribute to a drawing show at the Poindexter, formerly the Egan, Gallery, I suggested that he show the de Kooning. It was then labeled and framed.” ",{"_key":11291,"_type":12,"marks":11292,"text":11294},"89b610b37f3a",[11293],"5ca4bda548d3","For its first public appearance, the drawing was mounted in a “thin gold frame with a plain window mat” and labeled with a “machine-precise inscription.” ",{"_key":11296,"_type":12,"marks":11297,"text":11298},"444f918f19e7",[],"Johns made the inscription with a mechanical writing device that mimicked typesetting, akin to a pantograph. If Rauschenberg’s choice of a de Kooning drawing acknowledged the centrality of drawing and erasing to de Kooning’s practice, so, too, are Johns’s specific aesthetic interests—think stencils—foregrounded in his participation in the work.",[11300,11316,11326],{"_key":11272,"_type":474,"text":11301},[11302],{"_key":11303,"_type":8,"children":11304,"markDefs":11315,"style":16},"7e621c22b9b4",[11305,11308,11311],{"_key":11306,"_type":12,"marks":11307,"text":10695},"0190c0d500bf",[],{"_key":11309,"_type":12,"marks":11310,"text":10699},"43b14171cdb3",[114],{"_key":11312,"_type":12,"marks":11313,"text":11314},"edad5145b0b8",[],", p. 19.",[],{"_key":11288,"_type":474,"text":11317},[11318],{"_key":11319,"_type":8,"children":11320,"markDefs":11325,"style":16},"2ed7f712c2ed",[11321],{"_key":11322,"_type":12,"marks":11323,"text":11324},"880a3778866f",[],"Jasper Johns to the author, email, July 18, 2024. [The work’s inclusion in a show at Poindexter Gallery has not been confirmed. It was certainly included in a group show at Pyramid Gallery, New York, Dec. 22, 1957–Feb. 5, 1958. —Eds.]",[],{"_key":11293,"_type":474,"text":11327},[11328],{"_key":11329,"_type":8,"children":11330,"markDefs":11335,"style":16},"fbf81aa490bb",[11331],{"_key":11332,"_type":12,"marks":11333,"text":11334},"a789ec95c0ba",[],"Roberts, “Erased de Kooning Drawing.”",[],{"_key":11337,"_type":8,"children":11338,"markDefs":11355,"style":16},"2bd1a86e5bf4",[11339,11344,11348,11351],{"_key":11340,"_type":12,"marks":11341,"text":11343},"57b61240b98b",[11342],"a9edc78f5376","Furthermore, the work is an instance of Johns’s and Rauschenberg’s interest in all things Duchamp and, specifically, the problem of the handmade readymade.",{"_key":11345,"_type":12,"marks":11346,"text":11347},"3ff3e26a0a93",[]," Surely, the label could have been typeset rather than handmade, just as Rauschenberg could have “simply” used a clean piece of paper and titled it ",{"_key":11349,"_type":12,"marks":11350,"text":334},"4a53f94d0604",[114],{"_key":11352,"_type":12,"marks":11353,"text":11354},"48edf5f0e118",[],". Instead, all three artists involved foregrounded handwork: de Kooning’s original drawing and his choice of one difficult to erase; the time it took Rauschenberg to erase it; and the work required for Johns to produce the meticulous label.",[11356],{"_key":11342,"_type":474,"text":11357},[11358],{"_key":11359,"_type":8,"children":11360,"markDefs":11373,"style":16},"1a85ca2284b1",[11361,11365,11369],{"_key":11362,"_type":12,"marks":11363,"text":11364},"1a82c6ca7f5b",[],"See Hal Foster, “What’s Neo about the Neo-Avant-Garde?,” ",{"_key":11366,"_type":12,"marks":11367,"text":11368},"d14ad283a159",[114],"October",{"_key":11370,"_type":12,"marks":11371,"text":11372},"defdb57307f7",[],", no. 70 (Autumn 1994), pp. 5–32.",[],{"_key":11375,"_type":8,"children":11376,"markDefs":11386,"style":16},"8eee603e263e",[11377,11381],{"_key":11378,"_type":12,"marks":11379,"text":11380},"6637680b2c43",[],"In the decades-long discursive field produced by this object, it’s also impossible to mention labor and\u002For work and not again summon Steinberg, Rauschenberg’s critical interlocutor; we might think of this conversation as yet another instance of collaboration, more “complex reflections on paternal and erotic love between men.” For Steinberg, Rauschenberg’s oeuvre enacted an epistemological shift in orientation from the vertical—stemming from painting’s historical relation to a window—to the horizontal, for which the critic offered the hermeneutic of the “flatbed picture plane.” Here is Steinberg’s well-known description: “The flatbed picture plane makes its symbolic allusion to hard surfaces such as tabletops, studio floors, charts, bulletin boards—any receptor surface on which objects are scattered, on which data is entered, on which information may be received, printed, impressed—whether coherently or in confusion.” ",{"_key":11382,"_type":12,"marks":11383,"text":11385},"ddfbd73fd9b1",[11384],"cc9b13e716f9","This shift meant, moreover, that the “psychic address of the image, its special mode of imaginative confrontation,” is the “tilt of the picture plane from vertical to horizontal.”",[11387],{"_key":11384,"_type":474,"text":11388},[11389],{"_key":11390,"_type":8,"children":11391,"markDefs":11403,"style":16},"480a20aa4e22",[11392,11396,11399],{"_key":11393,"_type":12,"marks":11394,"text":11395},"4a2a0c72b148",[],"Leo Steinberg, “Reflections on the State of Criticism,” ",{"_key":11397,"_type":12,"marks":11398,"text":4267},"82d515f553db",[114],{"_key":11400,"_type":12,"marks":11401,"text":11402},"e61d2ea9a1e2",[],"10, no. 7 (March 1972), pp. 37–49.",[],[11405],{"_key":11406,"_type":1738,"alt":11407,"asset":11408,"caption":11411},"0c11e1b47bac","A cluttered artist's studio featuring a wooden chair in the foreground, scattered papers and art supplies on the floor, and large, unfinished paintings on the walls.",{"_type":1741,"asset":11409},{"_ref":11410,"_type":53},"image-bf7e20655951e121b2ced417aa7df822396836eb-2053x2041-jpg",[11412],{"_key":11413,"_type":8,"children":11414,"markDefs":11435,"style":16},"a6da3ac8aa0b",[11415,11419,11423,11427,11431],{"_key":11416,"_type":12,"marks":11417,"text":11418},"b075b8368cb5",[],"Fig. 5. Early states of Willem de Kooning’s ",{"_key":11420,"_type":12,"marks":11421,"text":11422},"be97ad206b98",[114],"Woman II ",{"_key":11424,"_type":12,"marks":11425,"text":11426},"f494a72626be",[],"(The Museum of Modern Art, New York) and ",{"_key":11428,"_type":12,"marks":11429,"text":11430},"a1cbceb6e0b6",[114],"Woman III",{"_key":11432,"_type":12,"marks":11433,"text":11434},"cf696c6d21b5",[]," (private coll.) in the artist’s studio, 85 Fourth Avenue, New York, spring 1952. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[],{"_key":11437,"_type":1642,"content":11438,"images":11711},"0853cc38b413",[11439,11601,11623,11682],{"_key":11440,"_type":8,"children":11441,"markDefs":11522,"style":16},"55f62451ede3",[11442,11446,11450,11454,11458,11462,11465,11469,11474,11478,11481,11485,11490,11493,11498,11501,11505,11509,11513,11517],{"_key":11443,"_type":12,"marks":11444,"text":11445},"5481e4397a59",[],"What could be more horizontal than erasing? And what could indicate artistic labor ",{"_key":11447,"_type":12,"marks":11448,"text":11449},"d39d9719dd08",[114],"more",{"_key":11451,"_type":12,"marks":11452,"text":11453},"187cabda24f1",[]," than erasing—gesturing, as it does, toward a job ",{"_key":11455,"_type":12,"marks":11456,"text":11457},"000da664cb2f",[114],"not",{"_key":11459,"_type":12,"marks":11460,"text":11461},"389b6de06c6b",[]," well done or, by contrast, to a job so well done you can’t even see it ",{"_key":11463,"_type":12,"marks":11464,"text":216},"f10a89f74c6b",[114],{"_key":11466,"_type":12,"marks":11467,"text":11468},"d431cda829b1",[]," labor (like a well-cleaned house)? ",{"_key":11470,"_type":12,"marks":11471,"text":11473},"0af7a034181d",[11472],"0775dc841dff","Similarly, the submerged nature of Johns’s participation gestures to the unseen institutional labor that supports the category of Art, such as matting, framing, labeling, and cleaning, often done by back-of-house staff such as conservators and registrars—demonstrating the degree to which art’s legibility requires that custodial labor remain unauthored and invisible so as to shore up and protect the proper name of the artist.",{"_key":11475,"_type":12,"marks":11476,"text":11477},"8de598d95cbe",[]," But if ",{"_key":11479,"_type":12,"marks":11480,"text":334},"115688ec09ef",[114],{"_key":11482,"_type":12,"marks":11483,"text":11484},"d3901085d3fe",[]," makes an issue of various forms of artistic and custodial labor, as I think it does, we must still ask what Rauschenberg called on them to do; I’m not at all sure that Rauschenberg was conscious of, or intentional about, this resonance at the time. And if the labor was partly custodial, might it also have been partly preparatory? ",{"_key":11486,"_type":12,"marks":11487,"text":11489},"555219e617f9",[11488],"fed76fe6fab6","Sarah Roberts suggests that John Cage intimated as much when he “penned an article on Rauschenberg that also fleetingly (and obliquely) mentions the drawing, framing it as a moment of slate-cleaning: ‘It’s a joy in fact to begin over again. In preparation he erases the De Kooning.’”",{"_key":11491,"_type":12,"marks":11492,"text":793},"0ec1b6fad0bd",[],{"_key":11494,"_type":12,"marks":11495,"text":11497},"f24063141fe9",[11496],"55974626a0ce","Might we infer that ",{"_key":11499,"_type":12,"marks":11500,"text":334},"21831ef89b06",[114,11496],{"_key":11502,"_type":12,"marks":11503,"text":11504},"70fb63393331",[11496]," was preparatory, “slate-cleaning,” in relation to the flatbed picture plane as such?",{"_key":11506,"_type":12,"marks":11507,"text":11508},"45846525cd20",[]," Good cooks know you can’t cook in a dirty kitchen. Did Rauschenberg erase the de Kooning drawing, lovingly and with great attention, the way a cook wipes down the knife, the counter, the work surface, and the edge of the serving bowl? Rauschenberg was notoriously messy, but it seems that much of that messiness—and by messiness, I mean the Combines—happened in the wake of ",{"_key":11510,"_type":12,"marks":11511,"text":11512},"18cb2e4cb656",[114],"Erased de Kooning Drawing.",{"_key":11514,"_type":12,"marks":11515,"text":11516},"6208de3f441f",[]," By enlisting others to help him achieve this clean slate, did he extend his interest in collaboration among friends—a social horizontality that mirrors the flatbed picture plane? Did this extension help him invent an alternative to an art history structured on combative, Oedipal toppling of vertical hierarchies? ",{"_key":11518,"_type":12,"marks":11519,"text":11521},"89632ac6fce0",[11520],"7197acd038a9","Was this what he meant when he told the critic Barbara Rose, “I was trying to make art, and so therefore I had to erase art”?",[11523,11549,11559,11584],{"_key":11472,"_type":474,"text":11524},[11525],{"_key":11526,"_type":8,"children":11527,"markDefs":11548,"style":16},"c08d7081371a",[11528,11532,11536,11540,11544],{"_key":11529,"_type":12,"marks":11530,"text":11531},"4a1ae761dbb0",[],"On the intertwining of the custodial and the aesthetic, see “Artist Project: Mierle Laderman Ukeles; ",{"_key":11533,"_type":12,"marks":11534,"text":11535},"d9f9cbfcd7e1",[114],"Maintenance Art Activity",{"_key":11537,"_type":12,"marks":11538,"text":11539},"6a99f35174ff",[]," (1973) with Responses from Miwon Kwon and Helen Molesworth,” ",{"_key":11541,"_type":12,"marks":11542,"text":11543},"1536dd02747f",[114],"Documents",{"_key":11545,"_type":12,"marks":11546,"text":11547},"f1ec83c7b2c2",[],", no. 10 (Fall 1997), pp. 5–22.",[],{"_key":11488,"_type":474,"text":11550},[11551],{"_key":11552,"_type":8,"children":11553,"markDefs":11558,"style":16},"28be8bb3f778",[11554],{"_key":11555,"_type":12,"marks":11556,"text":11557},"608bddf542a6",[],"Roberts, “Erased de Kooning Drawing”; Cage, “On Rauschenberg,” p. 101.",[],{"_key":11496,"_type":474,"text":11560},[11561],{"_key":11562,"_type":8,"children":11563,"markDefs":11583,"style":16},"feec8e6eeced",[11564,11568,11572,11576,11579],{"_key":11565,"_type":12,"marks":11566,"text":11567},"d687d6c7fe51",[],"Steinberg argues that Rauschenberg is trying to get rid of drawing (",{"_key":11569,"_type":12,"marks":11570,"text":11571},"c07286713fce",[114],"disegno",{"_key":11573,"_type":12,"marks":11574,"text":11575},"5385490e7b91",[],") as such: “He may himself have begun to use the eraser, not in de Kooning’s manner, constructively, but to see drawing expunged.” Steinberg, ",{"_key":11577,"_type":12,"marks":11578,"text":10699},"aa749c770b59",[114],{"_key":11580,"_type":12,"marks":11581,"text":11582},"619a2b4d2b4c",[],", p. 20. I confess that I diverge from Steinberg here, who, I think, was holding on to a category of art and hence also to a category of its destruction. I don’t see Rauschenberg as having that kind of destructive or willful iconoclastic energy; I see him as trying to figure out how to make things. In this period, he is doing that with others, and one way he does so is to have an almost avatar-ish relationship to the operations of other artists.",[],{"_key":11520,"_type":474,"text":11585},[11586],{"_key":11587,"_type":8,"children":11588,"markDefs":11600,"style":16},"157d24edf28e",[11589,11593,11596],{"_key":11590,"_type":12,"marks":11591,"text":11592},"782a417d6b38",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Barbara Rose, ",{"_key":11594,"_type":12,"marks":11595,"text":871},"553120a6f24d",[114],{"_key":11597,"_type":12,"marks":11598,"text":11599},"6ac5c7ef438f",[]," (New York: Vintage Books, 1987), p. 51.",[],{"_key":11602,"_type":8,"children":11603,"markDefs":11622,"style":16},"04e684caae0b",[11604,11608,11611,11615,11618],{"_key":11605,"_type":12,"marks":11606,"text":11607},"607a2bd7c2f4",[],"Situating ",{"_key":11609,"_type":12,"marks":11610,"text":334},"e651c39934a9",[114],{"_key":11612,"_type":12,"marks":11613,"text":11614},"3246d218ec7b",[]," in this deep network of affiliation, collaboration, copying, and labor prompts another question: Can we see this work as an update of the twentieth century’s most famous form of artistic collaboration, Surrealism’s exquisite corpse? ",{"_key":11616,"_type":12,"marks":11617,"text":334},"f77f94d6078c",[114],{"_key":11619,"_type":12,"marks":11620,"text":11621},"4081f9b98601",[]," doesn’t offer an image of the body in pieces. Nevertheless, it is the outcome of an iterative process: de Kooning makes a drawing, Rauschenberg erases the drawing, then Johns labels the drawing. As such, it offers itself as a kind of rebus—an idea Rauschenberg would later pursue both literally and metaphorically in the Combines. Here, the corpse—of Abstract Expressionism, of easel painting, of generational strife and the logic of Oedipal conquest, of artistic individuality—is what appears “exquisite.”",[],{"_key":11624,"_type":8,"children":11625,"markDefs":11655,"style":16},"42f17548392a",[11626,11630,11635,11639,11644,11648,11651],{"_key":11627,"_type":12,"marks":11628,"text":11629},"4cdad9164a31",[],"No matter how rich the networked intimacy of his friends and collaborators, when Rauschenberg sat down to do the work of erasing this drawing, he did so alone. ",{"_key":11631,"_type":12,"marks":11632,"text":11634},"0c31b54345a6",[11633],"c5b65f57abd3","We know that he mounted the drawing on a piece of cardboard, and it is assumed that he did so to ensure that the paper wouldn’t move around, to decrease the possibility of a tear.",{"_key":11636,"_type":12,"marks":11637,"text":11638},"c2af2741467e",[]," The conservators with the most intimate knowledge of the drawing do not describe the paper as being particularly abraded, which lends credence to the idea that Rauschenberg’s work was “slow and delicate.” ",{"_key":11640,"_type":12,"marks":11641,"text":11643},"7eea00448fd0",[11642],"bab0a3d64a3f","We know from his own accounts that the work was time-consuming and difficult (“I spend four weeks erasing that drawing”), and in nearly every telling, he mentions that he went through a lot of erasers (“I used about fifteen different types of erasers”).",{"_key":11645,"_type":12,"marks":11646,"text":11647},"be3055b7e495",[]," This is interesting in itself, as I’ve rarely heard an artist talk about an artwork’s having “used a lot of paint” or “used up a box of pencils.” It speaks of Rauschenberg’s need to highlight and quantify his labor. But more than labor, this odd fact—that an eraser disappears, as does the thing erased—leads me to a set of questions about ",{"_key":11649,"_type":12,"marks":11650,"text":334},"2df883b77383",[114],{"_key":11652,"_type":12,"marks":11653,"text":11654},"44edff388aca",[]," to which I have no answers.",[11656,11666],{"_key":11633,"_type":474,"text":11657},[11658],{"_key":11659,"_type":8,"children":11660,"markDefs":11665,"style":16},"b576dc5db0f7",[11661],{"_key":11662,"_type":12,"marks":11663,"text":11664},"bab7fd47111f",[],"Amanda Hunter Johnson, conservator of works on paper at SFMOMA, telephone conversation with the author, May 8, 2024. The drawing was unmounted by the conservator Dana Cranmer in the late 1980s at the artist’s request.",[],{"_key":11642,"_type":474,"text":11667},[11668],{"_key":11669,"_type":8,"children":11670,"markDefs":11681,"style":16},"87563ecff0a7",[11671,11674,11677],{"_key":11672,"_type":12,"marks":11673,"text":2102},"73a7f041ec44",[],{"_key":11675,"_type":12,"marks":11676,"text":871},"daaed4e6ee3f",[114],{"_key":11678,"_type":12,"marks":11679,"text":11680},"b9632e6a122b",[],", p. 51.",[],{"_key":11683,"_type":8,"children":11684,"markDefs":11710,"style":16},"b9064f5703e6",[11685,11689,11692,11696,11700,11704,11707],{"_key":11686,"_type":12,"marks":11687,"text":11688},"a697f3f33361",[],"The title’s term “erased” spotlights the artist’s activity and process. And it foregrounds his tool: an eraser. The wall label at SFMOMA and the tombstone caption in the museum’s online collection, on the other hand, do no such thing. The museum classifies the work as a “drawing” and offers the following description of its medium: “traces of drawing media on paper with label and gilded frame.” No mention of an eraser. Because there’s no other medium quite like this: a medium expended in its use, a medium that doesn’t leave a mark save for the faint “halos” visible on an otherwise blank piece of paper—which, in truth, are the residue of the erased drawing itself (graphite, crayon, and so on). Museological classification is pragmatic; my more metaphorical cast of mind wants to posit that the erasure of the eraser signifies loss itself. If we can posit that ",{"_key":11690,"_type":12,"marks":11691,"text":334},"9a93af99a552",[114],{"_key":11693,"_type":12,"marks":11694,"text":11695},"549d97d59abb",[]," is less about competition and more about collaboration—if we can see it as something intimate happening between people who share the intimacy of making and believing in the same thing: art—then might we see that it is the status of this loss that the drawing does so much to frame and protect? The label draws our attention to this loss. Did de Kooning understand the work to be about loss when he chose a drawing he would “miss”? To have destroyed the drawing without permission, to have torn the paper: These would have been cataclysmic destructions. But to erase, to engage in “slow and delicate” frottage, to trace another man’s marks: This suggests a different kind of loss. This loss is more akin to the loss of notes in Cage’s ",{"_key":11697,"_type":12,"marks":11698,"text":11699},"f4b2da29b4e8",[114],"4'33\"",{"_key":11701,"_type":12,"marks":11702,"text":11703},"f4c808562844",[],". This loss is more like the absence of painterly marks in the ",{"_key":11705,"_type":12,"marks":11706,"text":250},"f9be16ac8198",[114],{"_key":11708,"_type":12,"marks":11709,"text":236},"2eb27abcb8e4",[],[],[11712],{"_key":11713,"_type":1738,"alt":11714,"asset":11715,"caption":11718},"d2afd6468017","A handwritten label reading \"ERASED de KOONING DRAWING \u002F ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG \u002F 1953\"",{"_type":1741,"asset":11716},{"_ref":11717,"_type":53},"image-d58420c568f9c71adec42e0b0d44fe5440877418-559x297-jpg",[11719],{"_key":11720,"_type":8,"children":11721,"markDefs":11742,"style":16},"61d40589fc22",[11722,11726,11729,11733,11738],{"_key":11723,"_type":12,"marks":11724,"text":11725},"40291bf7f9c5",[],"Fig. 6. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":11727,"_type":12,"marks":11728,"text":334},"0f89cb9ef570",[114],{"_key":11730,"_type":12,"marks":11731,"text":11732},"fa6a940087fc",[],", 1953 (detail of ",{"_key":11734,"_type":12,"marks":11735,"text":11737},"68d35e8e132c",[11736],"f086f72879b3","105 ",{"_key":11739,"_type":12,"marks":11740,"text":11741},"a485a02e4650",[],"showing label)",[11743],{"_key":11736,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":11745,"_type":1642,"content":11746,"images":11890},"226e6748cac0",[11747,11806,11843,11851],{"_key":11748,"_type":8,"children":11749,"markDefs":11794,"style":16},"750882a34a02",[11750,11754,11757,11761,11766,11769,11772,11776,11780,11783,11787,11790],{"_key":11751,"_type":12,"marks":11752,"text":11753},"b01f7c5baab6",[],"These are the type of losses we don’t recognize (or grieve) as such. These are losses that made room, losses that were generative. But lest such talk feel too triumphant, I suppose we must also ask: If the losses were so catalytic, why did Rauschenberg never repeat this gesture? I think the answer might reside in the same affects, tenderness and intimacy, that ",{"_key":11755,"_type":12,"marks":11756,"text":334},"7a22d786e31d",[114],{"_key":11758,"_type":12,"marks":11759,"text":11760},"050c9c4ab598",[]," set into motion as soon as Rauschenberg turned up at de Kooning’s door with a bottle of Jack. Namely, once he’d negotiated the loss of both the drawing and the erasers, he understood how carefully one must proceed in the face of loving people and making (new) things. Perhaps he understood that erasure is linked indelibly to another (psychic) operation—namely, remembering. ",{"_key":11762,"_type":12,"marks":11763,"text":11765},"7b54176b93c5",[11764],"d06068c6ec44","This may account for his answer, when asked why he didn’t sell ",{"_key":11767,"_type":12,"marks":11768,"text":6590},"54dadd9a7171",[114,11764],{"_key":11770,"_type":12,"marks":11771,"text":7196},"deb5be5ef8b2",[11764],{"_key":11773,"_type":12,"marks":11774,"text":1479},"1ec8f68d2708",[11764,11775],"b39dabcc51a5",{"_key":11777,"_type":12,"marks":11778,"text":11779},"e740dde76ebc",[11764],"), the ",{"_key":11781,"_type":12,"marks":11782,"text":250},"ed2fb087935f",[114,11764],{"_key":11784,"_type":12,"marks":11785,"text":11786},"d2dd8d26c138",[11764],", or ",{"_key":11788,"_type":12,"marks":11789,"text":334},"58aa5c93a897",[114,11764],{"_key":11791,"_type":12,"marks":11792,"text":11793},"305663acce94",[11764]," over the years, why he kept these works with him in the studio for so long: “Well, most of the works in this collection scared the shit out of me, too. And they didn’t stop frightening me. And so there was a kind of courage that was built into them, in their uniqueness, in their individuality, that I didn’t want to forget about, either.”",[11795,11805],{"_key":11764,"_type":474,"text":11796},[11797],{"_key":11798,"_type":8,"children":11799,"markDefs":11804,"style":16},"04d813839d72",[11800],{"_key":11801,"_type":12,"marks":11802,"text":11803},"7d11054764d2",[],"Rauschenberg, “Rauschenberg Discusses,” at 5:28.",[],{"_key":11775,"_type":239,"crNo":1517},{"_key":11807,"_type":8,"children":11808,"markDefs":11822,"style":16},"f3d094e4e0f3",[11809,11813,11818],{"_key":11810,"_type":12,"marks":11811,"text":11812},"c0824e8dbd18",[],"There’s collaboration, and there’s individuality. We tend to subject this difference to a hierarchical binary. When it comes to the history of art in the West, we have a long history of privileging the individual, punctuated by bursts of revolutionary impulses when we sometimes privilege our wish for collaboration. But there is another model, in which neither the individual nor the collaborative is demonized or lionized, and that is the logic of the team. Leaving aside for the moment our knee-jerk sense that there is an antipathy between art and sports, what if we saw the Fulton Street gang (Cage, Cunningham, Johns, Twombly, and others) as a team? Was this group of mostly young men (all of whom were exploring not only art but their identities as intimate and sexual beings) tossing around ideas the way a ball is passed on a basketball court? ",{"_key":11814,"_type":12,"marks":11815,"text":11817},"3e580a3a2972",[11816],"b15285419d1b","A great basketball play is one in which everyone gets their “touches.”",{"_key":11819,"_type":12,"marks":11820,"text":11821},"97c3338939a0",[]," Yes, the bucket is the ultimate goal—but great players know that great plays are rarely, if ever, made by an individual alone. Great plays involve several members, even the whole team. And the aesthetic propositions being passed around and shared by the Fulton Street gang were enactments of a range of plays that go by names\u002Fideas such as silence, emptiness, the tacit. The commitment to process over product is crucial to this model of art making. This model suggests that the infinite variety offered by repetition (passing around the same proposition or problem for each individual to try and “solve”) is punctuated by moments of breakthrough, of greatness, while always holding on to the knowledge that such greatness is imbricated in and dependent on the logic of the team. Rauschenberg was a franchise player, to be sure. Conceptual and aesthetic virtuosity was his handle. But even the greatest players are only as good as their team: Most of the time, someone passes you the ball before you dunk it.",[11823],{"_key":11816,"_type":474,"text":11824},[11825],{"_key":11826,"_type":8,"children":11827,"markDefs":11841,"style":16},"3fba6a9e5cb5",[11828,11832,11837],{"_key":11829,"_type":12,"marks":11830,"text":11831},"9ad91e518f3e",[],"Arthur Jafa, “Artists’ Influencers: Arthur Jafa and Jason Moran,” Art Basel, Dec. 9, 2017, video, at 38:55, ",{"_key":11833,"_type":12,"marks":11834,"text":11836},"e7134994ede2",[11835],"66e562733a71","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=LlqD21-a61Y",{"_key":11838,"_type":12,"marks":11839,"text":11840},"2debd44a60ae",[],". The artist Arthur Jafa is describing the play of the Golden State Warriors, a professional basketball team in which shared “touch” among players enacts a prayer-like intensification of “intentionality” akin to that of a free jazz ensemble, in which a solo performer can likewise be seen as an “emanation of the group.”",[11842],{"_key":11835,"_type":375,"href":11836},{"_key":11844,"_type":8,"children":11845,"markDefs":11850,"style":16},"91666f1e47cf",[11846],{"_key":11847,"_type":12,"marks":11848,"text":11849},"99220d7dd77d",[],"How does one retain the knowledge learned and feelings felt during such teamwork, from such ineffable collaborations? The deep truth about teams is that they are provisional. They don’t last. They break up or break down. Often, their greatness cannot be sustained for long. Their lifespan is shorter than that of an individual. Like the eraser that disappears through use, the magic of teamwork also dwindles.",[],{"_key":11852,"_type":8,"children":11853,"markDefs":11871,"style":16},"13cad8baede4",[11854,11858,11862,11866],{"_key":11855,"_type":12,"marks":11856,"text":11857},"45cd2645ced2",[],"It’s hard to know exactly what “scared the shit” out of Rauschenberg. Was it the audacity of his team’s greatness? Was it that the bar was suddenly set so high? Was it the inevitable dissolution of these collaborations? What we know is that he kept these works for a long time and that, when he finally let them go, he made certain they would remain together. I think he did so to ensure that it wasn’t ",{"_key":11859,"_type":12,"marks":11860,"text":11861},"cb953c4d5f7b",[114],"only",{"_key":11863,"_type":12,"marks":11864,"text":11865},"20203bf06528",[]," the individual acts of “courage” that remained but also some residue of the intimacy between the members of that community—that the courage to act in concert and consent with one another could be remembered, rather than erased, by (art) history. One of the many truths of collaboration, especially the forms of it that privilege everyone’s getting their touches, is that such memories must be tended to, because—in the immortal words of Bob Dylan, singing in collaboration with a team so cool it was simply called “The Band”—it is up to every player to “take care of all of your memories … ",{"_key":11867,"_type":12,"marks":11868,"text":11870},"314a4cc20791",[11869],"7203c0ee9d05","for you cannot relive them.”",[11872],{"_key":11869,"_type":474,"text":11873},[11874],{"_key":11875,"_type":8,"children":11876,"markDefs":11889,"style":16},"02481307a180",[11877,11881,11885],{"_key":11878,"_type":12,"marks":11879,"text":11880},"7f5ecaad5bc3",[],"Bob Dylan, “Open the Door, Homer,” recorded with the Band in the basement of Big Pink, West Saugerties, New York, ca. June–Sept. 1967, track 22 on ",{"_key":11882,"_type":12,"marks":11883,"text":11884},"953de54a9a10",[114],"The Basement Tapes",{"_key":11886,"_type":12,"marks":11887,"text":11888},"847ef82e6f3b",[],", Columbia C2 33682, vinyl LP, released June 26, 1975.",[],[11891],{"_key":11892,"_type":1738,"alt":11893,"asset":11894,"caption":11897},"a2615c2e1d6d","An erased piece of paper, with faint traces of a former drawing.",{"_type":1741,"asset":11895},{"_ref":11896,"_type":53},"image-448ce08513f5b6406763ee8362e8196e832b4765-1317x1740-jpg",[11898],{"_key":11899,"_type":8,"children":11900,"markDefs":11919,"style":16},"d9099713a693",[11901,11905,11908,11911,11915],{"_key":11902,"_type":12,"marks":11903,"text":11904},"500ff4cb7399",[],"Fig. 7. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":11906,"_type":12,"marks":11907,"text":334},"04352ccaef3c",[114],{"_key":11909,"_type":12,"marks":11910,"text":11732},"4fc3fb6c9695",[],{"_key":11912,"_type":12,"marks":11913,"text":343},"77dda01174a5",[11914],"c478ea16e172",{"_key":11916,"_type":12,"marks":11917,"text":11918},"60caeadd7e5b",[]," showing center)",[11920],{"_key":11914,"_type":239,"crNo":69},[11922],{"_key":105,"_type":8,"children":11923,"markDefs":11939,"style":16},[11924,11927,11930,11934,11936],{"_key":7532,"_type":12,"marks":11925,"text":11926},[],"Helen Molesworth, “",{"_key":11928,"_type":12,"marks":11929,"text":334},"6bf8ff3e9ee2",[114],{"_key":11931,"_type":12,"marks":11932,"text":11933},"48db5e56b106",[],": The One Who Asked and the One Who Agreed,” ",{"_key":112,"_type":12,"marks":11935,"text":115},[114],{"_key":117,"_type":12,"marks":11937,"text":11938},[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Ferased-de-kooning.",[],[11941,11948],{"_key":11942,"_type":8,"children":11943,"markDefs":11947,"style":16},"818fdefeb9df",[11944],{"_key":11931,"_type":12,"marks":11945,"text":11946},[],"The One Who Asked ",[],{"_key":11949,"_type":8,"children":11950,"markDefs":11954,"style":16},"2d9fd53a9627",[11951],{"_key":11931,"_type":12,"marks":11952,"text":11953},[],"and the One Who Agreed",[],[11956],{"_key":11942,"_type":8,"children":11957,"markDefs":11960,"style":16},[11958],{"_key":11928,"_type":12,"marks":11959,"text":334},[114],[],[11962,11971],{"_key":11963,"_type":8,"children":11964,"markDefs":11970,"style":16},"33e91d755c4f",[11965,11967],{"_key":11928,"_type":12,"marks":11966,"text":334},[114],{"_key":11931,"_type":12,"marks":11968,"text":11969},[],": The One ",[],{"_key":11972,"_type":8,"children":11973,"markDefs":11977,"style":16},"5f2f8443662c",[11974],{"_key":11931,"_type":12,"marks":11975,"text":11976},[],"Who Asked and the One Who Agreed",[],{"_type":424,"current":11979},"erased-de-kooning",{"_createdAt":11981,"_id":11982,"_rev":11983,"_system":11984,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":11987,"author":11988,"authorBio":11989,"body":12024,"citeAs":13003,"essayType":6260,"paragraphStyle":122,"subtitle":13022,"title":13029,"tocPreviewTitle":13037,"uid":13046},"2026-08-05T17:21:29Z","623020b9-c121-4268-b354-ea6982599d16","VAL4OVkGEyJv7L36h1nv0Z",{"base":11985},{"id":11982,"rev":11986},"kPYiHfStAlDxgPKycvKNXK","2026-10-21T21:26:29Z","Jennifer L. Roberts",[11990],{"_key":11991,"_type":8,"children":11992,"markDefs":12023,"style":16},"72dd5b8e88c4",[11993,11996,12000,12004,12007,12011,12015,12019],{"_key":11994,"_type":12,"marks":11995,"text":11988},"b3170a1062c5",[96],{"_key":11997,"_type":12,"marks":11998,"text":11999},"ba166e1a2427",[],", an art historian specializing in modern and contemporary art, is the Drew Gilpin Faust Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. Her scholarship focuses on the interface between the arts and the natural sciences, the history and theory of craft and materiality, and the history of print. She is the author of, among other titles, ",{"_key":12001,"_type":12,"marks":12002,"text":12003},"108a2666b64d",[114],"Contact: Art and the Pull of Print ",{"_key":12005,"_type":12,"marks":12006,"text":7635},"8608de2ef153",[],{"_key":12008,"_type":12,"marks":12009,"text":12010},"b3bde5464341",[114],"Jasper Johns\u002FIn Press: The Crosshatch Works and the Logic of Print",{"_key":12012,"_type":12,"marks":12013,"text":12014},"c58d3a8de192",[]," (2012), and ",{"_key":12016,"_type":12,"marks":12017,"text":12018},"1a8f8eae8ca9",[114],"Robert Smithson and History ",{"_key":12020,"_type":12,"marks":12021,"text":12022},"54bc1628df68",[],"(2004).",[],[12025,12056,12082,12418,12659,12841],{"_key":12026,"_type":12027,"images":12028},"ff69e065e145","imageGallery",[12029],{"_key":12030,"_type":12031,"alt":12032,"asset":12033,"caption":12036},"dff7cc6b6ac2","galleryImage","A horizontal strip of several taped-together pieces of paper showing a streak of black ink with the mark of tire treads.",{"_type":1741,"asset":12034},{"_ref":12035,"_type":53},"image-68a574c527cb454cc1be8ea0f1d0a0b1d599e443-15000x912-jpg",[12037],{"_key":12038,"_type":8,"children":12039,"markDefs":12054,"style":16},"77514f94c313",[12040,12044,12047,12050],{"_key":12041,"_type":12,"marks":12042,"text":1479},"c2fedde88ed3",[12043],"8182c6136d0d",{"_key":12045,"_type":12,"marks":12046,"text":793},"cdaedf185663",[],{"_key":12048,"_type":12,"marks":12049,"text":1471},"b0a4f2100b62",[114],{"_key":12051,"_type":12,"marks":12052,"text":12053},"100c327ed33d",[],", 1953. Monoprint on twenty sheets of paper, mounted on fabric; overall 1 ft. 4½ in. × 23 ft. 10 in. (41.9 cm × 7.3 m), image 1 ft. 4½ in. × 21 ft. 11⅞ in. (41.9 cm × 6.7 m). San Francisco Museum of Modern Art",[12055],{"_key":12043,"_type":239,"crNo":1517},{"_key":12057,"_type":8516,"content":12058},"1f67fd620ef4",[12059],{"_key":12060,"_type":8,"children":12061,"markDefs":12071,"style":16},"0bdab68592da",[12062,12067],{"_key":12063,"_type":12,"marks":12064,"text":12066},"92f1a309517d",[12065],"41ec35f3b5f9","He had not planned on the rain. It was a Sunday morning in fall 1953, and Robert Rauschenberg was carefully arranging paper—some twenty sheets of it, joined together with library paste into a long strip—on the street outside his studio in Lower Manhattan.",{"_key":12068,"_type":12,"marks":12069,"text":12070},"6fec819b45f5",[]," Out on the quiet street (there was never any traffic on Fulton on Sundays), the rain must have made a sharp ricochet sound as it fell on the paper. After a while, the sound may have softened as the fibers dampened and the paper began settling into the street.",[12072],{"_key":12065,"_type":474,"text":12073},[12074],{"_key":12075,"_type":8,"children":12076,"markDefs":12081,"style":16},"9e6e35bd9ce1",[12077],{"_key":12078,"_type":12,"marks":12079,"text":12080},"277a66b67284",[],"There are twenty sheets of paper in the extant scroll, but it is unclear whether all the paper that was originally on the street was included in the final work. In his recollections about making the print, Rauschenberg was imprecise about the total number of sheets used. In an interview with Dorothy [Gees] Seckler in 1965, for example, he said, “I glued, it must have been fifty sheets of paper together; it was the largest paper I had.” Rauschenberg, oral history interview by Seckler, Dec. 21, 1965, AAA.",[],{"_key":12083,"_type":1642,"content":12084,"images":12402},"84ccf08f81b5",[12085,12133,12172,12202,12277,12314,12363],{"_key":12086,"_type":8,"children":12087,"markDefs":12101,"style":12132},"36634f29d97d",[12088,12092,12097],{"_key":12089,"_type":12,"marks":12090,"text":12091},"1ce81149689d",[],"The composer John Cage drove over to Rauschenberg’s studio in his Ford Model A (fig. 1). ",{"_key":12093,"_type":12,"marks":12094,"text":12096},"3ee826781961",[12095],"2f4e64a13961","Rauschenberg coated the front and back tires on one side of the car with black paint, then directed Cage to drive along the paper, trying to keep the tire tracks centered on the narrow strip.",{"_key":12098,"_type":12,"marks":12099,"text":12100},"c501588f8093",[]," After the task was completed, Rauschenberg and Cage rushed inside to repair the paper’s precariously pasted seams, which had loosened in the rain. At some point before 1970, the year the print was first exhibited, it was formatted like an ancient scroll: mounted on fabric and rolled onto handles.",[12102],{"_key":12095,"_type":474,"text":12103},[12104],{"_key":12105,"_type":8,"children":12106,"markDefs":12131,"style":16},"bc5b06fc2111",[12107,12111,12114,12118,12121,12124,12127],{"_key":12108,"_type":12,"marks":12109,"text":12110},"505980aba942",[],"The paint was the same black house paint Rauschenberg used for the 1953 ",{"_key":12112,"_type":12,"marks":12113,"text":843},"be4b4b5ddc32",[114],{"_key":12115,"_type":12,"marks":12116,"text":12117},"9c7a5409434c",[],", sourced from the paint store across the street from his studio. Rauschenberg, video interview by David A. Ross, Walter Hopps, Gary Garrels, and Peter Samis, May 6, 1999, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, transcript, p. 26, SFMOMA Archives. There is some confusion about how the paint was applied to the tires. Decades later, Rauschenberg reported that he had poured paint on the street and Cage had driven through it before driving over the paper. Rauschenberg, interview by Walter Hopps, Jan. 18–20, 1991, typed notes by Susan Davidson, annotations by Rauschenberg, p. 4, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives. But Cage wrote in 1961 that Rauschenberg had “put the paint on the tires.” John Cage, “On Robert Rauschenberg, Artist, and His Work,” in ",{"_key":12119,"_type":12,"marks":12120,"text":6989},"99cbfbd9512e",[114],{"_key":12122,"_type":12,"marks":12123,"text":6993},"ff0d173c2b41",[],{"_key":12125,"_type":12,"marks":12126,"text":6997},"a52edcdeba9a",[114],{"_key":12128,"_type":12,"marks":12129,"text":12130},"7864f6b4ab4c",[]," (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), p. 98. The consistent density and coverage of the paint along the horizontal band strongly suggests that the tires were indeed covered with an even coat of paint before Cage started driving.",[],"forceIndent",{"_key":12134,"_type":8,"children":12135,"markDefs":12153,"style":16},"6c612fabb1ef",[12136,12140,12144,12148],{"_key":12137,"_type":12,"marks":12138,"text":12139},"0867685a13ef",[],"Upon examining the unfurled scroll (",{"_key":12141,"_type":12,"marks":12142,"text":1479},"9b21c7e88a0f",[12143],"99efb16170f0",{"_key":12145,"_type":12,"marks":12146,"text":12147},"0ec4e31d879e",[],"), it is evident that Cage did an excellent job with the precision driving task Rauschenberg had set for him. The front and rear tire marks are in near-perfect alignment as they pass in sequence over the paper—so much so that the overlapping double paint tread has sometimes been misidentified as a single one. There are other incidents: unruly spatters of paint here and there; creases propagating across the page like white cracks; an unpainted spot on the edge of one tire that repeats itself three times, marking the number of rotations the tires made as they passed over the strip. And mysteriously, running along the length of the paper, there is an additional tire track: a simple, debossed tread mark (printers might call this a “blind stamp”). ",{"_key":12149,"_type":12,"marks":12150,"text":12152},"9a4cb5178154",[12151],"ce39163783e8","This additional, unpainted track is a curiosity, especially as neither Rauschenberg nor Cage ever mentioned it.",[12154,12171],{"_key":12151,"_type":474,"text":12155},[12156],{"_key":12157,"_type":8,"children":12158,"markDefs":12170,"style":16},"5ed10d28be7a",[12159,12163,12166],{"_key":12160,"_type":12,"marks":12161,"text":12162},"521cd75d6364",[],"The prevailing account of the process in the current literature follows Rauschenberg’s suggestion that the paint was poured onto the street. But in order to account for the blank tread mark, it has been suggested that Rauschenberg poured paint only in front of Cage’s rear tire, so that the front tire made the blank mark and the rear tire made the black mark. See, for example, the medium description in Leah Dickerman and Achim Borchardt-Hume, ",{"_key":12164,"_type":12,"marks":12165,"text":1867},"5380fd432a8c",[114],{"_key":12167,"_type":12,"marks":12168,"text":12169},"b43db1d920e0",[],", exh. cat. (New York: Museum of Modern Art; London: Tate Publishing, 2016), p. 100, fig. 58: “Tire-tread mark (front wheel) and tire-tread mark with house paint (rear wheel) made by Cage’s Model A Ford.” A close look at the work reveals that there are, in fact, two overlapping painted tracks. A series of looping white lines along one edge of the horizontal black band, resembling a sinusoidal waveform (the top half of which has been lopped off), were made by the tread of one tire as it rolled over the paper before being overwritten by the edge of the other tire, which followed, just slightly offset, behind it. The overlap is also evident at each end of the scroll, where the tracks made by the two tires diverge slightly.",[],{"_key":12143,"_type":239,"crNo":1517},{"_key":12173,"_type":8,"children":12174,"markDefs":12184,"style":16},"37bf363308a6",[12175,12179],{"_key":12176,"_type":12,"marks":12177,"text":12178},"36f91a8656d3",[],"A possible explanation for the unpainted tread mark is that Cage took a dry run along the paper before Rauschenberg painted the tires. It would have made sense to test the premise of the operation before committing to the paint, as it is not self-evident that it is possible to keep an antique automobile driving in a straight line, at a very slow speed, along such a long, narrow strip of paper. And Cage would likely have been unable to see the tire meeting the strip from the driver’s seat. In this sense, he faced a challenge inherent in all printmaking. The act of impression is always invisible to the printmaker; printing is, by definition, a matter of contact under pressure between two surfaces, and there is no room for a supervisory eye in such a tight space. ",{"_key":12180,"_type":12,"marks":12181,"text":12183},"3049948df108",[12182],"e626066a33f3","We might think of the debossing as a reminder of the way in which printmaking fundamentally frustrates any project of artistic control.",[12185],{"_key":12182,"_type":474,"text":12186},[12187],{"_key":12188,"_type":8,"children":12189,"markDefs":12201,"style":16},"586581ea5538",[12190,12194,12197],{"_key":12191,"_type":12,"marks":12192,"text":12193},"f16f919369b8",[],"On the blindness of the moment of impression in printing as well as John Cage’s engagement with this factor in prints of his own making, see Jennifer L. Roberts, ",{"_key":12195,"_type":12,"marks":12196,"text":12003},"79321531ccea",[114],{"_key":12198,"_type":12,"marks":12199,"text":12200},"9a8a7043c088",[],"(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2024), pp. 16–19.",[],{"_key":12203,"_type":8,"children":12204,"markDefs":12247,"style":16},"ad10f33c61fc",[12205,12210,12213,12218,12222,12225,12228,12231,12234,12237,12240,12243],{"_key":12206,"_type":12,"marks":12207,"text":12209},"e70df891251d",[12208],"3410f53dc33c","In the early 1950s, Rauschenberg was searching for precisely this sort of refutation of artistic control, seeking alternatives to the gestural bravado and self-revelatory ethos of Abstract Expressionism.",{"_key":12211,"_type":12,"marks":12212,"text":793},"6e7b4eaae73f",[],{"_key":12214,"_type":12,"marks":12215,"text":12217},"8766618b04c1",[12216],"5d2d24f57575","As he put it to Dorothy Gees Seckler in 1965, “There was something about the self-assertion of Abstract Expressionism that personally always put me off, because at that time my focus was as much in the opposite direction as it could be. I was busy trying to find ways where the imagery and the material—and the meaning—of the painting would not be an illustration of my will but more like an unbiased documentation of my observations.”",{"_key":12219,"_type":12,"marks":12220,"text":12221},"cf9da0a0110e",[]," Along with the ",{"_key":12223,"_type":12,"marks":12224,"text":250},"797eb54ce5bd",[114],{"_key":12226,"_type":12,"marks":12227,"text":1403},"152e40bf4de7",[],{"_key":12229,"_type":12,"marks":12230,"text":843},"c455ab2038ba",[114],{"_key":12232,"_type":12,"marks":12233,"text":3376},"d2d3c618c97d",[],{"_key":12235,"_type":12,"marks":12236,"text":334},"665350b81ee5",[114],{"_key":12238,"_type":12,"marks":12239,"text":263},"ac90d19e5897",[],{"_key":12241,"_type":12,"marks":12242,"text":6590},"090db88edb73",[114],{"_key":12244,"_type":12,"marks":12245,"text":12246},"5a2d316ef9e7",[],"is a pivotal early attempt by Rauschenberg to imagine a form of painting that would be sensitive rather than assertive, receptive rather than rhetorical.",[12248,12267],{"_key":12208,"_type":474,"text":12249},[12250],{"_key":12251,"_type":8,"children":12252,"markDefs":12265,"style":16},"76df895669ef",[12253,12257,12262],{"_key":12254,"_type":12,"marks":12255,"text":12256},"023123342e89",[],"For an excellent account of Rauschenberg’s response in this work to Abstract Expressionist painting, see Sarah Roberts, “Automobile Tire Print,” Rauschenberg Research Project, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, July 2013, ",{"_key":12258,"_type":12,"marks":12259,"text":12261},"e1bfe8b116df",[12260],"44de9655ae94","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sfmoma.org\u002Fessay\u002Fautomobile-tire-print\u002F",{"_key":12263,"_type":12,"marks":12264,"text":236},"a65fb3dfb4a0",[],[12266],{"_key":12260,"_type":375,"href":12261},{"_key":12216,"_type":474,"text":12268},[12269],{"_key":12270,"_type":8,"children":12271,"markDefs":12276,"style":16},"d03ef5544312",[12272],{"_key":12273,"_type":12,"marks":12274,"text":12275},"374ef3bca300",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Seckler, Dec. 21, 1965.",[],{"_key":12278,"_type":8,"children":12279,"markDefs":12313,"style":16},"6a3f3f7fc60e",[12280,12284,12287,12291,12294,12298,12302,12306,12309],{"_key":12281,"_type":12,"marks":12282,"text":12283},"edaff9d6d3bc",[],"It might seem counterintuitive that a blackened tire print, with its common connotations of speed, noise, and even violence, could belong to the same family as these more obviously “silent” works, which are predicated on the withholding, erasure, or baffling of gestural marks. ",{"_key":12285,"_type":12,"marks":12286,"text":1471},"1f4510e9062f",[114],{"_key":12288,"_type":12,"marks":12289,"text":12290},"43ae6d025cae",[]," differs from them in that it includes a highly conspicuous gesture: the black mark pushing across the white sheets. How could such a mark be a document of observation? I suggest that with ",{"_key":12292,"_type":12,"marks":12293,"text":1471},"e281403347db",[114],{"_key":12295,"_type":12,"marks":12296,"text":12297},"7c4496c68611",[],", Rauschenberg began a serious exploration of printmaking, broadly conceived, as a way toward a new kind of ",{"_key":12299,"_type":12,"marks":12300,"text":12301},"38354764ef5e",[114],"receptive gesture. ",{"_key":12303,"_type":12,"marks":12304,"text":12305},"7a0a92c85141",[],"Such a gesture might receive and store the world in a state of suspended animation while simultaneously draining the artist’s own subjectivity out of the mark-making process. ",{"_key":12307,"_type":12,"marks":12308,"text":1471},"58df94df9b66",[114],{"_key":12310,"_type":12,"marks":12311,"text":12312},"4a1a910d11b0",[]," also harbors a connection with the forms of receptivity that are proper to sound recording: It suggests that Rauschenberg’s early collaboration with Cage helped him imagine printmaking as a mode of listening.",[],{"_key":12315,"_type":8,"children":12316,"markDefs":12352,"style":16},"832fd75657fd",[12317,12321,12324,12328,12331,12335,12340,12344,12348],{"_key":12318,"_type":12,"marks":12319,"text":12320},"679b988ecad3",[],"It would be almost a decade before Rauschenberg began working intensively in printshops with printing presses. Yet ",{"_key":12322,"_type":12,"marks":12323,"text":6590},"1930d6eec078",[114],{"_key":12325,"_type":12,"marks":12326,"text":12327},"641647eea066",[],"is very much a print. Although it is bound to no specific printmaking technique, one could think of it as something like a primordial print-object, pointing to myriad print traditions. Technically, ",{"_key":12329,"_type":12,"marks":12330,"text":6590},"2625f9025fd0",[114],{"_key":12332,"_type":12,"marks":12333,"text":12334},"268c089499aa",[],"is a relief print, one of the oldest forms of printing. Like a woodcut, it was executed by transferring a pigmented medium (in this case, black paint) from the raised parts of a carved or molded surface to a piece of paper. As a cylinder, the tire itself evokes several different printmaking accessories. In its function of applying high pressure, the wheel resembles the ubiquitous rollers of engraving presses. ",{"_key":12336,"_type":12,"marks":12337,"text":12339},"e515c59c8d4c",[12338],"47738e1ecb50","(This is why Rauschenberg said that Cage, rolling the car across the paper, was both the printer and the press.)",{"_key":12341,"_type":12,"marks":12342,"text":12343},"614b2a8ddb87",[]," And as a ",{"_key":12345,"_type":12,"marks":12346,"text":12347},"b5018c34813f",[114],"rubber ",{"_key":12349,"_type":12,"marks":12350,"text":12351},"d706fcea726a",[],"cylinder, the tire recalls the rubber blanket rollers used in offset printing as well as the brayers and rollers used in printshops to spread ink across surfaces.",[12353],{"_key":12338,"_type":474,"text":12354},[12355],{"_key":12356,"_type":8,"children":12357,"markDefs":12362,"style":16},"9fc1723e7d47",[12358],{"_key":12359,"_type":12,"marks":12360,"text":12361},"1f07390b9cc6",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Ross, Hopps, Garrels, and Samis, May 6, 1999, p. 26.",[],{"_key":12364,"_type":8,"children":12365,"markDefs":12383,"style":16},"4116611f78da",[12366,12370,12375,12379],{"_key":12367,"_type":12,"marks":12368,"text":12369},"5094efbc11be",[],"By engaging with printing, Rauschenberg borrowed from a practice that had already been, for centuries, an art of authorial negation and deferral. The practice appealed to him not (or not only) because it was associated with reproduction but because every mark made in printing displaces, delays, and dilutes the artist’s presence, delegating and distributing it through a series of machines, materials, procedures, and collaborators. ",{"_key":12371,"_type":12,"marks":12372,"text":12374},"869985e8c4e6",[12373],"f9ca2ac6177f","Most forms of printing also ",{"_key":12376,"_type":12,"marks":12377,"text":12378},"5910dd251f1b",[114,12373],"reverse ",{"_key":12380,"_type":12,"marks":12381,"text":12382},"9a8b38b82147",[12373],"the artist’s work—especially relief printing, in which acts of marking are not only reversed left to right but also flipped from positive gesture to negative space—inverting it so thoroughly as to become acts of unmarking.",[12384],{"_key":12373,"_type":474,"text":12385},[12386],{"_key":12387,"_type":8,"children":12388,"markDefs":12401,"style":16},"34b668673bc0",[12389,12393,12397],{"_key":12390,"_type":12,"marks":12391,"text":12392},"8856dea9b561",[],"On printmaking as the alienation and inversion of the artistic gesture, see Roberts, ",{"_key":12394,"_type":12,"marks":12395,"text":12396},"8bef2b1eeb52",[114],"Contact",{"_key":12398,"_type":12,"marks":12399,"text":12400},"bb7f45134a0a",[],", pp. 167–93.",[],[12403],{"_key":12404,"_type":1738,"alt":12405,"asset":12406,"caption":12409,"stickyOnScroll":54,"width":7527},"7c4acc60f3ab","A man stands beside a vintage car from the 1920s, showcasing its distinctive front grille and hood ornament, with trees in the background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":12407},{"_ref":12408,"_type":53},"image-46c4b2e5f4045ac830d461c0fb529507d90fc8ab-2739x2739-jpg",[12410],{"_key":12411,"_type":8,"children":12412,"markDefs":12417,"style":16},"b9da9103bd09",[12413],{"_key":12414,"_type":12,"marks":12415,"text":12416},"b7409c1b982f",[],"Fig. 1. John Cage standing beside his Ford Model A at Black Mountain College, N.C., summer 1952. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[],{"_key":12419,"_type":1642,"content":12420,"images":12635},"6f03ef80180d",[12421,12534,12597],{"_key":12422,"_type":8,"children":12423,"markDefs":12493,"style":12132},"54096553b62f",[12424,12428,12431,12435,12439,12442,12446,12449,12452,12456,12459,12463,12468,12471,12475,12478,12481,12485,12489],{"_key":12425,"_type":12,"marks":12426,"text":12427},"9619048e1b31",[],"A key precedent for ",{"_key":12429,"_type":12,"marks":12430,"text":6590},"16f8469905db",[114],{"_key":12432,"_type":12,"marks":12433,"text":12434},"ed301203a085",[],"is the sequential woodcut Rauschenberg made at Black Mountain College sometime in 1951 or 1952, ",{"_key":12436,"_type":12,"marks":12437,"text":12438},"6112257f4f09",[114],"This Is the First Half of a Print Designed to Exist in Passing Time ",{"_key":12440,"_type":12,"marks":12441,"text":7196},"8cd2d8c394cf",[],{"_key":12443,"_type":12,"marks":12444,"text":1510},"94839168fe2e",[12445],"27b472e9bda1",{"_key":12447,"_type":12,"marks":12448,"text":10084},"d94c8778f868",[],{"_key":12450,"_type":12,"marks":12451,"text":6926},"af425c40f59d",[114],{"_key":12453,"_type":12,"marks":12454,"text":12455},"4482bdb1514b",[],"In making this print, he performed the paradox of all relief printing: The physical gestures he made on the block became the unmarked (white) parts of the print. Pulling a series of prints from the same block as he gradually gouged away its surface, he created a sequence in which each print carried less ink than the previous one. Expression collapsed into silence. As in almost all forms of relief printing, here the artist’s effort on the block or matrix, the inscriptive labor, literally came to nothing; it became negative space, emptiness, the spaces between the ink. ",{"_key":12457,"_type":12,"marks":12458,"text":6590},"07ea93a306d1",[114],{"_key":12460,"_type":12,"marks":12461,"text":12462},"8897bc98e0b0",[],"shares broadly, if obliquely, in this logic. The sunken tread lines of the tire, which provided a particular pattern to the tread and helped secure its grip on the street, became interstitial white space in the final work. ",{"_key":12464,"_type":12,"marks":12465,"text":12467},"cdff08cb6cbd",[12466],"ccbd23758ab1","Thanks to such inversions, ",{"_key":12469,"_type":12,"marks":12470,"text":1471},"7c05915e8ff8",[114,12466],{"_key":12472,"_type":12,"marks":12473,"text":12474},"75ebff012d8a",[12466],"’s logic of relief is intimately related to ",{"_key":12476,"_type":12,"marks":12477,"text":334},"8e53e5bdc3c1",[114,12466],{"_key":12479,"_type":12,"marks":12480,"text":338},"fed99766b734",[12466],{"_key":12482,"_type":12,"marks":12483,"text":343},"a54b584683c1",[12466,12484],"ff6f029458e1",{"_key":12486,"_type":12,"marks":12487,"text":12488},"1db4f397aa0f",[12466],"), which is also about the paradoxical conflation of gesture and erasure, identity and absence.",{"_key":12490,"_type":12,"marks":12491,"text":12492},"551e3bbdde27",[]," And, of course, it performs in its own way Cage’s insistence on understanding interstitial silence as a part of all music.",[12494,12532,12533],{"_key":12466,"_type":474,"text":12495},[12496],{"_key":12497,"_type":8,"children":12498,"markDefs":12531,"style":16},"6604a36d009d",[12499,12503,12506,12510,12513,12517,12520,12524,12527],{"_key":12500,"_type":12,"marks":12501,"text":12502},"73400fe22512",[],"Hal Foster notes that ",{"_key":12504,"_type":12,"marks":12505,"text":1471},"88d5303ed81d",[114],{"_key":12507,"_type":12,"marks":12508,"text":12509},"7c01ed494201",[]," forms an inverted pair with ",{"_key":12511,"_type":12,"marks":12512,"text":334},"12150d19e187",[114],{"_key":12514,"_type":12,"marks":12515,"text":12516},"979bd1c29c32",[],", calling “the first a gesture of marking, the second of unmarking.” Yet both these works, along with ",{"_key":12518,"_type":12,"marks":12519,"text":1501},"5e77f1bfd10b",[114],{"_key":12521,"_type":12,"marks":12522,"text":12523},"0503427eef23",[],", are better described as balancing the two sides of a marking\u002Funmarking duality. Hal Foster, “‘Made out of the Real World’: Lessons from the Fulton Street Studio,” in ",{"_key":12525,"_type":12,"marks":12526,"text":871},"d851d1f1c178",[114],{"_key":12528,"_type":12,"marks":12529,"text":12530},"637983572e7f",[],", by Dickerman and Borchardt-Hume, p. 93.",[],{"_key":12445,"_type":239,"crNo":1520},{"_key":12484,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":12535,"_type":8,"children":12536,"markDefs":12578,"style":16},"1613b844ce31",[12537,12541,12544,12548,12551,12555,12560,12564,12567,12571,12574],{"_key":12538,"_type":12,"marks":12539,"text":12540},"2eae91ac2072",[],"Rauschenberg also tapped into the capacities of printing as an art of detection of the otherwise unseen. While ",{"_key":12542,"_type":12,"marks":12543,"text":1471},"a3036375bae2",[114],{"_key":12545,"_type":12,"marks":12546,"text":12547},"4bda5c76e56c",[]," is obviously a print of the tires of Cage’s Model A, it is also a physical impression of Fulton Street. The texture of the street, its every topographical incident, was forced up into the paper by the pressure of the tires. In this sense, ",{"_key":12549,"_type":12,"marks":12550,"text":1471},"7ca1e87ba9db",[114],{"_key":12552,"_type":12,"marks":12553,"text":12554},"525b3c0f54a7",[]," is akin to another primordial form of printing: rubbing or frottage. In rubbings, the application of pressure and a pigmented (usually dry) medium to a sheet of paper brings up the texture of the surface below it as a kind of apparition. ",{"_key":12556,"_type":12,"marks":12557,"text":12559},"3af218dc57a7",[12558],"bc2419cb3255","Rauschenberg would have been intimately familiar with this process, having accompanied—and sometimes assisted—his friend Sari Dienes while she made rubbings of New York streets with a brayer around this time (fig. 2).",{"_key":12561,"_type":12,"marks":12562,"text":12563},"4596430326a2",[]," The rain on the day of creating ",{"_key":12565,"_type":12,"marks":12566,"text":1471},"ffed5cf828f3",[114],{"_key":12568,"_type":12,"marks":12569,"text":12570},"b1840cab951a",[]," meant that the street was more fully registered, the dampened paper pliable and more responsive to the street’s topography. (Dampened paper is often used in printmaking because it allows for more precise deformation into the grooves and depressions of the matrix.) There is also the fact that, as printmakers know, the printing process often detects tiny scratches, smudges, and fingerprints on the plate or block that are invisible to the eye. Inking and printing a plate can reveal subtle incidents that would otherwise remain imperceptible. ",{"_key":12572,"_type":12,"marks":12573,"text":6590},"a7ceab3157a4",[114],{"_key":12575,"_type":12,"marks":12576,"text":12577},"0e09f6258544",[],"similarly carries a latent image of the invisible subtleties of the street.",[12579],{"_key":12558,"_type":474,"text":12580},[12581],{"_key":12582,"_type":8,"children":12583,"markDefs":12596,"style":16},"a33c2417294a",[12584,12588,12592],{"_key":12585,"_type":12,"marks":12586,"text":12587},"b36b92bccdfa",[],"On rubbings as revelatory and forensic gestures as well as the work of Sari Dienes, see Allegra Pesenti, ",{"_key":12589,"_type":12,"marks":12590,"text":12591},"6c8dad173cc8",[114],"Apparitions: Frottages and Rubbings from 1860 to Now",{"_key":12593,"_type":12,"marks":12594,"text":12595},"023a5fc338dc",[],", exh. cat. (Los Angeles: Hammer Museum; Houston: Menil Collection, 2015), pp. 11–25.",[],{"_key":12598,"_type":8,"children":12599,"markDefs":12634,"style":16},"5fda3c6c757d",[12600,12604,12608,12611,12615,12619,12623,12627,12630],{"_key":12601,"_type":12,"marks":12602,"text":12603},"3ebf75d3edbd",[],"The sensitive energies of printing suggested to Rauschenberg a way of working that could be receptive without being passive. Marks, movements, and gestures did not need to be expressive; they could perform instead a choreography of observation and registration. The receptive gesture explored in ",{"_key":12605,"_type":12,"marks":12606,"text":12607},"b5dae0731f16",[114],"Automobile",{"_key":12609,"_type":12,"marks":12610,"text":793},"07ca76a40b50",[],{"_key":12612,"_type":12,"marks":12613,"text":12614},"5880294dcc94",[114],"Tire Print ",{"_key":12616,"_type":12,"marks":12617,"text":12618},"291904ae177c",[],"evolved later in the decade into the artist’s transfer drawings and, in the early 1960s, into his silkscreen paintings. The scanning motion of the pencil in the transfer drawings (fig. 3), the pull of the squeegee in the silkscreen paintings—these gestures do not so much depict the world as ",{"_key":12620,"_type":12,"marks":12621,"text":12622},"598217f4298d",[114],"reveal ",{"_key":12624,"_type":12,"marks":12625,"text":12626},"9d840e8ef198",[],"it. Through contact and movement, these processes bring up images that would otherwise have remained latent or obscured. In this sense, we might think of Rauschenberg’s searching gestures as something like echolocations: sound emissions that are also forms of listening. ",{"_key":12628,"_type":12,"marks":12629,"text":1471},"c2df21eaa089",[114],{"_key":12631,"_type":12,"marks":12632,"text":12633},"c3a0fd38a3e1",[]," is a record of listening to the street.",[],[12636],{"_key":12637,"_type":1738,"alt":12638,"asset":12639,"caption":12642},"91004a6e656a","A monochrome abstract composition features layered geometric shapes, including a circular grid, textured circles, and linear patterns, rendered in a distressed, textured manner.",{"_type":1741,"asset":12640},{"_ref":12641,"_type":53},"image-68bf7ecfbabd577a2575f75f6affee373ade3ad3-1478x3016-jpg",[12643],{"_key":12644,"_type":8,"children":12645,"markDefs":12658,"style":16},"42faf17b1e6c",[12646,12650,12654],{"_key":12647,"_type":12,"marks":12648,"text":12649},"bedc32fbbf77",[],"Fig. 2. Sari Dienes, ",{"_key":12651,"_type":12,"marks":12652,"text":12653},"26ae520ab1fb",[114],"Soho Sidewalk",{"_key":12655,"_type":12,"marks":12656,"text":12657},"68eac76f121a",[],", ca. 1953–55. Ink rubbing on Webril; 80 x 38½ in. (203.2 × 97.8 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York",[],{"_key":12660,"_type":1642,"content":12661,"images":12818},"827e544aed28",[12662,12740],{"_key":12663,"_type":8,"children":12664,"markDefs":12711,"style":12132},"5c500ee9f8e1",[12665,12669,12672,12676,12679,12682,12685,12689,12693,12697,12702,12706],{"_key":12666,"_type":12,"marks":12667,"text":12668},"87d08aa54cc6",[],"To speak of a “record of listening” is to channel this discussion into the realm of sound, which is appropriate given that it was John Cage behind the wheel for the making of the print. He and Rauschenberg had become closely acquainted the previous summer at Black Mountain, where the artist’s ",{"_key":12670,"_type":12,"marks":12671,"text":250},"605398d356bf",[114],{"_key":12673,"_type":12,"marks":12674,"text":12675},"b29c77225935",[]," had inspired the composer’s own famous symphony of listening, ",{"_key":12677,"_type":12,"marks":12678,"text":11699},"e161fe720157",[114],{"_key":12680,"_type":12,"marks":12681,"text":6926},"a901f75471fc",[],{"_key":12683,"_type":12,"marks":12684,"text":1471},"092bb52e5008",[114],{"_key":12686,"_type":12,"marks":12687,"text":12688},"eef688af3160",[]," can be understood as another example, sparked by their friendship, of an exploratory crossover between the visual and auditory spheres. In this case, it was the act of printing that created a link between image and sound. The work evokes sound printing, which is to say ",{"_key":12690,"_type":12,"marks":12691,"text":12692},"dc24d66c1d8a",[114],"sound recording",{"_key":12694,"_type":12,"marks":12695,"text":12696},"43291b32d9f6",[],", both in its appearance and in its approach to the perception and storage of experience. ",{"_key":12698,"_type":12,"marks":12699,"text":12701},"ddbf8c79b4e3",[12700],"44e22ff2acfc","The first sound recordings, made in the mid-nineteenth century—long strips of soot-covered paper wrapped around a cylindrical drum, on which vibrations, in the form of waveform lines, were inscribed by a recording stylus (fig. 4)—look remarkably similar to tire tracks.",{"_key":12703,"_type":12,"marks":12704,"text":12705},"399cc5340a2f",[]," These early soot-paper prints were called “phonautograms” and were understood as fixed archives: They captured the ephemeral movements of sound and made them visible, but it had not yet occurred to anyone that they might be played back. In 1877, Thomas Edison realized that if the sound wave were engraved into a surface, it could later be reanimated by something following the groove, and thus sound recording as we now understand it was born. ",{"_key":12707,"_type":12,"marks":12708,"text":12710},"db7bab76dc43",[12709],"c0223ad3d5c0","Some of Edison’s earliest recording media were wax cylinders, which allowed sound to be stored in grooves incised into the wax and then released again by a stylus retracing the grooves.",[12712,12730],{"_key":12700,"_type":474,"text":12713},[12714],{"_key":12715,"_type":8,"children":12716,"markDefs":12729,"style":16},"bfbd6ad743b4",[12717,12721,12725],{"_key":12718,"_type":12,"marks":12719,"text":12720},"cab69064e30d",[],"For the early history of sound recording on sooted strips of paper, see Patrick Feaster, “Enigmatic Proofs: The Archiving of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville’s Phonautograms,” ",{"_key":12722,"_type":12,"marks":12723,"text":12724},"be88a274c755",[114],"Technology and Culture ",{"_key":12726,"_type":12,"marks":12727,"text":12728},"acb54975ee93",[],"60, no. 2, supp. (April 2019), pp. S14–3",[],{"_key":12709,"_type":474,"text":12731},[12732],{"_key":12733,"_type":8,"children":12734,"markDefs":12739,"style":16},"1a1e4f18f29c",[12735],{"_key":12736,"_type":12,"marks":12737,"text":12738},"c3082b8d9eb1",[],"Although the term “stylus” is used in both cases, a recording, or “cutting,” stylus and a playback stylus, sometimes called a “reproducer needle” in the early years, were not identical.",[],{"_key":12741,"_type":8,"children":12742,"markDefs":12784,"style":16},"ed7e993aed07",[12743,12747,12750,12754,12757,12761,12766,12770,12773,12777,12780],{"_key":12744,"_type":12,"marks":12745,"text":12746},"ca6bf8c6b138",[],"This connection between ",{"_key":12748,"_type":12,"marks":12749,"text":6590},"3ebe9b5d8cc4",[114],{"_key":12751,"_type":12,"marks":12752,"text":12753},"acb0e093f875",[],"and early sound-recording cylinders might be dismissed as merely pseudomorphic, a false impression derived from superficial similarities, were it not for ",{"_key":12755,"_type":12,"marks":12756,"text":939},"e549e228541d",[114],{"_key":12758,"_type":12,"marks":12759,"text":12760},"cbd9a69ee60c",[],", Cage’s 1952 performance at Black Mountain, now often regarded as the first Happening. ",{"_key":12762,"_type":12,"marks":12763,"text":12765},"7f9d21fd5592",[12764],"b1d79077788a","At the legendary event, in which a small group of participants executed a series of unrelated, self-guided tasks, Rauschenberg played wax cylinders on an antique phonograph; as he later recalled, “I was playing the wax Victrola with the big horn and scratching.”",{"_key":12767,"_type":12,"marks":12768,"text":12769},"21c8c2cb857d",[]," It seems unlikely that Rauschenberg would not have perceived the connection between these antiquated, treaded, often dark-colored wax spools and the similarly antiquated, treaded, black rubber tires of Cage’s Model A. In ",{"_key":12771,"_type":12,"marks":12772,"text":939},"facb0ee537eb",[114],{"_key":12774,"_type":12,"marks":12775,"text":12776},"a65114bddf4a",[],", Rauschenberg had set cylinders in motion to release sound. Now, a year later, for ",{"_key":12778,"_type":12,"marks":12779,"text":1471},"0ddd1f2ff851",[114],{"_key":12781,"_type":12,"marks":12782,"text":12783},"9d60c13a07e9",[],", Cage set cylinders in motion to release an image.",[12785],{"_key":12764,"_type":474,"text":12786},[12787],{"_key":12788,"_type":8,"children":12789,"markDefs":12817,"style":16},"947a3df8f1c6",[12790,12794,12798,12802,12805,12809,12813],{"_key":12791,"_type":12,"marks":12792,"text":12793},"74d095af7fab",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Hopps, Jan. 18–20, 1991, p. 5. For more on ",{"_key":12795,"_type":12,"marks":12796,"text":12797},"321944fa6820",[114],"Theater Piece No. 1, ",{"_key":12799,"_type":12,"marks":12800,"text":12801},"988c5ac007f8",[],"see Ruth Erickson, “Chance Encounters: ",{"_key":12803,"_type":12,"marks":12804,"text":939},"c2bafecc340e",[114],{"_key":12806,"_type":12,"marks":12807,"text":12808},"22bbd75e4c7b",[]," and Its Prehistory,” in ",{"_key":12810,"_type":12,"marks":12811,"text":12812},"ca8b9c87e036",[114],"Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College, 1933–1957",{"_key":12814,"_type":12,"marks":12815,"text":12816},"0a58c1ec26ab",[],", by Helen Molesworth with Ruth Erickson, exh. cat. (Boston: Institute of Contemporary Art; New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2015), p. 299.",[],[12819],{"_key":12820,"_type":1738,"alt":12821,"asset":12822,"caption":12825},"ccd510e71e28","A framed artwork featuring a collage of various textures and colors, including abstract shapes and faint outlines, set against a light background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":12823},{"_ref":12824,"_type":53},"image-9c09060947a859828b1d3c2fd77b7d42c8f094dd-2811x2231-jpg",[12826],{"_key":12827,"_type":8,"children":12828,"markDefs":12840,"style":16},"b3fbea91fe3c",[12829,12832,12836],{"_key":12830,"_type":12,"marks":12831,"text":11049},"6a383d499773",[],{"_key":12833,"_type":12,"marks":12834,"text":12835},"695c483477e7",[114],"Apprehension",{"_key":12837,"_type":12,"marks":12838,"text":12839},"1d2ca77acaf1",[],", 1963. Solvent transfer, watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper; 22⅞ × 28⅞ in. (58.1 × 73.3 cm). Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York",[],{"_key":12842,"_type":1642,"content":12843,"images":12987},"ee9043d4c35f",[12844,12924,12976],{"_key":12845,"_type":8,"children":12846,"markDefs":12872,"style":12132},"7791c703e143",[12847,12851,12854,12858,12863,12867],{"_key":12848,"_type":12,"marks":12849,"text":12850},"39aca05f0d7e",[],"The receptive gesture Rauschenberg explored in printmaking has a strong analogue in early forms of phonographic sound recording. A stylus receives vibrations (sounds) from the environment and moves (gestures) in concert with those vibrations to inscribe them onto a surface. The movement of the stylus is like the “unbiased documentation” of his “observations” Rauschenberg sought as a model during these years. This connection to sound recording had the additional virtue of suggesting that the printed, documentary trace of ",{"_key":12852,"_type":12,"marks":12853,"text":6590},"ab6bd951d653",[114],{"_key":12855,"_type":12,"marks":12856,"text":12857},"bf50e359e3fa",[],"could be reanimated. Rauschenberg spoke often of his aversion to the ossification of experience in art objects. ",{"_key":12859,"_type":12,"marks":12860,"text":12862},"1a50dfb64eac",[12861],"31fa7912b1b6","He wanted to make art that was not just a “leftover of some activity” and to prevent his work from, in the art historian Branden W. Joseph’s phrasing, “congealing into set forms.”",{"_key":12864,"_type":12,"marks":12865,"text":12866},"08a3c3316d60",[]," This was always a danger in printmaking, as a print is, by definition, a fixed trace of an action. By fortifying the tire print with connections to sound recording, Rauschenberg may have sought to prevent that “leftover” fate. ",{"_key":12868,"_type":12,"marks":12869,"text":12871},"a3de4eb20c72",[12870],"a32612801012","The sound stored materially in a phonograph record can be played back—resurrected—when a stylus retraces the groove. Sound recording holds and releases the flux of experience, alternating between a material trace and a dynamic acoustic event.",[12873,12906],{"_key":12861,"_type":474,"text":12874},[12875],{"_key":12876,"_type":8,"children":12877,"markDefs":12905,"style":16},"9ef8740b4bd2",[12878,12882,12886,12890,12894,12898,12901],{"_key":12879,"_type":12,"marks":12880,"text":12881},"bd4238e8af8a",[],"Richard Kostelanetz, “A Conversation with Robert Rauschenberg,” ",{"_key":12883,"_type":12,"marks":12884,"text":12885},"7917b97d71ab",[114],"Partisan Review",{"_key":12887,"_type":12,"marks":12888,"text":12889},"0221afcd50f3",[]," 35, no. 1 (Winter 1968), p. 94; Branden W. Joseph,",{"_key":12891,"_type":12,"marks":12892,"text":12893},"82d666514d4e",[114]," Random Order: Robert Rauschenberg and the Neo-Avant-Garde ",{"_key":12895,"_type":12,"marks":12896,"text":12897},"c21c955fbdf7",[],"(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2003)",{"_key":12899,"_type":12,"marks":12900,"text":263},"77f6b594d21b",[114],{"_key":12902,"_type":12,"marks":12903,"text":12904},"1275e0b2b9ce",[],"p. 269.",[],{"_key":12870,"_type":474,"text":12907},[12908],{"_key":12909,"_type":8,"children":12910,"markDefs":12923,"style":16},"19951d4e623d",[12911,12915,12919],{"_key":12912,"_type":12,"marks":12913,"text":12914},"89f51cc65e0e",[],"For more on the connection between sound recording and printmaking, see Jennifer L. Roberts, “Listening to Print,” in ",{"_key":12916,"_type":12,"marks":12917,"text":12918},"5ac07d8dfa35",[114],"Visual Record: The Materiality of Sound in Print",{"_key":12920,"_type":12,"marks":12921,"text":12922},"84d4152d4ea6",[],", ed. Elleree Erdos (New York: Print Center, 2023), pp. 33–43.",[],{"_key":12925,"_type":8,"children":12926,"markDefs":12957,"style":16},"9d37ae82610e",[12927,12931,12934,12938,12941,12945,12948,12952],{"_key":12928,"_type":12,"marks":12929,"text":12930},"e61130bd9e2d",[],"Of course, no amount of rolling and unrolling ",{"_key":12932,"_type":12,"marks":12933,"text":1471},"2511b958340c",[114],{"_key":12935,"_type":12,"marks":12936,"text":12937},"dde7d62cec8d",[]," will bring back the patter of the rain or the chatter of the Model A engine on that fall morning in 1953. The print isn’t a true sound recording. But in its links to sound through Cage, its reliance on cylindrical activation, and its hints at a waveform inscription, it takes what might have been a documentary printing project and turns it into a complex meditation on sensitivity, ephemerality, and enlivenment. Lest there be any doubt that Rauschenberg understood the (silent) ",{"_key":12939,"_type":12,"marks":12940,"text":6590},"c388c42503b0",[114],{"_key":12942,"_type":12,"marks":12943,"text":12944},"f6adebe54f33",[],"in terms of a dynamism proper to sound",{"_key":12946,"_type":12,"marks":12947,"text":263},"4144749bd48c",[114],{"_key":12949,"_type":12,"marks":12950,"text":12951},"e610f1b439b1",[],"it is important to note that on more than one occasion he likened the work to a Tibetan prayer wheel: a cylinder mounted on a spindle, carved around the outside with mantra inscriptions and enclosing a printed scroll, also bearing mantras. ",{"_key":12953,"_type":12,"marks":12954,"text":12956},"9fc826b7360f",[12955],"a2a071a75ee1","To release the mantras into the world, to “play” them, one need only spin the cylinder.",[12958],{"_key":12955,"_type":474,"text":12959},[12960],{"_key":12961,"_type":8,"children":12962,"markDefs":12975,"style":16},"d9190aa39956",[12963,12967,12971],{"_key":12964,"_type":12,"marks":12965,"text":12966},"1d286ccb117d",[],"Rauschenberg mentions “Indian Prayer Wheels” in the 1991 interview by Hopps (p. 4). In the 1999 interview by Ross, Hopps, Garrels, and Samis (p. 25), he says that the print is like a “Tibetan prayer wheel.” On prayer wheels, see Trine Brox, “What Is the Value of a Tibetan Prayer Wheel?,” ",{"_key":12968,"_type":12,"marks":12969,"text":12970},"4e8f9599735f",[114],"Social Compass",{"_key":12972,"_type":12,"marks":12973,"text":12974},"6d60e5f63dfd",[]," 69, no. 2 (2022), pp. 205–22.",[],{"_key":12977,"_type":8,"children":12978,"markDefs":12986,"style":16},"df3dd23b5e9b",[12979,12982],{"_key":12980,"_type":12,"marks":12981,"text":6590},"bdc78701803e",[114],{"_key":12983,"_type":12,"marks":12984,"text":12985},"c9144619645b",[],"found Rauschenberg appealing to print as a polyvalent, even polyvocal, technology, embracing its powers in both graphic and audio formats. Early in his career, he found in this cross-format printmaking a gestural language that could oscillate perpetually between observation and emanation, fixation and animation. Activating that dynamic, which he would continue to develop for the rest of his career, required only a turn of the wheel.",[],[12988],{"_key":12989,"_type":1738,"alt":12990,"asset":12991,"caption":12994,"stickyOnScroll":54,"width":7527},"3fb93e942af9","A vintage photograph featuring a long, dark strip with vertical lines and some faded areas, mounted on a paper with handwritten notes along the side.",{"_type":1741,"asset":12992},{"_ref":12993,"_type":53},"image-130e6f71b2ef1ab4b52e6ac72bdfa2159a272715-1667x1072-jpg",[12995],{"_key":12996,"_type":8,"children":12997,"markDefs":13002,"style":16},"747643241aa7",[12998],{"_key":12999,"_type":12,"marks":13000,"text":13001},"08552eb2fa99",[],"Fig. 4. Phonautogram by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville of the human voice “at a distance,” from a patent application, 1857",[],[13004],{"_key":8436,"_type":8,"children":13005,"markDefs":13021,"style":16},[13006,13010,13013,13016,13018],{"_key":13007,"_type":12,"marks":13008,"text":13009},"cdf84fb83e98",[],"Jennifer L. Roberts, “Listening to the Street: ",{"_key":13011,"_type":12,"marks":13012,"text":1471},"3749292dab49",[114],{"_key":13014,"_type":12,"marks":13015,"text":7541},"ad0baab66a80",[],{"_key":8450,"_type":12,"marks":13017,"text":115},[114],{"_key":8453,"_type":12,"marks":13019,"text":13020},[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fautomobile-tire-print.",[],[13023],{"_key":13024,"_type":8,"children":13025,"markDefs":13028,"style":16},"b1e66f7b0a0a",[13026],{"_key":13011,"_type":12,"marks":13027,"text":1471},[114],[],[13030],{"_key":13024,"_type":8,"children":13031,"markDefs":13036,"style":16},[13032],{"_key":13033,"_type":12,"marks":13034,"text":13035},"7f8a489dfd82",[],"Listening to the Street",[],[13038],{"_key":13024,"_type":8,"children":13039,"markDefs":13045,"style":16},[13040,13043],{"_key":13033,"_type":12,"marks":13041,"text":13042},[],"Listening to the Street: ",{"_key":13011,"_type":12,"marks":13044,"text":1471},[114],[],{"_type":424,"current":13047},"automobile-tire-print",{"_createdAt":13049,"_id":13050,"_rev":13051,"_system":13052,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":13055,"author":13056,"authorBio":13057,"body":13109,"citeAs":15031,"essayType":6260,"paragraphStyle":122,"subtitle":15049,"title":15059,"tocPreviewTitle":15066,"uid":15075},"2026-08-05T17:21:50Z","6522b774-293b-40b5-a6cf-19e4936727e5","8Ym2rPJmQb7vha4NiGl811",{"base":13053},{"id":13050,"rev":13054},"cLQ0OrCSSA0CjrDL02ZCgQ","2026-10-22T17:03:00Z","Leah Dickerman",[13058],{"_key":13059,"_type":8,"children":13060,"markDefs":13108,"style":16},"cd1282d6cf84",[13061,13065,13069,13073,13077,13081,13085,13089,13093,13097,13101,13104],{"_key":13062,"_type":12,"marks":13063,"text":13064},"ba1a3d3fced0",[96],"Leah Dickerman ",{"_key":13066,"_type":12,"marks":13067,"text":13068},"df7d750c97de",[],"is Director of Research Programs at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. During her long curatorial career at the museum, she has organized exhibitions that offer new perspectives on modern art, including ",{"_key":13070,"_type":12,"marks":13071,"text":13072},"7760d1efbb69",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends ",{"_key":13074,"_type":12,"marks":13075,"text":13076},"4b7935ff7280",[],"(2017), ",{"_key":13078,"_type":12,"marks":13079,"text":13080},"d81ec8598f45",[114],"One-­Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Other Visions of the Great Movement North ",{"_key":13082,"_type":12,"marks":13083,"text":13084},"b886ce7186d5",[],"(2015), ",{"_key":13086,"_type":12,"marks":13087,"text":13088},"4b8660a7c1de",[114],"Diego Rivera: Murals for The Museum of Modern Art ",{"_key":13090,"_type":12,"marks":13091,"text":13092},"0e4fd5709105",[],"(2011–12), and ",{"_key":13094,"_type":12,"marks":13095,"text":13096},"772ef7da7492",[114],"Bauhaus 1919–1933: Workshops for Modernity ",{"_key":13098,"_type":12,"marks":13099,"text":13100},"91321dc24cb1",[],"(2009–10). From 2017 to 2021, she was Director of Editorial and Content Strategy at MoMA. Previously, she was an associate curator and the acting head of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. She has served on the editorial board of the journal ",{"_key":13102,"_type":12,"marks":13103,"text":11368},"d8ef54f00f9c",[114],{"_key":13105,"_type":12,"marks":13106,"text":13107},"c000f5b7d9e5",[]," since 2001.",[],[13110,13317,13328,13467,13626,13822,14128,14139,14551,14562],{"_key":13111,"_type":1642,"content":13112,"images":13290},"282fbe9e8013",[13113,13121,13209,13283],{"_key":13114,"_type":8,"children":13115,"markDefs":13120,"style":16},"d73df60af5d3",[13116],{"_key":13117,"_type":12,"marks":13118,"text":13119},"1a02d641f7c4",[130],"The work in question is unprepossessing: It cannot be described in terms of beauty or awe. A roughly made, shallow box, several inches deep, is packed with dirt whose slight mounds and valleys suggest a topographic view. Cracks offer fault lines, and in places across the surface, patches of blue-gray and beige—manifestations of mold and perhaps other organic growth—have bloomed and dried. While the work must now be viewed in a horizontal position because of its fragility, Rauschenberg intended it to be presented on the wall like a traditional painting.",[],{"_key":13122,"_type":8,"children":13123,"markDefs":13156,"style":16},"62ff4b0f2514",[13124,13129,13133,13136,13140,13144,13147,13152],{"_key":13125,"_type":12,"marks":13126,"text":13128},"535898dd61c7",[13127],"9e87ac537f89","When Robert Rauschenberg gave ",{"_key":13130,"_type":12,"marks":13131,"text":13132},"d80769aa1998",[114,13127],"Dirt Painting (for John Cage)",{"_key":13134,"_type":12,"marks":13135,"text":7741},"ea2df8e5ddc5",[13127],{"_key":13137,"_type":12,"marks":13138,"text":1537},"6966be8723a1",[13127,13139],"fd2d1cade046",{"_key":13141,"_type":12,"marks":13142,"text":13143},"f5d2670d2941",[13127],") to his friend the composer, he memorialized the gesture with an inscription on the back of the work that reads, “TO JOHN WITH LOVE BOB” (fig. 1).",{"_key":13145,"_type":12,"marks":13146,"text":793},"e83735428d0a",[],{"_key":13148,"_type":12,"marks":13149,"text":13151},"bbedbf364f6e",[13150],"ca49df5b8a1f","Around 1963, Rauschenberg reclaimed the work and never returned it, despite several requests from Cage either to do so or to make another for him.",{"_key":13153,"_type":12,"marks":13154,"text":13155},"51521906923e",[]," What might we say about this unusual gift, one that prompted repossession? Does the work’s history suggest that Rauschenberg wished to keep it close? These questions lead to others: Why make a painting out of dirt? Indeed, in what ways can we understand this work of art—made without any paint at all—as a painting?",[13157,13182,13208],{"_key":13127,"_type":474,"text":13158},[13159],{"_key":13160,"_type":8,"children":13161,"markDefs":13181,"style":16},"910eefe09115",[13162,13166,13170,13174,13178],{"_key":13163,"_type":12,"marks":13164,"text":13165},"d60c2396fd81",[],"Although the exact date of Rauschenberg’s gift is unknown, ",{"_key":13167,"_type":12,"marks":13168,"text":13169},"57b973797bb0",[114],"Dirt Painting",{"_key":13171,"_type":12,"marks":13172,"text":13173},"e6d44ea52a9a",[]," was in Cage’s possession by 1956, when it appeared in a photograph taken at Gate Hill Cooperative (also known as “The Land”) in Stony Point, New York, the composer’s residence at the time (",{"_key":13175,"_type":12,"marks":13176,"text":13177},"b36c690cf9cc",[],"see fig. 6",{"_key":13179,"_type":12,"marks":13180,"text":3234},"d7f07d2ede89",[],[],{"_key":13150,"_type":474,"text":13183},[13184],{"_key":13185,"_type":8,"children":13186,"markDefs":13207,"style":16},"260c178403c5",[13187,13191,13195,13199,13203],{"_key":13188,"_type":12,"marks":13189,"text":13190},"48f8a5c6aade",[],"After the close of Rauschenberg’s 1963 retrospective at the Jewish Museum, New York, ",{"_key":13192,"_type":12,"marks":13193,"text":13194},"777a3bf642d6",[114],"Dirt Painting ",{"_key":13196,"_type":12,"marks":13197,"text":13198},"e020c7bfc9ff",[],"was delivered, per Cage’s instructions, to Rauschenberg’s New York studio. Over a decade later, when the work was exhibited in Rauschenberg’s 1976 retrospective organized by the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., the artist, rather than Cage, was named in the work’s credit line and on the loan list. It was at this point that the parenthetical “(for John Cage)” was appended to the work’s title. In 1984, Cage wrote to Rauschenberg requesting a dirt painting “like the one I had years ago.” John Cage to Rauschenberg, Nov. 5, 1984, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives. The artist began work on a replacement in 1992, but Cage died on August 12 of that year, before its completion. Rauschenberg gave the finished piece, ",{"_key":13200,"_type":12,"marks":13201,"text":13202},"412c3ace007d",[114],"Clay Painting (for John Cage and Merce Cunningham),",{"_key":13204,"_type":12,"marks":13205,"text":13206},"56b76a5aa044",[]," to Cage’s partner, Merce Cunningham.",[],{"_key":13139,"_type":239,"crNo":70},{"_key":13210,"_type":8,"children":13211,"markDefs":13248,"style":16},"d3dd2af6366d",[13212,13216,13221,13225,13228,13232,13237,13241,13244],{"_key":13213,"_type":12,"marks":13214,"text":13215},"4632cbd7992e",[],"In an interview with the critic Barbara Rose around 1972, Rauschenberg offered a framework for approaching these queries: “All material has history. All material has its own history built into it. … ",{"_key":13217,"_type":12,"marks":13218,"text":13220},"a3721b8ffa79",[13219],"1fc241d46d44","It’s just as unnatural for people to use oil paint as it is to use anything else.”",{"_key":13222,"_type":12,"marks":13223,"text":13224},"26b7acc238dc",[]," How, we might ask, in swapping dirt for paint, is the relationship between matter and history revealed in ",{"_key":13226,"_type":12,"marks":13227,"text":13169},"acf6a4b2c39a",[114],{"_key":13229,"_type":12,"marks":13230,"text":13231},"77931486995e",[],"? And what is to be understood about its position in relation to a group of works made close in time, each of which employs a single basic material (dirt, clay, paper, gold, or lead white paint), in most cases shown within a frame and hung on a wall? ",{"_key":13233,"_type":12,"marks":13234,"text":13236},"a415249388a3",[13235],"b59121136b08","The curator Walter Hopps linked these works as a series-like group, calling them “elemental paintings”—a term he first deployed in the catalogue accompanying the 1991 exhibition he organized of Rauschenberg’s early work.",{"_key":13238,"_type":12,"marks":13239,"text":13240},"64cc9674334b",[]," To elaborate fully how Rauschenberg’s materialization of history is made manifest in the group as a whole, and especially with respect to ",{"_key":13242,"_type":12,"marks":13243,"text":13169},"86aca1d66fc0",[114],{"_key":13245,"_type":12,"marks":13246,"text":13247},"cc8cde49e9b3",[],", it is worth approaching the work along three trajectories: its place in his development as an artist, its engagement with a natural material that has its own cycle of growth and death, and its interrogation of the social history of value.",[13249,13267],{"_key":13219,"_type":474,"text":13250},[13251],{"_key":13252,"_type":8,"children":13253,"markDefs":13266,"style":16},"a037205661bb",[13254,13258,13262],{"_key":13255,"_type":12,"marks":13256,"text":13257},"1b4e13e5b872",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Barbara Rose, ca. 1972, transcript, p. 5, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives. Portions of the interview are published in Barbara Rose,",{"_key":13259,"_type":12,"marks":13260,"text":13261},"a831912fd2a7",[114]," Rauschenberg ",{"_key":13263,"_type":12,"marks":13264,"text":13265},"a6cbcc84d000",[],"(New York: Vintage Books, 1987), p. 58.",[],{"_key":13235,"_type":474,"text":13268},[13269],{"_key":13270,"_type":8,"children":13271,"markDefs":13282,"style":16},"9ab0e15df044",[13272,13275,13278],{"_key":13273,"_type":12,"marks":13274,"text":9849},"c5774db5c658",[],{"_key":13276,"_type":12,"marks":13277,"text":9853},"bf49c05ae8fb",[114],{"_key":13279,"_type":12,"marks":13280,"text":13281},"96e70ccd875f",[],", exh. cat. (Houston: Menil Collection; Houston Fine Art Press, 1991), pp. 169, 227. The term appears on the final page of Hopps’s text and in the chronology (“elemental paper, dirt, and gold paintings”).",[],{"_key":13284,"_type":8,"children":13285,"markDefs":13289,"style":16},"fbbe5fbe2c85",[13286],{"_key":13287,"_type":12,"marks":13288,"text":10208},"d8708db607c8",[],[],[13291],{"_key":13292,"_type":1738,"alt":13293,"asset":13294,"caption":13297},"95f164139ea7","A textured, abstract artwork featuring a square panel with a rough surface. The panel displays a mix of earthy tones, including grays, browns, and hints of blue, resembling a weathered or eroded material. The background is plain white, emphasizing the panel's rugged texture and organic patterns.",{"_type":1741,"asset":13295},{"_ref":13296,"_type":53},"image-0b8e0a1508fefc83e121af75fe024ef28246c502-4471x4394-jpg",[13298],{"_key":13299,"_type":8,"children":13300,"markDefs":13315,"style":16},"8be862ddd862",[13301,13305,13308,13311],{"_key":13302,"_type":12,"marks":13303,"text":1537},"9e448d97b852",[13304],"3c01b986e598",{"_key":13306,"_type":12,"marks":13307,"text":793},"ede44a09d8fb",[],{"_key":13309,"_type":12,"marks":13310,"text":13132},"0c518dcbb3fb",[114],{"_key":13312,"_type":12,"marks":13313,"text":13314},"f9664bedee2d",[],", ca. 1953. Dirt, mold, and nails on wood, in wood frame; 15⅝ × 15¾ in. (39.6 × 40.1 cm). Robert Rauschen­berg Foundation, New York",[13316],{"_key":13304,"_type":239,"crNo":70},{"_key":13318,"_type":8516,"content":13319},"33922ea9dd96",[13320],{"_key":13321,"_type":8,"children":13322,"markDefs":13327,"style":16},"41d908a5ab50",[13323],{"_key":13324,"_type":12,"marks":13325,"text":13326},"a07cee3bcb42",[96,130],"Dirt as Experience",[],{"_key":13329,"_type":1642,"content":13330,"images":13436},"2bc459a25bbe",[13331,13380],{"_key":13332,"_type":8,"children":13333,"markDefs":13354,"style":16},"49cc9c221211",[13334,13337,13341,13346,13349],{"_key":13335,"_type":12,"marks":13336,"text":13169},"211e0238bbc1",[114,130],{"_key":13338,"_type":12,"marks":13339,"text":13340},"dcb23269f65f",[130]," and its “elemental” cousins represent the integration and expansion of lessons Rauschenberg learned at Black Mountain College in North Carolina from the artist Josef Albers, who taught at the school from 1933 and served as its rector from 1947 until his departure in 1949 (fig. 2). Born and raised in Texas, Rauschenberg went to Black Mountain for the first time in October 1948 after a short period in Paris, where he had been enrolled at Académie Julian. There, he had worked with brush and paint, creating works with the loaded, high-impasto strokes of European expressionism. “I went … ",{"_key":13342,"_type":12,"marks":13343,"text":13345},"b32ccc944f17",[13344,130],"4668e96f4def","to study with [Albers],” he later recalled, “because I knew that I didn’t want to end up being the kind of painter I was going to be if I just kept making street paintings in Paris.”",{"_key":13347,"_type":12,"marks":13348,"text":793},"0a2d0f6ea977",[130],{"_key":13350,"_type":12,"marks":13351,"text":13353},"b5daa50d81f0",[13352,130],"6ef3b1c259dc","Albers may have been ambivalent about his Texan student, but Rauschenberg described Albers consistently as his “most important teacher.”",[13355,13371],{"_key":13344,"_type":474,"text":13356},[13357],{"_key":13358,"_type":8,"children":13359,"markDefs":13370,"style":16},"dbebfb4b8755",[13360,13363,13366],{"_key":13361,"_type":12,"marks":13362,"text":2102},"d4263b0596e0",[],{"_key":13364,"_type":12,"marks":13365,"text":871},"262c3979f137",[114],{"_key":13367,"_type":12,"marks":13368,"text":13369},"4854b92d1e92",[],", pp. 26, 34.",[],{"_key":13352,"_type":474,"text":13372},[13373],{"_key":13374,"_type":8,"children":13375,"markDefs":13379,"style":16},"6bf3f142c5f1",[13376],{"_key":13377,"_type":12,"marks":13378,"text":551},"5d4488b2b0b4",[],[],{"_key":13381,"_type":8,"children":13382,"markDefs":13401,"style":16},"bf76368f3248",[13383,13387,13392,13396],{"_key":13384,"_type":12,"marks":13385,"text":13386},"9e7f24954d18",[],"The crux of Albers’s instruction at Black Mountain was the exploration of material, which he believed was the only viable focus of artistic training—as opposed to, say, skill in draftsmanship or creative expression. “It is not enough,” he wrote, “to memorize historical interpretations and aesthetic views of the past or merely to encourage a purely individualistic expression.” ",{"_key":13388,"_type":12,"marks":13389,"text":13391},"59df065f870d",[13390],"2f104e7afa2a","Rather, in studying the problems of form and material, Black Mountain’s program offered a mode of experiencing the world itself, teaching the student to “open his eyes to the phenomena about him and, most important of all, to open to his own living, being, and doing.”",{"_key":13393,"_type":12,"marks":13394,"text":13395},"e187347c05be",[]," As part of the curriculum, Albers assigned various series of “studies” centered on testing the properties of materials through a specific action or operation and observing the results (for example, folding a piece of paper to achieve the maximum vertical height or constructing something entirely out of glass straws), as well as others that combined disparate materials and explored their surface properties in relation to one another through the creation of dimensional, tactile collages. In both cases, students were encouraged to look beyond the inventory of traditional art materials—sometimes, far afield. “Combinations” (a term, it would seem, that Rauschenberg held onto with his later “Combines”) produced by Albers’s students incorporated not only paper, corrugated cardboard, and sheet metal but also natural materials such as leaves, seeds, and eggshells; man-made objects such as metal washers and cigarettes; and even Passover matzos. ",{"_key":13397,"_type":12,"marks":13398,"text":13400},"e81e4489b6db",[13399],"719c3b9506a8","Albers’s exhortation that all manner of things could be ingredients in art making had its echo in Rauschenberg’s words to Barbara Rose: “There’s no such thing as ‘better’ material.”",[13402,13420],{"_key":13390,"_type":474,"text":13403},[13404],{"_key":13405,"_type":8,"children":13406,"markDefs":13419,"style":16},"e24a2cc42123",[13407,13411,13415],{"_key":13408,"_type":12,"marks":13409,"text":13410},"cb3646f4b1e5",[],"Josef Albers, “Concerning Art Instruction,” ",{"_key":13412,"_type":12,"marks":13413,"text":13414},"b75644af1694",[114],"Black Mountain College Bulletin",{"_key":13416,"_type":12,"marks":13417,"text":13418},"9509471bd246",[],", no.2 (June 2, 1934), p. 3.",[],{"_key":13399,"_type":474,"text":13421},[13422],{"_key":13423,"_type":8,"children":13424,"markDefs":13435,"style":16},"68cdb62fa951",[13425,13428,13431],{"_key":13426,"_type":12,"marks":13427,"text":2102},"7e2c6cb881d6",[],{"_key":13429,"_type":12,"marks":13430,"text":871},"6473755d12a2",[114],{"_key":13432,"_type":12,"marks":13433,"text":13434},"86568a37b12d",[],", p. 58.",[],[13437],{"_key":13438,"_type":1738,"alt":13439,"asset":13440,"caption":13443},"2de7f5f7019e","The image shows the back of a wooden crate with various stamps and markings, including numbers and text, and wooden supports at the corners.",{"_type":1741,"asset":13441},{"_ref":13442,"_type":53},"image-4c21340b2a3593ebd6ce2e87ed85b4d8bad69b34-1689x1630-jpg",[13444],{"_key":13445,"_type":8,"children":13446,"markDefs":13465,"style":16},"b7fee4430a3c",[13447,13451,13454,13458,13462],{"_key":13448,"_type":12,"marks":13449,"text":13450},"f94f4c499b0e",[],"Fig. 1. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":13452,"_type":12,"marks":13453,"text":13132},"a1376f2f9ac8",[114],{"_key":13455,"_type":12,"marks":13456,"text":13457},"45d7f28bbede",[],", ca. 1953 (detail of verso of ",{"_key":13459,"_type":12,"marks":13460,"text":1537},"6300654541d8",[13461],"69a941d79baf",{"_key":13463,"_type":12,"marks":13464,"text":10084},"954532afc520",[],[13466],{"_key":13461,"_type":239,"crNo":70},{"_key":13468,"_type":1642,"content":13469,"images":13610},"66820f5af2e0",[13470],{"_key":13471,"_type":8,"children":13472,"markDefs":13568,"style":16},"c078b91e88a1",[13473,13476,13480,13485,13489,13493,13497,13500,13504,13507,13511,13515,13519,13524,13528,13531,13535,13538,13542,13545,13549,13552,13556,13561,13564],{"_key":13474,"_type":12,"marks":13475,"text":13169},"4e31e4daaad2",[114],{"_key":13477,"_type":12,"marks":13478,"text":13479},"4f68abf6a120",[],", like Rauschenberg’s other elemental paintings, can be seen as a step in the process of amplifying and transforming Albers’s pedagogical principles into the foundations of his own artistic practice. Such works were not, however, the first instances of Rauschenberg’s engaging with nontraditional materials. ",{"_key":13481,"_type":12,"marks":13482,"text":13484},"86337e47f2d3",[13483],"d0f0106dd4aa","Made in summer 1951, during his second sojourn at Black Mountain—when, by his own account, he had “no invitation, just went”—the ",{"_key":13486,"_type":12,"marks":13487,"text":13488},"adccee88ce79",[114,13483],"Night Blooming ",{"_key":13490,"_type":12,"marks":13491,"text":13492},"3a0cd7b7a09f",[13483],"paintings (",{"_key":13494,"_type":12,"marks":13495,"text":811},"b6b6077b8d38",[13483,13496],"76e35631862d",{"_key":13498,"_type":12,"marks":13499,"text":263},"b13ca7c7461c",[13483],{"_key":13501,"_type":12,"marks":13502,"text":819},"90030c314408",[13483,13503],"4de5a6ceb8fe",{"_key":13505,"_type":12,"marks":13506,"text":263},"64d5fd853287",[13483],{"_key":13508,"_type":12,"marks":13509,"text":827},"b64364e5a1d3",[13483,13510],"949871761c6d",{"_key":13512,"_type":12,"marks":13513,"text":13514},"d7ef66ba0a5f",[13483],") were perhaps his first works to incorporate dirt.",{"_key":13516,"_type":12,"marks":13517,"text":13518},"323f0c5c327e",[]," For those paintings, Rauschenberg, working together with Cy Twombly, covered canvases with hot, tarry bitumen. Then, egged on by Robert Motherwell, an artist Rauschenberg greatly admired who was also in residence, Rauschenberg and Twombly pressed the sticky surface of the paintings onto the roadbed to pick up gravel and dirt. Their fellow student Fielding Dawson recalled the scene some years later: “Rauschenberg and Twombly [were] on the gravel patio beneath the Studies Building, gazing down at a large canvas, covered in most part by tar. ",{"_key":13520,"_type":12,"marks":13521,"text":13523},"f36894ad916d",[13522],"e9a1f0506f32","They tossed handfuls of pebbles on it. Motherwell, between them, gestured. Said to throw more, and they did. ‘More.’ They did. ‘More.’ They did. ‘More.’ They did.”",{"_key":13525,"_type":12,"marks":13526,"text":13527},"cbc703379313",[]," Dawson’s words suggest that these works may have been an initial step in conceiving of a painting as a surface for accumulation. This is generally understood as a description of the genesis of Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":13529,"_type":12,"marks":13530,"text":200},"18621d6560ce",[114],{"_key":13532,"_type":12,"marks":13533,"text":13534},"538cd5088305",[]," paintings, which incorporate dirt into their surfaces. Yet, if the ",{"_key":13536,"_type":12,"marks":13537,"text":200},"136234f18ece",[114],{"_key":13539,"_type":12,"marks":13540,"text":13541},"361a5bb8aa7f",[]," pictures offer a precedent for ",{"_key":13543,"_type":12,"marks":13544,"text":13169},"6f082bbc9129",[114],{"_key":13546,"_type":12,"marks":13547,"text":13548},"409badb3fdf4",[]," in their use of nontraditional materials (such as gravel)—though in works otherwise produced by traditional means, with paint and brush (and constituting a series to which the artist gave a poetic, evocative, Motherwell-like title)—they are still quite far from the radical act, the irreducible materiality, of presenting dirt within a frame ",{"_key":13550,"_type":12,"marks":13551,"text":216},"f70ea002f7db",[114],{"_key":13553,"_type":12,"marks":13554,"text":13555},"2caed5aa0c43",[]," painting. ",{"_key":13557,"_type":12,"marks":13558,"text":13560},"6dc82f11c5b8",[13559],"6960a2fd8157","As Rauschenberg later recognized, he remained completely engaged with the idea of painting while making the ",{"_key":13562,"_type":12,"marks":13563,"text":200},"9f419e292a16",[114,13559],{"_key":13565,"_type":12,"marks":13566,"text":13567},"f50af46ef6ff",[13559]," works: “I doubt if you could have found anyone more involved than I was, to the point of being stupid about it.”",[13569,13579,13597,13607,13608,13609],{"_key":13483,"_type":474,"text":13570},[13571],{"_key":13572,"_type":8,"children":13573,"markDefs":13578,"style":16},"5f5bfcf8ed04",[13574],{"_key":13575,"_type":12,"marks":13576,"text":13577},"0a4bec9c37e5",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, “BIO-7,” n.d., Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 10, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":13522,"_type":474,"text":13580},[13581],{"_key":13582,"_type":8,"children":13583,"markDefs":13596,"style":16},"0284d6563cb4",[13584,13588,13592],{"_key":13585,"_type":12,"marks":13586,"text":13587},"886f84031d93",[],"Fielding Dawson, “Summer of ’51,” in ",{"_key":13589,"_type":12,"marks":13590,"text":13591},"76fd5f4bd5d0",[114],"The Black Mountain Book",{"_key":13593,"_type":12,"marks":13594,"text":13595},"81750d098957",[],", by Fielding Dawson, rev. ed. (Rocky Mount: North Carolina Wesleyan College Press, 1991), p. 113.",[],{"_key":13559,"_type":474,"text":13598},[13599],{"_key":13600,"_type":8,"children":13601,"markDefs":13606,"style":16},"730c85580625",[13602],{"_key":13603,"_type":12,"marks":13604,"text":13605},"80f4d6b71e37",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Tomkins, “BIO-7,” n.d.",[],{"_key":13496,"_type":239,"crNo":900},{"_key":13503,"_type":239,"crNo":902},{"_key":13510,"_type":239,"crNo":898},[13611],{"_key":13612,"_type":1738,"alt":13613,"asset":13614,"caption":13617},"0b9bbc96c42a","A man with glasses intently works on a drawing of a snake on a large, light-colored surface.",{"_type":1741,"asset":13615},{"_ref":13616,"_type":53},"image-ef8e0714097e57f687f2666be5621dbad215c62c-2257x3007-jpg",[13618],{"_key":13619,"_type":8,"children":13620,"markDefs":13625,"style":16},"7e2f4d508dcc",[13621],{"_key":13622,"_type":12,"marks":13623,"text":13624},"55d2dfda6151",[],"Fig. 2. Josef Albers drawing with sand, probably while teaching in the Department of Design, Yale University, New Haven, Conn., 1950s",[],{"_key":13627,"_type":1642,"content":13628,"images":13792},"b0c7f0ba13d9",[13629,13694],{"_key":13630,"_type":8,"children":13631,"markDefs":13665,"style":16},"833166adbf15",[13632,13637,13641,13646,13650,13654,13658,13661],{"_key":13633,"_type":12,"marks":13634,"text":13636},"15f8f53d6bb5",[13635],"5563ef8a8280","Rauschenberg turned to nontraditional earth materials again during his time in Italy in 1952 and 1953. In Rome, in winter 1953, he visited the artist Alberto Burri’s studio twice.",{"_key":13638,"_type":12,"marks":13639,"text":13640},"79c54e731a6a",[]," According to Burri, he and Rauschenberg “did not open our mouths for the simple reason that at the time I did not speak a word of English and he, naturally, did not know any Italian.” ",{"_key":13642,"_type":12,"marks":13643,"text":13645},"d72577497aae",[13644],"cb49a20a09a1","Rauschenberg nonetheless presented the Italian artist with one of his ",{"_key":13647,"_type":12,"marks":13648,"text":13649},"6f8c95c70406",[114,13644],"Scatole e Feticci Personali ",{"_key":13651,"_type":12,"marks":13652,"text":13653},"bc17f6b03a10",[13644],"(“personal boxes and fetishes”), a tiny treasure chest containing sand and a dead fly.",{"_key":13655,"_type":12,"marks":13656,"text":13657},"a5eac6f50bad",[]," The ",{"_key":13659,"_type":12,"marks":13660,"text":8799},"57881927670b",[114],{"_key":13662,"_type":12,"marks":13663,"text":13664},"f59a90e4a91f",[]," series evokes both Joseph Cornell and Victorian souvenir boxes: The works’ miniature architecture suggests the frame of memory, while the meaning of their contents—their materials—is withheld, as if unknown or forgotten.",[13666,13684],{"_key":13635,"_type":474,"text":13667},[13668],{"_key":13669,"_type":8,"children":13670,"markDefs":13683,"style":16},"cbc62f2c884d",[13671,13675,13679],{"_key":13672,"_type":12,"marks":13673,"text":13674},"0d21578b5b83",[],"Stefano Zorzi, ",{"_key":13676,"_type":12,"marks":13677,"text":13678},"55f12e982c2c",[114],"Parola di Burri",{"_key":13680,"_type":12,"marks":13681,"text":13682},"0aaca4b91355",[]," (Turin: Umberto Allemandi, 1995), p. 35.",[],{"_key":13644,"_type":474,"text":13685},[13686],{"_key":13687,"_type":8,"children":13688,"markDefs":13693,"style":16},"7961c6fb67c0",[13689],{"_key":13690,"_type":12,"marks":13691,"text":13692},"290cd33fb9d1",[],"Burri, “Burri on Rauschenberg.”",[],{"_key":13695,"_type":8,"children":13696,"markDefs":13747,"style":16},"cd0f9b64f617",[13697,13701,13705,13709,13714,13718,13722,13726,13731,13735,13739,13742],{"_key":13698,"_type":12,"marks":13699,"text":13700},"05f4ddfa3500",[],"In Burri’s studio, Rauschenberg almost certainly saw three of the artist’s large ",{"_key":13702,"_type":12,"marks":13703,"text":13704},"fca75dbe84df",[114],"Sacchi ",{"_key":13706,"_type":12,"marks":13707,"text":13708},"8d7ac79b17ba",[],"(“sacks”), rough-hewn, tactile collages made from burlap bags mounted on canvas—including one that incorporated creosote and gold leaf—in which the forms of traditional painting are maintained even as the materials used are decidedly untraditional. ",{"_key":13710,"_type":12,"marks":13711,"text":13713},"56c598e60956",[13712],"6e8762574b79","He likely also encountered Burri’s ",{"_key":13715,"_type":12,"marks":13716,"text":13717},"152f05db20ba",[114,13712],"Muffa",{"_key":13719,"_type":12,"marks":13720,"text":13721},"eea02d791ba3",[13712]," (“mold”) paintings (fig. 3), which, according to the art historian Emily Braun, were widely known in the Rome art world.",{"_key":13723,"_type":12,"marks":13724,"text":13725},"5c13b9cf1681",[]," Rauschenberg’s interest in Burri continued upon his return to New York, where, in November or December 1953, he took many photographs of the Italian artist’s exhibition at Stable Gallery. All of this suggests that the model of Burri’s practice held significance for Rauschenberg. ",{"_key":13727,"_type":12,"marks":13728,"text":13730},"fa6cf9890080",[13729],"ed54761e7faf","The curator Alan Solomon positioned Rauschenberg as an important reader of Burri’s work when, in the catalogue accompanying the 1968 exhibition ",{"_key":13732,"_type":12,"marks":13733,"text":13734},"bc3920f6c37c",[114,13729],"Young Italians",{"_key":13736,"_type":12,"marks":13737,"text":13738},"1a9002fa32de",[13729],", he wrote that Rauschenberg seemed to have “taken something from the Italian in the early fifties.”",{"_key":13740,"_type":12,"marks":13741,"text":793},"9163d0dbb710",[],{"_key":13743,"_type":12,"marks":13744,"text":13746},"d7540fcf6fe6",[13745],"59bf41c3bba8","But for Burri, the younger artist’s engagement with his work was more malign; he later interpreted it as an act of intellectual theft without acknowledgment rather than a gesture of dialogue.",[13748,13766,13783],{"_key":13712,"_type":474,"text":13749},[13750],{"_key":13751,"_type":8,"children":13752,"markDefs":13765,"style":16},"4333fcb4c70f",[13753,13757,13761],{"_key":13754,"_type":12,"marks":13755,"text":13756},"17a5692c172b",[],"Emily Braun, “The Burri Effect,” in ",{"_key":13758,"_type":12,"marks":13759,"text":13760},"a8a8b498c8f5",[114],"Alberto Burri: The Trauma of Painting",{"_key":13762,"_type":12,"marks":13763,"text":13764},"09f411b6a95f",[],", by Emily Braun, exh. cat. (New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 2015), p. 75.",[],{"_key":13729,"_type":474,"text":13767},[13768],{"_key":13769,"_type":8,"children":13770,"markDefs":13782,"style":16},"7648cecdba49",[13771,13775,13778],{"_key":13772,"_type":12,"marks":13773,"text":13774},"843224b6813c",[],"Alan Solomon, “Italian Art of the Mid-Sixties,” in ",{"_key":13776,"_type":12,"marks":13777,"text":13734},"6454b3c03b08",[114],{"_key":13779,"_type":12,"marks":13780,"text":13781},"fff5bb07ba5e",[],", exh. cat. (Boston: Institute of Contemporary Art, 1968), n.p.",[],{"_key":13745,"_type":474,"text":13784},[13785],{"_key":13786,"_type":8,"children":13787,"markDefs":13791,"style":16},"f27f5142eba9",[13788],{"_key":13789,"_type":12,"marks":13790,"text":13692},"a5bfe7e05102",[],[],[13793],{"_key":13794,"_type":1738,"alt":13795,"asset":13796,"caption":13799},"b3e1ac7f1857","An abstract painting features layered textures of grey, white, and red, with dynamic, curving black lines intersecting the composition.",{"_type":1741,"asset":13797},{"_ref":13798,"_type":53},"image-e2b42b74eff4d67954e353f5932b63d1d1b6bab9-3591x3202-jpg",[13800],{"_key":13801,"_type":8,"children":13802,"markDefs":13821,"style":16},"71074111c9c8",[13803,13807,13811,13814,13817],{"_key":13804,"_type":12,"marks":13805,"text":13806},"ac0e52e2f5f4",[],"Fig. 3. Alberto Burri, ",{"_key":13808,"_type":12,"marks":13809,"text":13810},"3c55e066c802",[114],"Mold ",{"_key":13812,"_type":12,"marks":13813,"text":7196},"ff4c89376dff",[],{"_key":13815,"_type":12,"marks":13816,"text":13717},"5626efe748fc",[114],{"_key":13818,"_type":12,"marks":13819,"text":13820},"7fb60957700a",[],"), 1946–56. Oil, synthetic polymer, pumice, and metallic paint on canvas; 28⅜ × 31½ in. (72.1 × 80 cm). Art Institute of Chicago",[],{"_key":13823,"_type":1642,"content":13824,"images":14112},"ac28ef2d583e",[13825,14105],{"_key":13826,"_type":8,"children":13827,"markDefs":13980,"style":16},"ae74ea019071",[13828,13832,13836,13840,13843,13847,13851,13854,13859,13862,13866,13869,13872,13876,13879,13883,13887,13890,13895,13898,13902,13907,13911,13915,13919,13923,13927,13930,13933,13937,13940,13944,13947,13951,13954,13958,13963,13967,13972,13975],{"_key":13829,"_type":12,"marks":13830,"text":13831},"d6dd7dd489c2",[],"The sense of marking steps in a personal history—of linking matter to experience—culminated in an enigmatic work by Rauschenberg that is no longer extant. Originally titled ",{"_key":13833,"_type":12,"marks":13834,"text":13835},"713eb1790014",[114],"– – – – (Four Dashes)",{"_key":13837,"_type":12,"marks":13838,"text":13839},"643c5313227f",[]," when presented at Stable Gallery in 1955 in an exhibition organized by Thomas B. Hess, editor of ",{"_key":13841,"_type":12,"marks":13842,"text":6483},"55f856fdd67c",[114],{"_key":13844,"_type":12,"marks":13845,"text":13846},"f73179f6fc4c",[],", the piece later became known as ",{"_key":13848,"_type":12,"marks":13849,"text":13850},"435f5a1714d7",[114],"Self-Made Retrospective",{"_key":13852,"_type":12,"marks":13853,"text":6926},"5773f98e1001",[],{"_key":13855,"_type":12,"marks":13856,"text":13858},"c1fd6c49b997",[13857],"4e107b555fbd","Ultimately dismantled and its components dispersed, it consisted of a shallow cabinet in which Rauschenberg hung reduced-scale paintings in the style of his works of the previous four years (1950–54), apparently including a ",{"_key":13860,"_type":12,"marks":13861,"text":208},"8094176dc3ca",[114,13857],{"_key":13863,"_type":12,"marks":13864,"text":13865},"f66746dffef8",[13857],", a ",{"_key":13867,"_type":12,"marks":13868,"text":367},"f318b3997e73",[114,13857],{"_key":13870,"_type":12,"marks":13871,"text":13865},"6124011a54b7",[13857],{"_key":13873,"_type":12,"marks":13874,"text":13875},"77a73ff003f0",[114,13857],"Red Painting",{"_key":13877,"_type":12,"marks":13878,"text":13865},"7684e818c423",[13857],{"_key":13880,"_type":12,"marks":13881,"text":13882},"d349df2dee78",[114,13857],"Gold Painting",{"_key":13884,"_type":12,"marks":13885,"text":13886},"41c6ba3e581f",[13857],", a painting modeled on those shown at Betty Parsons Gallery in 1951, and a dirt, or “growing,” painting.",{"_key":13888,"_type":12,"marks":13889,"text":793},"03733e9b1fe5",[],{"_key":13891,"_type":12,"marks":13892,"text":13894},"40b88fffea5d",[13893],"b7d2a3dae337","Rauschenberg’s integration of display furniture here is akin to his use of it in his 1955 Combine ",{"_key":13896,"_type":12,"marks":13897,"text":3221},"caf26d1a4fad",[114,13893],{"_key":13899,"_type":12,"marks":13900,"text":13901},"8a6d72998a44",[13893],"(see ",{"_key":13903,"_type":12,"marks":13904,"text":13906},"06a59058f363",[13893,13905],"5c45176eeaae","Molesworth, fig. 4",{"_key":13908,"_type":12,"marks":13909,"text":13910},"d5418ac45e80",[13893],") or to Jasper Johns’s use of purpose-built cabinetry in ",{"_key":13912,"_type":12,"marks":13913,"text":13914},"0381c5dc5a62",[114,13893],"Target with Four Faces",{"_key":13916,"_type":12,"marks":13917,"text":13918},"7a74b5272fbe",[13893]," (1955).",{"_key":13920,"_type":12,"marks":13921,"text":13922},"9856c711e310",[]," Indeed, both ",{"_key":13924,"_type":12,"marks":13925,"text":13926},"6cfa5e897fd8",[114],"Four Dashes",{"_key":13928,"_type":12,"marks":13929,"text":204},"624b61226c47",[],{"_key":13931,"_type":12,"marks":13932,"text":3221},"6e5d52ae0e16",[114],{"_key":13934,"_type":12,"marks":13935,"text":13936},"2dad5b2cb981",[],"evoke a shelf seen in photographs of Rauschenberg’s studio on Fulton Street in Lower Manhattan, on which he displayed drawings and reproductions of his own work, works made by friends and other artists he admired, and various found objects—treasures that served as markers of friendship and influence and souvenirs of significant moments (fig. 4). The use of furniture with framing elements and dividers, as we might imagine was the case in ",{"_key":13938,"_type":12,"marks":13939,"text":13926},"4cbf1ce97d11",[114],{"_key":13941,"_type":12,"marks":13942,"text":13943},"ebab9ed26e33",[],", seems to propose that the component parts make sense in relation to one another—that, together, they tell a story—in a way they would not on their own. It is a structure for viewing things in a relational way. The works represented in ",{"_key":13945,"_type":12,"marks":13946,"text":13926},"ba07ec49a39b",[114],{"_key":13948,"_type":12,"marks":13949,"text":13950},"1409445819b8",[]," seem to have self-consciously inventoried Rauschenberg’s production to date, from his days at the Art Students League of New York to Black Mountain College to the moment of the work’s making, in a form of self-accounting that suggests a logic underlying the progression. Rauschenberg’s response when asked many years later about the ",{"_key":13952,"_type":12,"marks":13953,"text":13882},"baac9ff896ef",[114],{"_key":13955,"_type":12,"marks":13956,"text":13957},"a6c924033709",[]," now jointly owned by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (",{"_key":13959,"_type":12,"marks":13960,"text":13962},"0f52f4edc41a",[13961],"67e3192e2aba","113",{"_key":13964,"_type":12,"marks":13965,"text":13966},"8e008e30ce05",[],"), may offer insight: “That was one of the by-passes,” he responded, setting the work within a sequence, “from the all-black, all-white, the gold … ",{"_key":13968,"_type":12,"marks":13969,"text":13971},"495695eae87b",[13970],"0d3e48e1688f","and the silver, and then the red.”",{"_key":13973,"_type":12,"marks":13974,"text":793},"4d58b46d4d40",[],{"_key":13976,"_type":12,"marks":13977,"text":13979},"cce1f8e6001c",[13978],"addd4ac3fbda","What Rauschenberg meant by “by-passes” is not entirely clear, but it suggests that the listing of these works is a form of internal history, a linkage in which one idea leads to another.",[13981,14028,14041,14051,14101,14103],{"_key":13857,"_type":474,"text":13982},[13983],{"_key":13984,"_type":8,"children":13985,"markDefs":14025,"style":16},"e1333b506446",[13986,13990,13993,13997,14000,14003,14008,14012,14015,14019,14022],{"_key":13987,"_type":12,"marks":13988,"text":13989},"b9c5a9982296",[],"Rauschenberg gave slightly different accounts of ",{"_key":13991,"_type":12,"marks":13992,"text":13850},"622c81173bf1",[114],{"_key":13994,"_type":12,"marks":13995,"text":13996},"1e1bcb002f69",[],"’s contents to Barbara Rose and Walter Hopps. Rauschenberg, interview by Barbara Rose, March 28, 1987, p. [1], Barbara Rose Papers, 1940–1993, series II, box 1, folder 31, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; Rauschenberg, interview by Walter Hopps, Aug. 1, 1991, handwritten notes by Susan Davidson, p. 4A, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives. ",{"_key":13998,"_type":12,"marks":13999,"text":1372},"fc1cea9674e5",[114],{"_key":14001,"_type":12,"marks":14002,"text":338},"d015e2c23d2e",[],{"_key":14004,"_type":12,"marks":14005,"text":14007},"9798866cf520",[14006],"45ab4b061802","118",{"_key":14009,"_type":12,"marks":14010,"text":14011},"2c2eccd718ca",[],"), in the Sonnabend Potamianos-Homem Collection, and ",{"_key":14013,"_type":12,"marks":14014,"text":1372},"aadb6f8b4d8d",[114],{"_key":14016,"_type":12,"marks":14017,"text":14018},"c06d6695c43c",[]," (RRF 54.012), in Jasper Johns’s collection, may have originated as elements of ",{"_key":14020,"_type":12,"marks":14021,"text":13850},"0710090d115d",[114],{"_key":14023,"_type":12,"marks":14024,"text":236},"109796232347",[],[14026],{"_key":14006,"_type":239,"crNo":14027},"53.043",{"_key":13893,"_type":474,"text":14029},[14030],{"_key":14031,"_type":8,"children":14032,"markDefs":14040,"style":16},"c019747bde3d",[14033,14036],{"_key":14034,"_type":12,"marks":14035,"text":13914},"8f704962938a",[114],{"_key":14037,"_type":12,"marks":14038,"text":14039},"132c4fa45181",[],", 1955 (The Museum of Modern Art, New York [8.1958]).",[],{"_key":13970,"_type":474,"text":14042},[14043],{"_key":14044,"_type":8,"children":14045,"markDefs":14050,"style":16},"9a72934ff47a",[14046],{"_key":14047,"_type":12,"marks":14048,"text":14049},"877a3f4857af",[],"Rauschenberg, oral history interview by Joachim Pissarro, April 20, 2006, transcript, p. 8, Oral History Program, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":13978,"_type":474,"text":14052},[14053],{"_key":14054,"_type":8,"children":14055,"markDefs":14100,"style":16},"2a465384993c",[14056,14060,14063,14067,14070,14074,14077,14080,14083,14087,14090,14093,14096],{"_key":14057,"_type":12,"marks":14058,"text":14059},"d3a0a3bb5e92",[],"This order is not exact; there was likely more overlap and simultaneity than a strict sequence. In certain ",{"_key":14061,"_type":12,"marks":14062,"text":1567},"7a264060bbb9",[114],{"_key":14064,"_type":12,"marks":14065,"text":14066},"e29ef3391eb7",[],", for example, the ground underlying the sheets of gold leaf resembles a ",{"_key":14068,"_type":12,"marks":14069,"text":13875},"2d1681ec8cb6",[114],{"_key":14071,"_type":12,"marks":14072,"text":14073},"36a1007a19f5",[],". See, for example, ",{"_key":14075,"_type":12,"marks":14076,"text":1372},"a781e1d131a0",[114],{"_key":14078,"_type":12,"marks":14079,"text":338},"db31245e6fa1",[],{"_key":14081,"_type":12,"marks":14082,"text":13882},"2a558d2cfd2c",[114],{"_key":14084,"_type":12,"marks":14085,"text":14086},"f80f2cdfc468",[],") (ca. 1956; private coll.; RRF 53.028), and ",{"_key":14088,"_type":12,"marks":14089,"text":1372},"d7e30ed7f9cb",[114],{"_key":14091,"_type":12,"marks":14092,"text":338},"fb0b3eda9e35",[],{"_key":14094,"_type":12,"marks":14095,"text":13882},"24e7f6d57b9f",[114],{"_key":14097,"_type":12,"marks":14098,"text":14099},"de04969b979e",[],") (1955; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York; RRF 55.010).",[],{"_key":13905,"_type":375,"href":14102},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fessays\u002Ferased-de-kooning#fnref-19",{"_key":13961,"_type":239,"crNo":14104},"53.042",{"_key":14106,"_type":8,"children":14107,"markDefs":14111,"style":16},"a1e1cc86888c",[14108],{"_key":14109,"_type":12,"marks":14110,"text":10208},"fba6b98d7008",[],[],[14113],{"_key":14114,"_type":1738,"alt":14115,"asset":14116,"caption":14119},"5594fa209590","A black and white photograph of a rustic shelf against a textured wall, displaying various framed artworks, decorative objects, and a woven basket.",{"_type":1741,"asset":14117},{"_ref":14118,"_type":53},"image-8f77bd39873120dccb71af75450a73bda0ca70ca-3485x3485-jpg",[14120],{"_key":14121,"_type":8,"children":14122,"markDefs":14127,"style":16},"7c1cf7f1c94f",[14123],{"_key":14124,"_type":12,"marks":14125,"text":14126},"34fd2821132b",[],"Fig. 4. A wall in Robert Rauschenberg’s studio, 61 Fulton Street, New York, ca. 1953–54. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[],{"_key":14129,"_type":8516,"content":14130},"47c2c6dd3190",[14131],{"_key":14132,"_type":8,"children":14133,"markDefs":14138,"style":16},"c5f233b10838",[14134],{"_key":14135,"_type":12,"marks":14136,"text":14137},"c4447d30b3e6",[96,130],"Natural History",[],{"_key":14140,"_type":1642,"content":14141,"images":14528},"f85c6b360415",[14142,14264,14305,14387,14449,14521],{"_key":14143,"_type":8,"children":14144,"markDefs":14195,"style":16},"2d80b0fa65e1",[14145,14149,14154,14158,14162,14166,14170,14174,14179,14182,14187,14190],{"_key":14146,"_type":12,"marks":14147,"text":14148},"589cd12e4b51",[130],"When Barbara Rose asked Rauschenberg, “What are the most inventive things you’ve done?,” among his replies was, “I did dirt paintings.” ",{"_key":14150,"_type":12,"marks":14151,"text":14153},"c9a3b9824300",[14152,130],"9b013998a22e","Continuing, he recalled, “I was working on one dirt painting underneath a bird cage. Then grass started growing on it and I had to take care of it.”",{"_key":14155,"_type":12,"marks":14156,"text":14157},"6baf04219c90",[130]," There is no extant image of this first “growing” painting, but soon afterward, Rauschenberg offered another, titled ",{"_key":14159,"_type":12,"marks":14160,"text":14161},"459537940ba0",[114,130],"Growing Painting ",{"_key":14163,"_type":12,"marks":14164,"text":14165},"bd64ebba9f21",[130],"(fig. 5), as his sole contribution to the ",{"_key":14167,"_type":12,"marks":14168,"text":14169},"bbdd2c3bd9d2",[114,130],"Third Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture ",{"_key":14171,"_type":12,"marks":14172,"text":14173},"500bdf75f918",[130],"at Stable Gallery in winter 1954. The dirt was packed into a tall—probably about 6-foot-tall—narrow frame, and after the grass sprouted, the work was hung on the gallery wall. ",{"_key":14175,"_type":12,"marks":14176,"text":14178},"a4c7b148c3d6",[14177,130],"d614092827aa","As the choreographer Paul Taylor later recounted, “Although [Rauschenberg] had sprayed fixative by the quart, it had been hard to get the frames to hang on the wall without everything falling out.”",{"_key":14180,"_type":12,"marks":14181,"text":793},"cdf020c029f4",[130],{"_key":14183,"_type":12,"marks":14184,"text":14186},"74f17436bfbc",[14185,130],"1e0288dbddf9","Rauschenberg visited frequently to water the piece, responding to its need for upkeep.",{"_key":14188,"_type":12,"marks":14189,"text":793},"ba039f24fc65",[130],{"_key":14191,"_type":12,"marks":14192,"text":14194},"d19450f3f5c7",[14193,130],"3828ce12cc18","The painting was “about looking and caring,” the artist explained. “Those pieces would literally die if you didn’t water them.”",[14196,14212,14230,14247],{"_key":14152,"_type":474,"text":14197},[14198],{"_key":14199,"_type":8,"children":14200,"markDefs":14211,"style":16},"9df57dd83e69",[14201,14204,14207],{"_key":14202,"_type":12,"marks":14203,"text":2102},"cd76241afd5f",[],{"_key":14205,"_type":12,"marks":14206,"text":871},"6d1b17af2d69",[114],{"_key":14208,"_type":12,"marks":14209,"text":14210},"c3a47327c8a4",[],", p. 56.",[],{"_key":14177,"_type":474,"text":14213},[14214],{"_key":14215,"_type":8,"children":14216,"markDefs":14229,"style":16},"c79275bf8d3a",[14217,14221,14225],{"_key":14218,"_type":12,"marks":14219,"text":14220},"8f5b572fe783",[],"Paul Taylor, ",{"_key":14222,"_type":12,"marks":14223,"text":14224},"9374e0bfd4a5",[114],"Private Domain: An Autobiography",{"_key":14226,"_type":12,"marks":14227,"text":14228},"2a086f4dc11c",[]," (San Francisco: North Point, 1988), p. 52.",[],{"_key":14185,"_type":474,"text":14231},[14232],{"_key":14233,"_type":8,"children":14234,"markDefs":14246,"style":16},"c4312da6906e",[14235,14239,14242],{"_key":14236,"_type":12,"marks":14237,"text":14238},"2287b9af1efb",[],"Hopps, ",{"_key":14240,"_type":12,"marks":14241,"text":871},"4aa6cc23e105",[114],{"_key":14243,"_type":12,"marks":14244,"text":14245},"91d5e82d38fc",[],", p. 162.",[],{"_key":14193,"_type":474,"text":14248},[14249],{"_key":14250,"_type":8,"children":14251,"markDefs":14263,"style":16},"183235412975",[14252,14256,14259],{"_key":14253,"_type":12,"marks":14254,"text":14255},"b8963d917364",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Mary Lynn Kotz, ",{"_key":14257,"_type":12,"marks":14258,"text":4202},"2bcbf8c233a8",[114],{"_key":14260,"_type":12,"marks":14261,"text":14262},"690bd43d7b30",[]," (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990), p. 176.",[],{"_key":14265,"_type":8,"children":14266,"markDefs":14288,"style":16},"65ab03883275",[14267,14271,14275,14279,14284],{"_key":14268,"_type":12,"marks":14269,"text":14270},"113cfa85b261",[],"The responsibility of care foregrounds the idea of an artwork as animate, as having a life cycle—of growth, of transience and ephemerality. Death, even killing, is likewise a possibility. In one story Rauschenberg told about ",{"_key":14272,"_type":12,"marks":14273,"text":14274},"0bd1aac18421",[114],"Growing Painting",{"_key":14276,"_type":12,"marks":14277,"text":14278},"04e4750dcce5",[],", he claimed to have destroyed the work in response to the death of two white mice he had bought as a present for a friend. ",{"_key":14280,"_type":12,"marks":14281,"text":14283},"404268b78536",[14282],"d56a10e81118","When the intended recipient refused to see him that day, the mice froze to death overnight in the unheated loft that served as Rauschenberg’s studio and home: “So I broke the growing painting into bits. It was another sort of dying. The painting was having problems with the lack of heat anyway. And no one was particularly interested in it. They couldn’t see that there was much more to it. There was the feeling that you have to take care of things in order to keep them going. That’s true with art. When the mice died, I killed the painting.”",{"_key":14285,"_type":12,"marks":14286,"text":14287},"ec6a1a601074",[]," Killing as a refusal of care, a refusal to meet another’s needs, echoes across the chain of these three incidents—one in relation to another human being, another to animal life, and the third to the grass-growing painting.",[14289],{"_key":14282,"_type":474,"text":14290},[14291],{"_key":14292,"_type":8,"children":14293,"markDefs":14304,"style":16},"2f572e33b733",[14294,14297,14300],{"_key":14295,"_type":12,"marks":14296,"text":2102},"db55c2234130",[],{"_key":14298,"_type":12,"marks":14299,"text":871},"99e80547230d",[114],{"_key":14301,"_type":12,"marks":14302,"text":14303},"00075994ab65",[],", p. 57.",[],{"_key":14306,"_type":8,"children":14307,"markDefs":14338,"style":16},"0d87e2fea220",[14308,14313,14317,14322,14326,14330,14333],{"_key":14309,"_type":12,"marks":14310,"text":14312},"e302a6b1a6d4",[14311],"d753120ddb74","In John Cage’s 1961 essay “On Robert Rauschenberg, Artist, and His Work,” the unnamed narrator underlines the dynamic agency of dirt as material: “The message is conveyed by dirt which, mixed with an adhesive, sticks to itself and to the canvas upon which he places it. Crumbling and responding to changes in weather, the dirt unceasingly does my thinking. He regrets we do not see the paint while it’s dripping.”",{"_key":14314,"_type":12,"marks":14315,"text":14316},"2b109b0c3be0",[]," The Cageian avatar emphasizes change over time, the temporality inherent in an artwork, and the act of ceding agency or of acknowledging the agency of others, even of inanimate forces (“the dirt unceasingly does my thinking”). Indeed, this idea of an encounter with material or with another human being in which the artist does not exercise singular creative control characterizes Rauschenberg’s practice as a whole. ",{"_key":14318,"_type":12,"marks":14319,"text":14321},"1f5afab07939",[14320],"c5d2ec54fb5f","He later commented, “I’ve always felt as though, whatever I’ve used and whatever I’ve done, the method was always closer to a ",{"_key":14323,"_type":12,"marks":14324,"text":14325},"8a3653d3f62a",[114,14320],"collaboration",{"_key":14327,"_type":12,"marks":14328,"text":14329},"8f18964f56ac",[14320]," with materials than to any kind of conscious manipulation and control.”",{"_key":14331,"_type":12,"marks":14332,"text":793},"d2c9eeb5ef5b",[],{"_key":14334,"_type":12,"marks":14335,"text":14337},"a20cd52941e7",[14336],"958ef7ac13f6","Such a commitment to shared agency may reflect the artist’s drive to find a way of working that, in contrast to Abstract Expressionism, was not “just an expression of my personality—I feel it ought to be much better than that.”",[14339,14361,14377],{"_key":14311,"_type":474,"text":14340},[14341],{"_key":14342,"_type":8,"children":14343,"markDefs":14360,"style":16},"f93c7c4e6b9a",[14344,14347,14350,14353,14356],{"_key":14345,"_type":12,"marks":14346,"text":6985},"9331557cc29e",[],{"_key":14348,"_type":12,"marks":14349,"text":6989},"32b1af54a8d4",[114],{"_key":14351,"_type":12,"marks":14352,"text":6993},"09fcda0d517a",[],{"_key":14354,"_type":12,"marks":14355,"text":6997},"b20d877703c2",[114],{"_key":14357,"_type":12,"marks":14358,"text":14359},"6f64d33d9583",[]," (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), pp. 99–100.",[],{"_key":14320,"_type":474,"text":14362},[14363],{"_key":14364,"_type":8,"children":14365,"markDefs":14376,"style":16},"1fe1ea6ee537",[14366,14369,14372],{"_key":14367,"_type":12,"marks":14368,"text":695},"8a1897da08ad",[],{"_key":14370,"_type":12,"marks":14371,"text":1771},"fc97b2c0814e",[114],{"_key":14373,"_type":12,"marks":14374,"text":14375},"9550c8d3d86c",[]," 40, no. 2 (Feb. 29, 1964), p. 59.",[],{"_key":14336,"_type":474,"text":14378},[14379],{"_key":14380,"_type":8,"children":14381,"markDefs":14386,"style":16},"7a6329160fb0",[14382],{"_key":14383,"_type":12,"marks":14384,"text":14385},"5a157aaa7fd9",[],"Ibid.",[],{"_key":14388,"_type":8,"children":14389,"markDefs":14437,"style":16},"04485b1ea4da",[14390,14393,14397,14400,14404,14408,14411,14415,14420,14423,14426,14430,14433],{"_key":14334,"_type":12,"marks":14391,"text":14392},[],"In this sense, the last line of Cage’s paragraph is telling. “He regrets we do not see the paint while it’s dripping,” the composer wrote, in a nod to the power of gravity. There is, in fact, no paint here—and yet, for anyone in those years, the suggestion of paint dripping could not but evoke Jackson Pollock, especially the images made by the photographer Hans Namuth in 1950 of Pollock dripping and throwing paint from the end of a mixing stick onto canvases laid on the floor. We might understand from this “regret” that if Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":14394,"_type":12,"marks":14395,"text":14396},"f2d7504d4da0",[114],"Erased de Kooning Drawing ",{"_key":14398,"_type":12,"marks":14399,"text":6594},"9dbd4f35222a",[],{"_key":14401,"_type":12,"marks":14402,"text":343},"5809480b9e1e",[14403],"5883543b4a6d",{"_key":14405,"_type":12,"marks":14406,"text":14407},"72bcab7197d9",[],") took on the legacy of one painter, Willem de Kooning, ",{"_key":14409,"_type":12,"marks":14410,"text":13169},"936ef274f77c",[114],{"_key":14412,"_type":12,"marks":14413,"text":14414},"9d0897242def",[]," did the same with another. ",{"_key":14416,"_type":12,"marks":14417,"text":14419},"5cb91a9f0661",[14418],"81a528cb6bc3","At the Cedar Tavern in Greenwich Village, relates the writer Calvin Tomkins, Rauschenberg used to bait his bar mates by saying that “it would be more insulting to paint like de Kooning or Pollock than to do what he was doing, [that is,] try to find some other way to do things, but he never felt he got through to anyone.”",{"_key":14421,"_type":12,"marks":14422,"text":793},"6d117b52138f",[],{"_key":14424,"_type":12,"marks":14425,"text":13169},"e2f0ddc6e5b1",[114],{"_key":14427,"_type":12,"marks":14428,"text":14429},"4947b347d389",[]," encapsulates this particular sense of entangled homage and rebellion. Pollock put painting on the floor; Rauschenberg put dirt on the wall. Even the look of the work, with its halos of mold, seems to offer an ironic echo of Pollock’s delicate skeins of paint. Most significantly, ",{"_key":14431,"_type":12,"marks":14432,"text":13169},"b073137bc4b3",[114],{"_key":14434,"_type":12,"marks":14435,"text":14436},"fa462933582d",[]," acknowledges a conceptual opening in Pollock’s work: the movement between the vertical, anthropomorphic plane of traditional painting and the ground plane of matter.",[14438,14448],{"_key":14418,"_type":474,"text":14439},[14440],{"_key":14441,"_type":8,"children":14442,"markDefs":14447,"style":16},"149f3fb634bf",[14443],{"_key":14444,"_type":12,"marks":14445,"text":14446},"1c018daa1705",[],"Calvin Tomkins, “RR elected to The Club at end of 1951,” n.d., Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 10, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":14403,"_type":239,"crNo":69},{"_key":14450,"_type":8,"children":14451,"markDefs":14477,"style":16},"33b182a9f351",[14452,14456,14461,14464,14468,14472],{"_key":14453,"_type":12,"marks":14454,"text":14455},"733135eda5fd",[],"The art critic and historian Leo Steinberg called attention to the significance of this move—placing on the wall for display as art a work made on, and conceptually inhabiting, the horizontal ground plane of the floor. ",{"_key":14457,"_type":12,"marks":14458,"text":14460},"0cbb068ba2c7",[14459],"4c71af3ef273","Despite Steinberg’s reluctance to bestow his critical blessing on ",{"_key":14462,"_type":12,"marks":14463,"text":14274},"f98933e8f40a",[114,14459],{"_key":14465,"_type":12,"marks":14466,"text":14467},"36b206fb8262",[14459],"—he deemed it among the “most clownish of Rauschenberg’s youthful pranks”—he nevertheless described it as a “transposition from nature to culture through a shift of ninety degrees.”",{"_key":14469,"_type":12,"marks":14470,"text":14471},"ab6967e03d24",[]," He recognized and named the fundamental conceptual reorientation of the zone of art from the wall to the ground, from an ocular regime to one of matter, and from nature to culture. ",{"_key":14473,"_type":12,"marks":14474,"text":14476},"226c9328a2bb",[14475],"6e14d8ece143","Indeed, here is a clear articulation of the shift Rauschenberg called the “beginning of the combines” and Steinberg famously described as the “flatbed picture plane”—the conceptual revolution, which the critic situated around 1950, when paintings no longer simulated vertical fields but rather opaque, flat horizontals.",[14478,14496],{"_key":14459,"_type":474,"text":14479},[14480],{"_key":14481,"_type":8,"children":14482,"markDefs":14495,"style":16},"ef25f31d324d",[14483,14487,14491],{"_key":14484,"_type":12,"marks":14485,"text":14486},"57b101e22096",[],"Leo Steinberg, “Other Criteria,” in ",{"_key":14488,"_type":12,"marks":14489,"text":14490},"e2492efa2c33",[114],"Other Criteria: Confrontations with Twentieth-Century Art",{"_key":14492,"_type":12,"marks":14493,"text":14494},"a00a41b8156b",[],", by Leo Steinberg (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972), pp. 85, 86.",[],{"_key":14475,"_type":474,"text":14497},[14498],{"_key":14499,"_type":8,"children":14500,"markDefs":14520,"style":16},"c8fa826cf82e",[14501,14505,14508,14512,14516],{"_key":14502,"_type":12,"marks":14503,"text":14504},"8ef61ec050c2",[],"The term “flatbed picture plane” was introduced in a lecture called “Other Criteria,” delivered at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, on March 20, 1968; subsequently revised as “Reflections on the State of Criticism,” ",{"_key":14506,"_type":12,"marks":14507,"text":10862},"e608fee4efbd",[114],{"_key":14509,"_type":12,"marks":14510,"text":14511},"ee45798509f7",[]," 10, no. 7 (March 1972), pp. 37–49; and included in expanded form later that year in the 1972 volume of Steinberg’s essays, ",{"_key":14513,"_type":12,"marks":14514,"text":14515},"daf23f3775ef",[114],"Other Criteria",{"_key":14517,"_type":12,"marks":14518,"text":14519},"768f5cf48c77",[],", pp. 55–91.",[],{"_key":14522,"_type":8,"children":14523,"markDefs":14527,"style":16},"f6e4f553ed21",[14524],{"_key":14525,"_type":12,"marks":14526,"text":10208},"581299d1b27a",[],[],[14529],{"_key":14530,"_type":1738,"alt":14531,"asset":14532,"caption":14535},"21f5aeb12c5b","A vertical panel displaying a textured arrangement of various mosses, rocks, and natural elements, set against a plain white background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":14533},{"_ref":14534,"_type":53},"image-859e37425975031e9ecb0747256199a9ef6b4bd5-1056x2899-jpg",[14536],{"_key":14537,"_type":8,"children":14538,"markDefs":14550,"style":16},"b623dae92ddd",[14539,14543,14546],{"_key":14540,"_type":12,"marks":14541,"text":14542},"534c9210c10a",[],"Fig. 5. Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":14544,"_type":12,"marks":14545,"text":14274},"a07b421d97e8",[114],{"_key":14547,"_type":12,"marks":14548,"text":14549},"e0cc03c3eac8",[],", 1954. Dirt, moss, grass, and ivy on wood, in wood frame (?); dimensions unknown. Destroyed by the artist (RRF 53.030)",[],{"_key":14552,"_type":8516,"content":14553},"24b24528e19a",[14554],{"_key":14555,"_type":8,"children":14556,"markDefs":14561,"style":16},"03f742d91a1c",[14557],{"_key":14558,"_type":12,"marks":14559,"text":14560},"063f366aa35c",[96,130],"Social History, or a Matter of Value",[],{"_key":14563,"_type":1642,"content":14564,"images":15000},"8278e77b4393",[14565,14752,14847,14919,14949],{"_key":14566,"_type":8,"children":14567,"markDefs":14634,"style":16},"50c7582656d3",[14568,14572,14575,14579,14584,14587,14592,14596,14600,14604,14609,14612,14617,14621,14626,14629],{"_key":14569,"_type":12,"marks":14570,"text":14571},"556cf26e6c65",[130],"In the elemental paintings, Rauschenberg isolated primary materials—dirt, clay, gold—as reliefs in frames. These containers might be seen to offer an analogy to the time brackets Cage introduced in his collaborative ",{"_key":14573,"_type":12,"marks":14574,"text":939},"b50033da7f3a",[114,130],{"_key":14576,"_type":12,"marks":14577,"text":14578},"105f118c63cd",[130]," at Black Mountain College in August 1952, a work in which Rauschenberg took part: Each performer was given specific times to start and to stop, with the activity in between left to their determination. In the same way Cage proposed to define what happened within the delimitations of the time brackets as art, Rauschenberg defined as art what appeared within the frame. But if Cage’s brackets allowed for the chance juxtaposition of concurrent events, the frames around Rauschenberg’s “elements” established a comparative structure, a way of testing not only the characteristics of the materials that appeared inside them but also broader ideas of the materials’ social value and worth. ",{"_key":14580,"_type":12,"marks":14581,"text":14583},"8f548a825742",[14582,130],"b384cc21dafe","In an interview with the journalist Dorothy Gees Seckler in 1965, Rauschenberg explained, “I did a painting in toilet-paper, then duplicated it in gold-leaf.”",{"_key":14585,"_type":12,"marks":14586,"text":793},"5285d374bd15",[130],{"_key":14588,"_type":12,"marks":14589,"text":14591},"9c163455801d",[14590,130],"f7fe202716c0","No toilet paper examples are extant, but eleven ",{"_key":14593,"_type":12,"marks":14594,"text":14595},"cde4b7fdddec",[114,14590,130],"Gold Paintings ",{"_key":14597,"_type":12,"marks":14598,"text":14599},"64ee78d2c9b3",[14590,130],"have survived.",{"_key":14601,"_type":12,"marks":14602,"text":14603},"3cfb3dd11d7f",[130]," In them, Rauschenberg loosely laid down sheets of gold leaf on canvas or wood so that they maintained a crinkled dimensionality and could flutter, or even blow away, in a current of air. Looking at the results side by side was clarifying for Rauschenberg. ",{"_key":14605,"_type":12,"marks":14606,"text":14608},"12a911e22f08",[14607,130],"badac51e0ef0","As he explained to Seckler, “I studied both very carefully and found no advantage in either: whatever one was saying, the other seemed to be just as articulate. I knew then that it was somebody else’s problem—not mine.”",{"_key":14610,"_type":12,"marks":14611,"text":793},"09dc3e109f1b",[130],{"_key":14613,"_type":12,"marks":14614,"text":14616},"9a2c24fecbae",[14615,130],"a25318d6fd12","Beyond judging the relative expressive capacities of each material, Rauschenberg also claimed to be “testing the market. I knew this. Gold stays and toilet paper gets thrown away.”",{"_key":14618,"_type":12,"marks":14619,"text":14620},"1bf732b73a08",[130]," As Rauschenberg recalled, “My thing was … ",{"_key":14622,"_type":12,"marks":14623,"text":14625},"f01680f5d80c",[14624,130],"ca9d0616cdcb","how ‘crude’ is this outside world. I guess even to think of the project I must have had the answer.”",{"_key":14627,"_type":12,"marks":14628,"text":793},"da8ddf3c7da5",[130],{"_key":14630,"_type":12,"marks":14631,"text":14633},"afd1b6243e3a",[14632,130],"6d2745ceb24d","Calvin Tomkins suggested, however, that it was Rauschenberg himself who threw the paper painting away.",[14635,14653,14705,14715,14725,14735],{"_key":14582,"_type":474,"text":14636},[14637],{"_key":14638,"_type":8,"children":14639,"markDefs":14652,"style":16},"162d564532fe",[14640,14644,14648],{"_key":14641,"_type":12,"marks":14642,"text":14643},"ca16aa94aa3f",[],"Rauschenberg, “The Artist Speaks: Robert Rauschenberg,” interview by Dorothy Gees Seckler, ",{"_key":14645,"_type":12,"marks":14646,"text":14647},"707bb884362c",[114],"Art in America ",{"_key":14649,"_type":12,"marks":14650,"text":14651},"7134bb7827c7",[],"54, no. 3 (May–June 1966), p. 81. The interview was conducted on December 21, 1965.",[],{"_key":14590,"_type":474,"text":14654},[14655],{"_key":14656,"_type":8,"children":14657,"markDefs":14696,"style":16},"df056c56f4fe",[14658,14662,14667,14670,14675,14678,14682,14685,14690,14693],{"_key":14659,"_type":12,"marks":14660,"text":14661},"ac506c5e0101",[],"Four examples were completed before 1954 and thus are included in this catalogue (",{"_key":14663,"_type":12,"marks":14664,"text":14666},"3cc9df761eef",[14665],"77a3cb72d808","111",{"_key":14668,"_type":12,"marks":14669,"text":263},"59d46f8f3eea",[],{"_key":14671,"_type":12,"marks":14672,"text":14674},"891db9f8cd86",[14673],"a97c54764606","112",{"_key":14676,"_type":12,"marks":14677,"text":263},"dff3afdab54a",[],{"_key":14679,"_type":12,"marks":14680,"text":13962},"41ca8f93e5c8",[14681],"51e67a858eee",{"_key":14683,"_type":12,"marks":14684,"text":263},"be14a9afe6af",[],{"_key":14686,"_type":12,"marks":14687,"text":14689},"bf29aaf33f5b",[14688],"904e9216af3c","120",{"_key":14691,"_type":12,"marks":14692,"text":10084},"54d842fc07bc",[],{"_key":14694,"_type":12,"marks":14695,"text":236},"0b9d2f6a86c1",[114],[14697,14699,14701,14703],{"_key":14665,"_type":375,"href":14698},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.021",{"_key":14673,"_type":375,"href":14700},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.026",{"_key":14681,"_type":375,"href":14702},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.042",{"_key":14688,"_type":375,"href":14704},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.074",{"_key":14607,"_type":474,"text":14706},[14707],{"_key":14708,"_type":8,"children":14709,"markDefs":14714,"style":16},"4f04e4461d54",[14710],{"_key":14711,"_type":12,"marks":14712,"text":14713},"9538ffe58cbd",[],"Rauschenberg, “The Artist Speaks,” p. 81.",[],{"_key":14615,"_type":474,"text":14716},[14717],{"_key":14718,"_type":8,"children":14719,"markDefs":14724,"style":16},"885c3dd7221f",[14720],{"_key":14721,"_type":12,"marks":14722,"text":14723},"d00ddb1d1dcc",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Walter Hopps, Jan. 18–20, 1991, typed notes by Susan Davidson, annotations by Rauschenberg, p. 12, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":14624,"_type":474,"text":14726},[14727],{"_key":14728,"_type":8,"children":14729,"markDefs":14734,"style":16},"3240018718c9",[14730],{"_key":14731,"_type":12,"marks":14732,"text":14733},"b365051ba05c",[],"Rauschenberg, quoted in Roni Feinstein, “Random Order: The First Fifteen Years of Robert Rauschenberg’s Art, 1949–1964” (PhD diss., New York University, 1990), ProQuest (303859753), p. 182n6.",[],{"_key":14632,"_type":474,"text":14736},[14737],{"_key":14738,"_type":8,"children":14739,"markDefs":14751,"style":16},"f58377bbce76",[14740,14744,14747],{"_key":14741,"_type":12,"marks":14742,"text":14743},"42a39720c5fe",[],"Calvin Tomkins, ",{"_key":14745,"_type":12,"marks":14746,"text":9413},"81fa290aecc1",[114],{"_key":14748,"_type":12,"marks":14749,"text":14750},"b2f321b7f32b",[]," (New York: Picador, 2005), p. 104.",[],{"_key":14753,"_type":8,"children":14754,"markDefs":14801,"style":16},"4a3fb3efb2e1",[14755,14758,14761,14765,14770,14773,14778,14781,14785,14789,14794,14797],{"_key":14756,"_type":12,"marks":14757,"text":1164},"3002fe041d5e",[],{"_key":14759,"_type":12,"marks":14760,"text":1567},"e3649dded2e8",[114],{"_key":14762,"_type":12,"marks":14763,"text":14764},"c17004c48869",[]," seem nonetheless to encompass a degree of market subversion. ",{"_key":14766,"_type":12,"marks":14767,"text":14769},"52ded3d73f4f",[14768],"9a268143f108","Gold leaf (and silver leaf, which appears in certain examples) was a costly material to which Rauschenberg had access through the work he was doing at the time for the retail window designer Gene Moore—and which he seems to have appropriated.",{"_key":14771,"_type":12,"marks":14772,"text":793},"390e25e4ddeb",[],{"_key":14774,"_type":12,"marks":14775,"text":14777},"6169ce517546",[14776],"24ba37952984","Jasper Johns recently recalled that Rauschenberg made a number of the ",{"_key":14779,"_type":12,"marks":14780,"text":1567},"358a6c6093b2",[114,14776],{"_key":14782,"_type":12,"marks":14783,"text":14784},"01fc77e18e72",[14776]," in Johns’s studio on Pearl Street before Rauschenberg moved into the loft upstairs in September 1955.",{"_key":14786,"_type":12,"marks":14787,"text":14788},"1cb725e1e10a",[]," Johns worked on the framing of some, helping to create an enclosure that would allow air to flow over the surface but prevent any handling. ",{"_key":14790,"_type":12,"marks":14791,"text":14793},"11cad8b63c70",[14792],"4715df74e9ae","Johns noted, with characteristic succinctness, that the ",{"_key":14795,"_type":12,"marks":14796,"text":1567},"b25570a520ee",[114,14792],{"_key":14798,"_type":12,"marks":14799,"text":14800},"76ea9d7a1776",[14792]," “sold well,” adding that he himself made “one ‘gold painting’ as a ‘Rauschenberg’ and Leo [Castelli] sold it.”",[14802,14819,14829],{"_key":14768,"_type":474,"text":14803},[14804],{"_key":14805,"_type":8,"children":14806,"markDefs":14818,"style":16},"243c7fa7aac8",[14807,14811,14814],{"_key":14808,"_type":12,"marks":14809,"text":14810},"51b2165b9bbe",[],"Feinstein, “Random Order,” p. 144. John Cage also recalled that the “gold leaf came from advertising work, where they had access to such expensive materials.” Calvin Tomkins, notes from conversation with John Cage, n.d., Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 11, MoMA Archives. Rauschenberg had resumed working intermittently for Gene Moore on window displays by August 1953, and he made the first ",{"_key":14812,"_type":12,"marks":14813,"text":14595},"4c1897b129a2",[114],{"_key":14815,"_type":12,"marks":14816,"text":14817},"12a7e95d372d",[],"later that year.",[],{"_key":14776,"_type":474,"text":14820},[14821],{"_key":14822,"_type":8,"children":14823,"markDefs":14828,"style":16},"3870a3b30873",[14824],{"_key":14825,"_type":12,"marks":14826,"text":14827},"fedb67cce96f",[],"Jasper Johns to the author, email, Dec. 5, 2023.",[],{"_key":14792,"_type":474,"text":14830},[14831],{"_key":14832,"_type":8,"children":14833,"markDefs":14846,"style":16},"451052cb7c43",[14834,14838,14842],{"_key":14835,"_type":12,"marks":14836,"text":14837},"63c515da83c6",[],"Ibid. [There is no record of Rauschenberg’s selling a ",{"_key":14839,"_type":12,"marks":14840,"text":14841},"50f4227b8cd5",[114],"Gold Painting ",{"_key":14843,"_type":12,"marks":14844,"text":14845},"30f405b91486",[],"through Leo Castelli; it may have been another gallery. —Eds.]",[],{"_key":14848,"_type":8,"children":14849,"markDefs":14886,"style":16},"a0511ed88f8d",[14850,14854,14857,14861,14866,14869,14874,14878,14882],{"_key":14851,"_type":12,"marks":14852,"text":14853},"d1045f3e4922",[],"If ",{"_key":14855,"_type":12,"marks":14856,"text":13169},"ac8bdba4386d",[114],{"_key":14858,"_type":12,"marks":14859,"text":14860},"adf94865af44",[]," served as a provocation for the market, it also proposed an alternative frame for considering the history of matter: as a marker of labor. ",{"_key":14862,"_type":12,"marks":14863,"text":14865},"c53d02d8f643",[14864],"da83866146fe","Eleanor Ward hired Rauschenberg as a handyman to clean and install work at Stable Gallery, part of a former stabling space for horses near Central Park South.",{"_key":14867,"_type":12,"marks":14868,"text":793},"3652ed96ef40",[],{"_key":14870,"_type":12,"marks":14871,"text":14873},"796555ee13ce",[14872],"ea8eb15f7d31","“I was both the janitor and the only non-Italian artist (except for Cy Twombly) that was showing at the Stable Gallery,” Rauschenberg later recalled.",{"_key":14875,"_type":12,"marks":14876,"text":14877},"a8d2360d3885",[]," Paul Taylor tells a story in his autobiography, ",{"_key":14879,"_type":12,"marks":14880,"text":14881},"83483cf2a657",[114],"Private Domain",{"_key":14883,"_type":12,"marks":14884,"text":14885},"8469173a27cb",[],", of stopping by the gallery between rehearsals in 1954:",[14887,14904],{"_key":14864,"_type":474,"text":14888},[14889],{"_key":14890,"_type":8,"children":14891,"markDefs":14903,"style":16},"d8f88753a64e",[14892,14896,14899],{"_key":14893,"_type":12,"marks":14894,"text":14895},"df3a4af00613",[],"Calvin Tomkins, “BIO-10,” n.d., and “Eleanor Ward,” May 30, 1978, Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 10, MoMA Archives. A version of the story is narrated in Tomkins, ",{"_key":14897,"_type":12,"marks":14898,"text":10717},"567371beca12",[114],{"_key":14900,"_type":12,"marks":14901,"text":14902},"dfa498b833e0",[],", p. 77.",[],{"_key":14872,"_type":474,"text":14905},[14906],{"_key":14907,"_type":8,"children":14908,"markDefs":14918,"style":16},"2b07cfe10333",[14909,14912,14915],{"_key":14910,"_type":12,"marks":14911,"text":2102},"72b19641b2f2",[],{"_key":14913,"_type":12,"marks":14914,"text":871},"a547b25e01aa",[114],{"_key":14916,"_type":12,"marks":14917,"text":11680},"ddc9b2aaba62",[],[],{"_key":14920,"_type":8,"children":14921,"markDefs":14931,"style":1652},"d4acf4da212e",[14922,14926],{"_key":14923,"_type":12,"marks":14924,"text":14925},"dab6c9c6e7ff",[],"I went downstairs to see what was in the basement and found a copper-haired guy of about my own age sweeping dirt into a pile. He introduced himself as Bob Rauschenberg, said that he was a painter and that he supered the gallery for its director, Eleanor Ward, in return for being allowed a basement show of his own. The basement was featuring his latest work, something that he called dirt paintings. One of them had just fallen off the wall. … ",{"_key":14927,"_type":12,"marks":14928,"text":14930},"63488680eef1",[14929],"7290e338d215","In addition to the dirt paintings, his show included some enigmatic stones and a few small boxes filled with curiosities that he had scavenged from beaches and streets.",[14932],{"_key":14929,"_type":474,"text":14933},[14934],{"_key":14935,"_type":8,"children":14936,"markDefs":14948,"style":16},"cdfbf5ce3d8d",[14937,14941,14944],{"_key":14938,"_type":12,"marks":14939,"text":14940},"e55d767a15c5",[],"Taylor, ",{"_key":14942,"_type":12,"marks":14943,"text":14881},"7b7b3b4d6de1",[114],{"_key":14945,"_type":12,"marks":14946,"text":14947},"5800e97c30fd",[],", p. 52. Here, Taylor seems to have conflated two exhibitions that took place at Stable Gallery within a few months of each other.",[],{"_key":14950,"_type":8,"children":14951,"markDefs":14989,"style":16},"135f7d16a244",[14952,14956,14959,14963,14966,14970,14973,14977,14980,14984],{"_key":14953,"_type":12,"marks":14954,"text":14955},"c905e012f9ba",[],"Taylor’s tale is revealing, and it brings the social and material histories crystallized in ",{"_key":14957,"_type":12,"marks":14958,"text":13169},"92b511fc4bdd",[114],{"_key":14960,"_type":12,"marks":14961,"text":14962},"90a8f3c3f4cb",[]," full circle. The choreographer encountered Rauschenberg sweeping dirt, an activity that allowed the artist to exhibit his work. That Rauschenberg presented ",{"_key":14964,"_type":12,"marks":14965,"text":14274},"65b92c118779",[114],{"_key":14967,"_type":12,"marks":14968,"text":14969},"7316208e72c8",[]," at the same gallery makes manifest the following equation: Rauschenberg swept dirt to make art, and Rauschenberg made art out of dirt. Working on the dirt paintings led to a form of material testing and a new idea of the picture plane as a surface for matter. ",{"_key":14971,"_type":12,"marks":14972,"text":13132},"e97051b62b71",[114],{"_key":14974,"_type":12,"marks":14975,"text":14976},"722ec4d28fe0",[]," began to occupy a position in Rauschenberg’s retrospective self-reflection at the beginning of his career as a mature artist. Now, roughly seven decades after its making, the organic matter in ",{"_key":14978,"_type":12,"marks":14979,"text":13169},"cd724deea0a4",[114],{"_key":14981,"_type":12,"marks":14982,"text":14983},"430a7232a847",[],"’s substrate has produced a patina of lacy mold; the adhesive that once held the dirt inside the vertical frame, however precariously, can no longer be trusted to do so; and the work can be shown only in a horizontal position. ",{"_key":14985,"_type":12,"marks":14986,"text":14988},"9dee68af27a4",[14987],"a6fb70c0abce","To consider the personal, natural, and social-historical dimensions of materials means to integrate an idea of time, of bringing matter and time together: “All material has history. All material has its own history built into it.”",[14990],{"_key":14987,"_type":474,"text":14991},[14992],{"_key":14993,"_type":8,"children":14994,"markDefs":14999,"style":16},"a703964a7fe2",[14995],{"_key":14996,"_type":12,"marks":14997,"text":14998},"3ca38942779c",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Rose, ca. 1972, p. 5.",[],[15001],{"_key":15002,"_type":1738,"alt":15003,"asset":15004,"caption":15007},"f0f7f587f7c9","A man is bending over to place an object on the floor inside a room with large windows, revealing a view of a wooded area outside, while various items are scattered around him.",{"_type":1741,"asset":15005},{"_ref":15006,"_type":53},"image-db7dc4287e6f3e0726972a3a514b938d9ba84936-1790x1168-jpg",[15008],{"_key":15009,"_type":8,"children":15010,"markDefs":15029,"style":16},"bbf857bd35c8",[15011,15015,15018,15021,15025],{"_key":15012,"_type":12,"marks":15013,"text":15014},"dd02032c5260",[],"Fig. 6. Merce Cunningham in John Cage’s house with ",{"_key":15016,"_type":12,"marks":15017,"text":13132},"1291ee843e42",[114],{"_key":15019,"_type":12,"marks":15020,"text":338},"df2feb1affcf",[],{"_key":15022,"_type":12,"marks":15023,"text":1537},"f362b58c32ec",[15024],"4788161d91de",{"_key":15026,"_type":12,"marks":15027,"text":15028},"eb18834b0989",[],") in the corner, Stony Point, N.Y., 1956",[15030],{"_key":15024,"_type":239,"crNo":70},[15032],{"_key":105,"_type":8,"children":15033,"markDefs":15048,"style":16},[15034,15037,15040,15043,15045],{"_key":7532,"_type":12,"marks":15035,"text":15036},[],"Leah Dickerman, “The History of Matter: ",{"_key":15038,"_type":12,"marks":15039,"text":13132},"1da5214f4574",[114],{"_key":15041,"_type":12,"marks":15042,"text":7541},"7dd2b855944f",[],{"_key":112,"_type":12,"marks":15044,"text":115},[114],{"_key":117,"_type":12,"marks":15046,"text":15047},[],", Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026, https:\u002F\u002Fcatalogue.rauschenbergfoundation.org\u002Fessays\u002Fa-history-of-matter.",[],[15050],{"_key":15051,"_type":8,"children":15052,"markDefs":15058,"style":16},"e0d6ca8ea2f5",[15053,15056],{"_key":15054,"_type":12,"marks":15055,"text":793},"5ad4efbacd54",[],{"_key":15038,"_type":12,"marks":15057,"text":13132},[114],[],[15060],{"_key":15051,"_type":8,"children":15061,"markDefs":15065,"style":16},[15062],{"_key":15054,"_type":12,"marks":15063,"text":15064},[],"The History of Matter",[],[15067],{"_key":15051,"_type":8,"children":15068,"markDefs":15074,"style":16},[15069,15072],{"_key":15054,"_type":12,"marks":15070,"text":15071},[],"The History of Matter: ",{"_key":15038,"_type":12,"marks":15073,"text":13132},[114],[],{"_type":424,"current":15076},"a-history-of-matter",{"_createdAt":15078,"_id":15079,"_rev":15080,"_system":15081,"_type":86,"_updatedAt":15084,"author":15085,"authorBio":15086,"body":15159,"chronologyBody":19891,"chronologyHeaderNote":23961,"citeAs":23972,"essayType":23984,"paragraphStyle":8457,"title":23985,"tocPreviewTitle":23994,"uid":24000},"2026-08-05T17:22:21Z","9af17f6d-753a-457a-87db-1dc6ce43ba9b","ipy1UE5T7csP8sVrOblWPl",{"base":15082},{"id":15079,"rev":15083},"VAL4OVkGEyJv7L36h1t2xE","2026-10-21T21:43:23Z","Tim Clifford and Helen Hsu",[15087,15123],{"_key":15088,"_type":8,"children":15089,"markDefs":15122,"style":16},"d919e5c43368",[15090,15094,15098,15102,15106,15110,15114,15118],{"_key":15091,"_type":12,"marks":15092,"text":15093},"3e68f8a01f6d",[96],"Tim Clifford ",{"_key":15095,"_type":12,"marks":15096,"text":15097},"31a61a23910f",[],"is a coauthor, with Jack Flam and Katy Rogers, of ",{"_key":15099,"_type":12,"marks":15100,"text":15101},"1004fe888159",[114],"Robert Motherwell: 100 Years",{"_key":15103,"_type":12,"marks":15104,"text":15105},"dca6fdadd3f8",[]," (2015) and ",{"_key":15107,"_type":12,"marks":15108,"text":15109},"70960739300f",[114],"Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1941–1991",{"_key":15111,"_type":12,"marks":15112,"text":15113},"77ece8fa7921",[]," (2012). 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In 2025, she contributed essays to the exhibition catalogues for ",{"_key":15135,"_type":12,"marks":15136,"text":15137},"9b3d7ce73a69",[114],"Five Friends: John Cage, Merce Cunning­ ham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly",{"_key":15139,"_type":12,"marks":15140,"text":15141},"9247f3b423f6",[]," (Museum Brandhorst, Munich, and Museum Ludwig, Cologne); ",{"_key":15143,"_type":12,"marks":15144,"text":15145},"41aea4392834",[114],"Rauschenberg: El uso de las imágines",{"_key":15147,"_type":12,"marks":15148,"text":15149},"83ffaeca6f4e",[]," (Fundación Juan March, Madrid), and ",{"_key":15151,"_type":12,"marks":15152,"text":15153},"2bb421a9569c",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg’s New York: Pictures from the Real World",{"_key":15155,"_type":12,"marks":15156,"text":15157},"ec6f5b5e79d5",[]," (Museum of the City of New York). Hsu was previously an assistant curator at the Solomon R. 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",{"_key":15317,"_type":12,"marks":15318,"text":15319},"31314860faab",[114],"When an event cannot be dated with certainty, it appears in its most likely chronological position, and the date or span of dates is enclosed in brackets.",[],{"_key":15322,"_type":1642,"content":15323,"images":15386},"2219a412c8a2",[15324,15331,15354,15362,15370,15378],{"_key":15325,"_type":8,"children":15326,"markDefs":15330,"style":16},"dde641a3a754",[15327],{"_key":15328,"_type":12,"marks":15329,"text":15170},"70a71261da28",[96,114],[],{"_key":15332,"_type":8,"children":15333,"markDefs":15343,"style":16},"5129145afb70",[15334,15339],{"_key":15335,"_type":12,"marks":15336,"text":15338},"5a824aba94d2",[15337],"5757d5f6cc4e","October 22, 1925: Milton Ernest Rauschenberg is born in Port Arthur, Texas, an oil refinery town on the Gulf of Mexico, near the Louisiana border.",{"_key":15340,"_type":12,"marks":15341,"text":15342},"e8bc9354f2fd",[]," He is the only son of Ernest Gustus Rauschenberg (1902–1963) and Dora Rauschenberg, née Dora Carolina Matson (1902–1999). Ernest works as a lineman for Gulf States Utilities, the regional electric company. An avid hunter and fisherman, he raises hunting dogs and is a sought-after hunting guide. Dora is a talented seamstress, known for her ability to cut patterns efficiently so as to conserve fabric. She makes her son’s clothes throughout his childhood and adolescence. The family is devout and attends the Church of Christ located on Sixth Street.",[15344],{"_key":15337,"_type":474,"text":15345},[15346],{"_key":15347,"_type":8,"children":15348,"markDefs":15353,"style":16},"ade3bf6c6b6e",[15349],{"_key":15350,"_type":12,"marks":15351,"text":15352},"9c39c4cdf529",[],"Rauschenberg’s birth certificate bears the name Milton Ernest. On April 8, 1948, his mother submitted an affidavit to correct his name to Ernest Milton, which is the name that appears in his baby book. The family called him Milton to distinguish him from his father, Ernest. The affidavit postdated his early school registrations and records of military service, where he appears as Milton Ernest. In 1946, when Rauschenberg aspired to establish a design business, he entertained various possibilities for his name, including M. Ernst Rauschenberg, Ernie Rausch, and Ernie Rauschenberg.",[],{"_key":15355,"_type":8,"children":15356,"markDefs":15361,"style":16},"4c37c0e01818",[15357],{"_key":15358,"_type":12,"marks":15359,"text":15360},"dafb71df256d",[],"Rauschenberg shows a love for animals from an early age and cares for many pets, including dogs, ducks, a frog, geese, a goat, rabbits, and a rooster.",[],{"_key":15363,"_type":8,"children":15364,"markDefs":15369,"style":16},"0d2add86fab5",[15365],{"_key":15366,"_type":12,"marks":15367,"text":15368},"1840db4cfff7",[],"Aspires to become a preacher but drops this ambition around age thirteen because his church considers dancing—one of his favorite activities—to be sinful.",[],{"_key":15371,"_type":8,"children":15372,"markDefs":15377,"style":16},"6159b644eed7",[15373],{"_key":15374,"_type":12,"marks":15375,"text":15376},"7639481d15e7",[],"Draws frequently in school notebooks and textbooks, copying images of actresses such as Veronica Lake and characters such as Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop from magazines and comics.",[],{"_key":15379,"_type":8,"children":15380,"markDefs":15385,"style":16},"abf2c4bf6a27",[15381],{"_key":15382,"_type":12,"marks":15383,"text":15384},"8fa781c528ad",[],"April 23, 1936: Janet Rauschenberg (later Begneaud), Rauschenberg’s sister and only sibling, is born.",[],[15387],{"_key":15388,"_type":1738,"alt":15389,"asset":15390,"caption":15393,"stickyOnScroll":54,"width":7527},"f76b4a552445","A black and white photograph depicts a family – a woman, a man, and a young boy – standing outdoors in front of a house.",{"_type":1741,"asset":15391},{"_ref":15392,"_type":53},"image-b91df489eedec4ffba36dbb0a3680893f2f8d45b-1247x1814-jpg",[15394],{"_key":15395,"_type":8,"children":15396,"markDefs":15401,"style":16},"40976ef6c9d5",[15397],{"_key":15398,"_type":12,"marks":15399,"text":15400},"778e969825bd",[],"Robert Rauschenberg with his parents, Dora and Ernest, in front of their house in Port Arthur, Texas, ca. 1928",[],{"_key":15403,"_type":1642,"content":15404,"images":15519},"873184dc17e6",[15405,15412,15420,15443,15473,15496],{"_key":15406,"_type":8,"children":15407,"markDefs":15411,"style":16},"a988cb3fba90",[15408],{"_key":15409,"_type":12,"marks":15410,"text":15179},"765f32e90329",[96],[],{"_key":15413,"_type":8,"children":15414,"markDefs":15419,"style":16},"dec233c91665",[15415],{"_key":15416,"_type":12,"marks":15417,"text":15418},"8e0e5101dd67",[],"Attends Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur. Joins the school’s theater club, the Repertoire Players, serving on the advertising and sound crews and later working as a costume and set designer. Holds several part-time jobs, including salesclerk at Bluestein’s department store and swimming pool attendant.",[],{"_key":15421,"_type":8,"children":15422,"markDefs":15432,"style":16},"71c6df2e335d",[15423,15428],{"_key":15424,"_type":12,"marks":15425,"text":15427},"a9b71993159f",[15426],"cb41c6babb51","Around age sixteen, gets his first pair of glasses.",{"_key":15429,"_type":12,"marks":15430,"text":15431},"de44f8e2d0e1",[]," Later attributes his poor grades and lack of interest in school to the fact that he had never been able to see to the front of the classroom.",[15433],{"_key":15426,"_type":474,"text":15434},[15435],{"_key":15436,"_type":8,"children":15437,"markDefs":15442,"style":16},"18b596b885c6",[15438],{"_key":15439,"_type":12,"marks":15440,"text":15441},"4a0fdb023d47",[],"Rauschenberg dated this eye exam to when he was first eligible for a driver’s license. Rauschenberg, interview by Walter Hopps and Sue Ginsburg, Nov. 4, 1975, transcript, p. 9, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":15444,"_type":8,"children":15445,"markDefs":15455,"style":16},"9554be6daec5",[15446,15450],{"_key":15447,"_type":12,"marks":15448,"text":15449},"6b6bf9097cc6",[],"In the spring of junior year, runs unsuccessfully for student body president. Draws posters featuring movie stars such as Betty Grable and Hedy Lamarr endorsing his candidacy. ",{"_key":15451,"_type":12,"marks":15452,"text":15454},"c7f294ff807c",[15453],"75aacf20524e","Instead of giving campaign speeches, releases a goose into each classroom with a sign around its neck reading “Vote for Rauschenberg.”",[15456],{"_key":15453,"_type":474,"text":15457},[15458],{"_key":15459,"_type":8,"children":15460,"markDefs":15472,"style":16},"c4dd906c42e4",[15461,15465,15468],{"_key":15462,"_type":12,"marks":15463,"text":15464},"f08842f1449c",[],"Ibid.; Jo Ann Eidom, “Gold Adherents Pick Candidates,” ",{"_key":15466,"_type":12,"marks":15467,"text":3182},"6868a4906c21",[114],{"_key":15469,"_type":12,"marks":15470,"text":15471},"f37d8824c705",[],", April 26, 1942, p. 12.",[],{"_key":15474,"_type":8,"children":15475,"markDefs":15485,"style":16},"9101ebf78f65",[15476,15480],{"_key":15477,"_type":12,"marks":15478,"text":15479},"efb43972083a",[],"As a senior, applies to the University of Texas at Austin to fulfill his parents’ wish that he continue his education. ",{"_key":15481,"_type":12,"marks":15482,"text":15484},"28e5ce758959",[15483],"92f379b8bfeb","When he is accepted, they agree that if he is unhappy at the end of one year, he can drop out.",[15486],{"_key":15483,"_type":474,"text":15487},[15488],{"_key":15489,"_type":8,"children":15490,"markDefs":15495,"style":16},"678281ee0ab6",[15491],{"_key":15492,"_type":12,"marks":15493,"text":15494},"4c90d8a5eaa6",[],"Calvin Tomkins, “Bio notes,” p. 2, Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 2, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":15497,"_type":8,"children":15498,"markDefs":15508,"style":16},"4bb75495fdb3",[15499,15503],{"_key":15500,"_type":12,"marks":15501,"text":15502},"1fe582b60ab3",[],"May 27, 1943: ",{"_key":15504,"_type":12,"marks":15505,"text":15507},"917702e49346",[15506],"95f23afeeda1","Graduates from high school in the bottom quartile of his class.",[15509],{"_key":15506,"_type":474,"text":15510},[15511],{"_key":15512,"_type":8,"children":15513,"markDefs":15518,"style":16},"15939891dde7",[15514],{"_key":15515,"_type":12,"marks":15516,"text":15517},"25377e8177dc",[],"As an adult, Rauschenberg self-diagnosed as dyslexic. Dyslexia was first codified by the World Federation of Neurology as a diagnosis in 1968. In 1985, the artist received the Outstanding Learning Disabled Achiever award from First Lady Nancy Reagan for his charitable work on behalf of the Lab School, Washington, D.C.",[],[15520],{"_key":15521,"_type":1738,"alt":15522,"asset":15523,"caption":15526},"e9cb846647b3","A collection of vintage cards with the text \"Make Rauschenberg your PRESIDENT\" printed in black on a light beige background, arranged in two groups on a gray surface.",{"_type":1741,"asset":15524},{"_ref":15525,"_type":53},"image-becf5089288fca9644880ce2700db96732b9245b-3253x2441-jpg",[15527],{"_key":15528,"_type":8,"children":15529,"markDefs":15534,"style":16},"70ea4a8084e9",[15530],{"_key":15531,"_type":12,"marks":15532,"text":15533},"f618d2a65876",[],"Cards from Robert Rauschenberg’s 1942 campaign for student body president of Thomas Jefferson High School, Port Arthur, Texas",[],{"_key":15536,"_type":1642,"content":15537,"images":15643},"53082f0c9d46",[15538,15545,15553,15575,15598,15605,15635],{"_key":15539,"_type":8,"children":15540,"markDefs":15544,"style":16},"74024b423c18",[15541],{"_key":15542,"_type":12,"marks":15543,"text":15187},"00ca511c5d38",[],[],{"_key":15546,"_type":8,"children":15547,"markDefs":15552,"style":16},"819edefc5aed",[15548],{"_key":15549,"_type":12,"marks":15550,"text":15551},"c728a4f5deb5",[],"Takes remedial courses during the summer in preparation for studying pharmacy at the University of Texas (it does not offer a program in veterinary medicine, which he had hoped to study, and pharmacy is the closest alternative). Enters the university in the fall and shares a room at the Austin YMCA with his best friend from high school, Arthur Welton Frakes, Jr. (1925–2006), who had matriculated the previous year.",[],{"_key":15554,"_type":8,"children":15555,"markDefs":15565,"style":16},"8647c0a54371",[15556,15561],{"_key":15557,"_type":12,"marks":15558,"text":15560},"1467afc699cc",[15559],"4ebed97f7b77","Enjoys university life but finds himself “temperamentally unsuited” for pharmacy.",{"_key":15562,"_type":12,"marks":15563,"text":15564},"9a1a6ec23f2b",[]," Weeks into the fall semester, stops attending classes and gets a job at the soda fountain in a Renfro drugstore in Austin.",[15566],{"_key":15559,"_type":474,"text":15567},[15568],{"_key":15569,"_type":8,"children":15570,"markDefs":15574,"style":16},"6ad399428018",[15571],{"_key":15572,"_type":12,"marks":15573,"text":2344},"6843ab5b4841",[],[],{"_key":15576,"_type":8,"children":15577,"markDefs":15587,"style":16},"39282830a601",[15578,15582],{"_key":15579,"_type":12,"marks":15580,"text":15581},"92a5c817d08f",[],"November 10: Appears before the local draft board in Port Arthur and is classified I-A, or fit for service. ",{"_key":15583,"_type":12,"marks":15584,"text":15586},"605b6f306d9c",[15585],"2b91b15e1b58","Enlists in the U.S. Navy and is ordered to report for duty on January 28, 1944.",[15588],{"_key":15585,"_type":474,"text":15589},[15590],{"_key":15591,"_type":8,"children":15592,"markDefs":15597,"style":16},"4d0e1e939c69",[15593],{"_key":15594,"_type":12,"marks":15595,"text":15596},"5a3a5ab72cc5",[],"Military record of Milton Ernest [Robert] Rauschenberg, National Archives and Records Administration. Reference copy held in RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":15599,"_type":8,"children":15600,"markDefs":15604,"style":16},"5bf1d549f453",[15601],{"_key":15602,"_type":12,"marks":15603,"text":15195},"e92c6e468fe3",[],[],{"_key":15606,"_type":8,"children":15607,"markDefs":15617,"style":16},"22f6c4b1631f",[15608,15612],{"_key":15609,"_type":12,"marks":15610,"text":15611},"c8383680ba2f",[],"January 18: ",{"_key":15613,"_type":12,"marks":15614,"text":15616},"33ef0e3f240f",[15615],"4a2746658207","Officially withdraws from the University of Texas.",[15618],{"_key":15615,"_type":474,"text":15619},[15620],{"_key":15621,"_type":8,"children":15622,"markDefs":15634,"style":16},"3eeaecbd26d5",[15623,15627,15630],{"_key":15624,"_type":12,"marks":15625,"text":15626},"5d407c519f3a",[],"His departure is recorded as a withdrawal, but Rauschenberg later claimed that his refusal to dissect a frog led to his expulsion. See “Chronology,” in ",{"_key":15628,"_type":12,"marks":15629,"text":1867},"42f62c45d305",[114],{"_key":15631,"_type":12,"marks":15632,"text":15633},"dbf74da28f28",[],", exh. cat. (Washington, D.C.: National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, 1976), p. 25.",[],{"_key":15636,"_type":8,"children":15637,"markDefs":15642,"style":16},"cc94a24a37f2",[15638],{"_key":15639,"_type":12,"marks":15640,"text":15641},"64e92b87d4eb",[],"January 28: Reports to the Naval Recruiting Station in Houston and is inducted with the rank of Apprentice Seaman. On account of his eyesight, he is classified USN-I (Special Assignment—Defective Vision) and thus is approved only for noncombat duty.",[],[15644],{"_key":15645,"_type":1738,"alt":15646,"asset":15647,"caption":15650},"d9477ae41096","A young man sits casually on a brick chimney, wearing shorts and black shoes, with a clear sky in the background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":15648},{"_ref":15649,"_type":53},"image-75fc8eee35455ac1f1ffd1aed99acc70fba28618-1860x3307-jpg",[15651],{"_key":15652,"_type":8,"children":15653,"markDefs":15658,"style":16},"9cc2ec278544",[15654],{"_key":15655,"_type":12,"marks":15656,"text":15657},"67d83dc93123",[],"Robert Rauschenberg on the roof of the YMCA, Austin, Texas, January 20, 1944",[],{"_key":15660,"_type":1642,"content":15661,"images":15742},"9a334229751f",[15662,15670,15678,15686,15734],{"_key":15663,"_type":8,"children":15664,"markDefs":15669,"style":16},"2caf00e7c966",[15665],{"_key":15666,"_type":12,"marks":15667,"text":15668},"c9b90367455c",[],"February 7–March 20: Undergoes basic training at Camp Scott at Farragut Naval Training Station in Farragut, Idaho. At the end of training, he is named Honor Man of his recruit company and advances to the rank of Seaman Second Class.",[],{"_key":15671,"_type":8,"children":15672,"markDefs":15677,"style":16},"83992221c07f",[15673],{"_key":15674,"_type":12,"marks":15675,"text":15676},"2a89b43234d9",[],"April 10: Transferred to the Hospital Corps School at the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego for basic hospital corpsman training.",[],{"_key":15679,"_type":8,"children":15680,"markDefs":15685,"style":16},"df6b9279f61f",[15681],{"_key":15682,"_type":12,"marks":15683,"text":15684},"48c18e1d265d",[],"May–June: Promoted to Hospital Apprentice Second Class on May 26 and transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Corona, California, where he completes a three-week course in nursing and is assigned to a tuberculosis ward. While he had previously struggled academically, in the Navy he is an eager student and adept at working with patients.",[],{"_key":15687,"_type":8,"children":15688,"markDefs":15706,"style":16},"2d2175764d4e",[15689,15693,15698,15701],{"_key":15690,"_type":12,"marks":15691,"text":15692},"227bd93c7852",[],"September 7: Transferred to the Naval Convalescent Hospital in Arrowhead Springs, California. ",{"_key":15694,"_type":12,"marks":15695,"text":15697},"80f04e4522ed",[15696],"0a4d86c16ddf","There, he works on infrastructure projects with a civilian crew, including the construction of a water line to assist in fighting wildfires.",{"_key":15699,"_type":12,"marks":15700,"text":793},"475bc7d306fb",[],{"_key":15702,"_type":12,"marks":15703,"text":15705},"da1254b21381",[15704],"ebef7c0f91b4","Writes to Frakes, “Remember me I’m the sailor who joined the navy to see the mountains.”",[15707,15724],{"_key":15696,"_type":474,"text":15708},[15709],{"_key":15710,"_type":8,"children":15711,"markDefs":15723,"style":16},"ba62eba5b1f0",[15712,15716,15719],{"_key":15713,"_type":12,"marks":15714,"text":15715},"ea9aaa1d962a",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, Sept. 9, 1944, FS 167, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives; Barbara Rose, ",{"_key":15717,"_type":12,"marks":15718,"text":871},"ee749c30ec81",[114],{"_key":15720,"_type":12,"marks":15721,"text":15722},"3e8446813e31",[]," (New York: Vintage Books, 1987), p. 17.",[],{"_key":15704,"_type":474,"text":15725},[15726],{"_key":15727,"_type":8,"children":15728,"markDefs":15733,"style":16},"fb08d919d941",[15729],{"_key":15730,"_type":12,"marks":15731,"text":15732},"cdfb931ac4aa",[],"Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, Oct. 6, 1944, FS 169, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":15735,"_type":8,"children":15736,"markDefs":15741,"style":16},"7f9ceba1550a",[15737],{"_key":15738,"_type":12,"marks":15739,"text":15740},"003b0d64d643",[],"November 1: Promoted to Hospital Apprentice First Class.",[],[15743],{"_key":15744,"_type":1738,"alt":15745,"asset":15746,"caption":15749},"f7d86e647c53","A handwritten letter addressed to \"Arthur\" on aged paper, accompanied by an envelope with a return address, featuring a simple sketch of a young man on the right side.",{"_type":1741,"asset":15747},{"_ref":15748,"_type":53},"image-4dc9ecc27e914f601c588b0cfcc4a1ff65b01c51-2310x2924-png",[15750],{"_key":15751,"_type":8,"children":15752,"markDefs":15757,"style":16},"a7af91b9abc9",[15753],{"_key":15754,"_type":12,"marks":15755,"text":15756},"9b34a646e03a",[],"Page of a letter from Robert Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, with a self-portrait of the artist, February 1944",[],{"_key":15759,"_type":1642,"content":15760,"images":15820},"4ac0ab7680b2",[15761,15769,15777,15779,15786,15804,15812],{"_key":15762,"_type":8,"children":15763,"markDefs":15768,"style":16},"447b1032890b",[15764],{"_key":15765,"_type":12,"marks":15766,"text":15767},"c13bb34108b6",[],"December 4: Transferred to the U.S. Naval Repair Base, San Diego, where he works in the medical laboratory and pharmacy. While stationed there, and over his remaining eighteen months in California, he spends time in Los Angeles, attracted by the glamour of Hollywood, and hitchhikes up the California coast and as far south as Ensenada, Mexico.",[],{"_key":15770,"_type":8,"children":15771,"markDefs":15776,"style":16},"54fd06af79cc",[15772],{"_key":15773,"_type":12,"marks":15774,"text":15775},"768c923010b1",[],"[December 25]: Receives a used camera as a Christmas gift from his parents.",[],{"_key":15778,"_type":1942},"d0cd38840c68",{"_key":15780,"_type":8,"children":15781,"markDefs":15785,"style":16},"c3c6acb89d25",[15782],{"_key":15783,"_type":12,"marks":15784,"text":15203},"0c70cd287c30",[],[],{"_key":15787,"_type":8,"children":15788,"markDefs":15794,"style":16},"98078da0a6ce",[15789],{"_key":15790,"_type":12,"marks":15791,"text":15793},"6d00a70e1a83",[15792],"bb84b2a2c2c4","January 4: Writes to Frakes about his desire to study in Paris and one day open fashion salons in Dallas and New York.",[15795],{"_key":15792,"_type":474,"text":15796},[15797],{"_key":15798,"_type":8,"children":15799,"markDefs":15803,"style":16},"62d2fa2242c6",[15800],{"_key":15801,"_type":12,"marks":15802,"text":4225},"ce8083d5dd22",[],[],{"_key":15805,"_type":8,"children":15806,"markDefs":15811,"style":16},"b93d10114120",[15807],{"_key":15808,"_type":12,"marks":15809,"text":15810},"1e2e8afbdc3d",[],"July 2: Promoted to the petty officer rank of Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class. His family visits him in San Diego at the end of the month.",[],{"_key":15813,"_type":8,"children":15814,"markDefs":15819,"style":16},"5e9e258da387",[15815],{"_key":15816,"_type":12,"marks":15817,"text":15818},"67ea5e73a763",[],"July 31: Transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego to train as a neuropsychiatric technician. In this role, he will help treat sailors returning from battle with “combat fatigue,” today referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).",[],[15821],{"_key":15822,"_type":1738,"alt":15823,"asset":15824,"caption":15827},"1d145b5cd39f","A smiling family – a woman, a man, and a young girl – pose for a photograph outdoors.",{"_type":1741,"asset":15825},{"_ref":15826,"_type":53},"image-b548d14efe3528d720f7d5816766185b94015e09-3225x4170-jpg",[15828],{"_key":15829,"_type":8,"children":15830,"markDefs":15835,"style":16},"8a1ef1eba4c7",[15831],{"_key":15832,"_type":12,"marks":15833,"text":15834},"8fa3be92736e",[],"Robert Rauschenberg with his parents and sister, Janet, ca. 1948",[],{"_key":15837,"_type":1642,"content":15838,"images":15974},"2d891b451a07",[15839,15847,15849,15856,15893,15923],{"_key":15840,"_type":8,"children":15841,"markDefs":15846,"style":16},"ca9559360a61",[15842],{"_key":15843,"_type":12,"marks":15844,"text":15845},"4d50fe47f04a",[],"December 14: Transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital at Santa Margarita Ranch, Oceanside, California, where he will finish out his service.",[],{"_key":15848,"_type":1942},"83e69fa33de4",{"_key":15850,"_type":8,"children":15851,"markDefs":15855,"style":16},"acbea33fb098",[15852],{"_key":15853,"_type":12,"marks":15854,"text":15211},"27c1eaeab17d",[],[],{"_key":15857,"_type":8,"children":15858,"markDefs":15872,"style":16},"fa64b78c679a",[15859,15864,15867],{"_key":15860,"_type":12,"marks":15861,"text":15863},"38640ff34e83",[15862],"18fa066165a1","Winter–Spring: Visits the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino, California, where he sees fine art in person for the first time.",{"_key":15865,"_type":12,"marks":15866,"text":793},"a541b7ec786b",[],{"_key":15868,"_type":12,"marks":15869,"text":15871},"7a751c40a34f",[15870],"79a0b4df39db","Procures art supplies and creates his first oil painting, a portrait of his fellow sailor Robert Hubler.",[15873,15883],{"_key":15862,"_type":474,"text":15874},[15875],{"_key":15876,"_type":8,"children":15877,"markDefs":15882,"style":16},"c1399e057359",[15878],{"_key":15879,"_type":12,"marks":15880,"text":15881},"7466149f6d5a",[],"Calvin Tomkins, untitled notes, n.d. [ca. 1963], pp. 3–4, Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 2, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":15870,"_type":474,"text":15884},[15885],{"_key":15886,"_type":8,"children":15887,"markDefs":15892,"style":16},"968a603af2d6",[15888],{"_key":15889,"_type":12,"marks":15890,"text":15891},"efe8f5abf796",[],"Robert Hubler was stationed in San Diego beginning on April 5, 1946, overlapping with Rauschenberg until the latter’s discharge on June 6. Paul Hubler, conversation with Susan Davidson, June 24, 2024.",[],{"_key":15894,"_type":8,"children":15895,"markDefs":15905,"style":16},"d4d919c3f83a",[15896,15900],{"_key":15897,"_type":12,"marks":15898,"text":15899},"754c081323d4",[],"June: Receives an honorable discharge from the Navy on June 6, then remains in California for a few weeks. In Los Angeles, investigates opportunities in fashion design and inquires about classes at the University of California, Los Angeles. ",{"_key":15901,"_type":12,"marks":15902,"text":15904},"175eea6ec75f",[15903],"4a970b8c04a4","Travels north to San Francisco before hitchhiking home to his family, arriving in Port Arthur by June 26.",[15906],{"_key":15903,"_type":474,"text":15907},[15908],{"_key":15909,"_type":8,"children":15910,"markDefs":15922,"style":16},"6e7d0a834c15",[15911,15915,15918],{"_key":15912,"_type":12,"marks":15913,"text":15914},"43258d64a6eb",[],"An often repeated story, first told by Calvin Tomkins, has Rauschenberg’s family moving from Port Arthur to Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1946 without informing him, while he was still in the Navy. Calvin Tomkins, “Profiles: Moving Out,” ",{"_key":15916,"_type":12,"marks":15917,"text":1771},"61a2d6ed8e3e",[114],{"_key":15919,"_type":12,"marks":15920,"text":15921},"62f80aa50f0b",[]," 40, no. 2 (Feb. 29, 1964), p. 45. Contemporary documents confirm, however, that the family did not move until April 1948.",[],{"_key":15924,"_type":8,"children":15925,"markDefs":15943,"style":16},"80eb179cbed3",[15926,15930,15935,15938],{"_key":15927,"_type":12,"marks":15928,"text":15929},"a45e4dc36c65",[],"[October–December]: Moves to Los Angeles to start a job with Original by Brett, a bespoke women’s wear boutique on Westwood Boulevard. In early December, begins a new job working for the women’s wear designer Louella Ballerino (1900–1978) as a packing clerk. There, he meets Marjorie June Pearman (later Ludington; 1922–1978), known as Pat, Ballerino’s personal assistant and secretary. Pearman, a few years older than he, is from Brunswick, Missouri, and has studied fashion design and illustration at the Edna Marie Dunn School of Fashion in Kansas City. ",{"_key":15931,"_type":12,"marks":15932,"text":15934},"fdcb5263d74f",[15933],"7cdc492eebba","After viewing his drawings and fashion designs, Pearman recognizes his talent and encourages his artistic endeavors.",{"_key":15936,"_type":12,"marks":15937,"text":793},"46246ceca865",[],{"_key":15939,"_type":12,"marks":15940,"text":15942},"9be47d0f6b1d",[15941],"3d8ab0907736","She and the other employees begin calling him Bob “because I looked like my name ought to be Bob.”",[15944,15964],{"_key":15933,"_type":474,"text":15945},[15946],{"_key":15947,"_type":8,"children":15948,"markDefs":15961,"style":16},"295636f793c4",[15949,15953,15958],{"_key":15950,"_type":12,"marks":15951,"text":15952},"9fb471430bfd",[],"See also ",{"_key":15954,"_type":12,"marks":15955,"text":15957},"3c712414df94",[15956],"6e5ce3340a4c","Craft (note 112)",{"_key":15959,"_type":12,"marks":15960,"text":236},"23231cb2dc31",[],[15962],{"_key":15956,"_type":375,"href":15963},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fessays\u002Fjcb-craft#fn-112",{"_key":15941,"_type":474,"text":15965},[15966],{"_key":15967,"_type":8,"children":15968,"markDefs":15973,"style":16},"86ba923f9a5a",[15969],{"_key":15970,"_type":12,"marks":15971,"text":15972},"9ebf4bab5416",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, Feb. 3, 1947, RFC. Digital reference copy held in RRF Archives.",[],[15975],{"_key":15976,"_type":1738,"alt":15977,"asset":15978,"caption":15981},"33f6fd7bb821","Two young men in naval uniforms sit at a table, each holding a drink, with a cigarette pack and ashtray visible in front of them.",{"_type":1741,"asset":15979},{"_ref":15980,"_type":53},"image-199b56870a073768f203d4cc1775ce21bd101980-2820x1949-jpg",[15982],{"_key":15983,"_type":8,"children":15984,"markDefs":15989,"style":16},"a08c4482c801",[15985],{"_key":15986,"_type":12,"marks":15987,"text":15988},"82f5797853c4",[],"Robert Rauschenberg with Robert Hubler, Long Beach, Calif., 1946",[],{"_key":15991,"_type":1642,"content":15992,"images":16103},"7ce43995c24a",[15993,15995,16002,16025,16052,16095],{"_key":15994,"_type":1942},"d98c057c3135",{"_key":15996,"_type":8,"children":15997,"markDefs":16001,"style":16},"0818173464b9",[15998],{"_key":15999,"_type":12,"marks":16000,"text":3381},"047ebe7edcd5",[],[],{"_key":16003,"_type":8,"children":16004,"markDefs":16014,"style":16},"88bf0cd7d281",[16005,16009],{"_key":16006,"_type":12,"marks":16007,"text":16008},"a81e4e0b2fdf",[],"Late January: When her mother falls ill, Pearman returns home to Missouri and resumes working at Donnelly Garment Company in Kansas City, where she had been a personal assistant and secretary before moving to Los Angeles in June 1946. Rauschenberg follows soon after with the intention of studying at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI). ",{"_key":16010,"_type":12,"marks":16011,"text":16013},"e19a0a2a133e",[16012],"fdb0ad521351","On arriving at Kansas City’s Union Station at 3 am, he stays up all night drinking coffee in the deserted station and decides he will change his name from Milton to Bob.",[16015],{"_key":16012,"_type":474,"text":16016},[16017],{"_key":16018,"_type":8,"children":16019,"markDefs":16024,"style":16},"a6511dfc63ef",[16020],{"_key":16021,"_type":12,"marks":16022,"text":16023},"c4f1f10885f5",[],"Ibid. He did not legally change his name to Robert until 1996.",[],{"_key":16026,"_type":8,"children":16027,"markDefs":16041,"style":16},"0d1fc7865160",[16028,16032,16037],{"_key":16029,"_type":12,"marks":16030,"text":16031},"145f87cdefb1",[],"February 3–May 24: Attends the spring semester at KCAI on the G.I. Bill (officially, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944). Studies drawing, design and composition, anatomy, art history, and fashion design. ",{"_key":16033,"_type":12,"marks":16034,"text":16036},"770aaee709da",[16035],"aa59fb72e6ce","Writes his parents, “It’s what I’ve always wanted. A chance to show people I have the stuff. . . . By the way I’m letting everyone here call me Bob, so address my letters as such will you?”",{"_key":16038,"_type":12,"marks":16039,"text":16040},"4d3954f26141",[]," His mother continues to call him Milton throughout her life.",[16042],{"_key":16035,"_type":474,"text":16043},[16044],{"_key":16045,"_type":8,"children":16046,"markDefs":16051,"style":16},"2800fcfa9ce8",[16047],{"_key":16048,"_type":12,"marks":16049,"text":16050},"bf9f1394c11d",[],"Ibid. This letter to his family is the earliest documented use by Rauschenberg of the name Bob.",[],{"_key":16053,"_type":8,"children":16054,"markDefs":16068,"style":16},"41f63ca74b44",[16055,16060,16063],{"_key":16056,"_type":12,"marks":16057,"text":16059},"77d59a2c0bf6",[16058],"db5b78302dd1","Works multiple jobs to save money, believing that one “had to go to Paris if you were going to be an artist.”",{"_key":16061,"_type":12,"marks":16062,"text":793},"16524472a46d",[],{"_key":16064,"_type":12,"marks":16065,"text":16067},"de1dab370ad7",[16066],"5f0f454b3644","Prepares window displays for the Kansas City women’s wear boutique Cricket West; makes hats for Donnelly Garment Company; designs fashion-show sets for Ashell’s, a women’s wear store in Kirksville, Missouri; and fabricates props and sets for local commercials.",[16069,16085],{"_key":16058,"_type":474,"text":16070},[16071],{"_key":16072,"_type":8,"children":16073,"markDefs":16084,"style":16},"c6ec9854120f",[16074,16077,16080],{"_key":16075,"_type":12,"marks":16076,"text":2102},"7aba96bf14fa",[],{"_key":16078,"_type":12,"marks":16079,"text":871},"05f5be5a6bc8",[114],{"_key":16081,"_type":12,"marks":16082,"text":16083},"149e90608efd",[],", p. 21.",[],{"_key":16066,"_type":474,"text":16086},[16087],{"_key":16088,"_type":8,"children":16089,"markDefs":16094,"style":16},"9f28855032e4",[16090],{"_key":16091,"_type":12,"marks":16092,"text":16093},"91fae1c83c43",[],"Application and recommendation letters in Milton Ernest Rauschenberg file, BMC Records, series 506.4, box 37, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville; Rauschenberg, interview by Walter Hopps and Sue Ginsburg, Nov. 4, 1975, audio, at 27:41, Audiovisual Collection, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":16096,"_type":8,"children":16097,"markDefs":16102,"style":16},"7547649c2c55",[16098],{"_key":16099,"_type":12,"marks":16100,"text":16101},"dd591d1a16d7",[],"June 9–August 2: Takes classes in drawing and fashion illustration during the summer session at KCAI.",[],[16104],{"_key":16105,"_type":1738,"alt":16106,"asset":16107,"caption":16110},"97b7178c557e","A pencil sketch of a nude male figure standing with hands on hips, viewed from the back.",{"_type":1741,"asset":16108},{"_ref":16109,"_type":53},"image-f0c375b9a248bf7ce99dfbdfe5df4c06e40c99f0-2361x2982-png",[16111],{"_key":16112,"_type":8,"children":16113,"markDefs":16118,"style":16},"6f2a63e4af2c",[16114],{"_key":16115,"_type":12,"marks":16116,"text":16117},"e5281d34082d",[],"Robert Rauschenberg, drawing of a male nude, ca. 1947. Pencil on paper; 24¾ × 18¾ in. (63 × 47.7 cm). Collection of Link Pearman Ludington",[],{"_key":16120,"_type":1642,"content":16121,"images":16265},"be86691d0aad",[16122,16130,16132,16139,16192,16219,16227],{"_key":16123,"_type":8,"children":16124,"markDefs":16129,"style":16},"0a893571af19",[16125],{"_key":16126,"_type":12,"marks":16127,"text":16128},"232d86709bbb",[],"September 29, 1947–January 30, 1948: Attends the fall semester at KCAI, studying anatomy, art history, fashion design, costume history, pictorial design, and sculpture.",[],{"_key":16131,"_type":1942},"e691440c936c",{"_key":16133,"_type":8,"children":16134,"markDefs":16138,"style":16},"cf95878e31c4",[16135],{"_key":16136,"_type":12,"marks":16137,"text":15226},"9eebd3c488c4",[],[],{"_key":16140,"_type":8,"children":16141,"markDefs":16159,"style":16},"cf4d287d4de0",[16142,16146,16151,16154],{"_key":16143,"_type":12,"marks":16144,"text":16145},"c7250c6bac40",[],"February 2–May 29: Attends his final semester at KCAI, studying fashion design, music appreciation, and sculpture. ",{"_key":16147,"_type":12,"marks":16148,"text":16150},"e096269add3c",[16149],"e687409e23b2","His clothing designs are featured in Kansas City’s Spring Flower Festival,",{"_key":16152,"_type":12,"marks":16153,"text":793},"ab10ddb7bb1d",[],{"_key":16155,"_type":12,"marks":16156,"text":16158},"8dd7d89625a5",[16157],"ece9ec6c198b","and his beige wool ensemble wins second prize in the suit category at the annual KCAI outdoor fashion show.",[16160,16175],{"_key":16149,"_type":474,"text":16161},[16162],{"_key":16163,"_type":8,"children":16164,"markDefs":16174,"style":16},"e13947787fcc",[16165,16168,16171],{"_key":16166,"_type":12,"marks":16167,"text":5247},"3df85cee7c27",[],{"_key":16169,"_type":12,"marks":16170,"text":5005},"e5b09962020a",[114],{"_key":16172,"_type":12,"marks":16173,"text":5254},"ec99edad4ce2",[],[],{"_key":16157,"_type":474,"text":16176},[16177],{"_key":16178,"_type":8,"children":16179,"markDefs":16191,"style":16},"faf06f7c7eb4",[16180,16184,16187],{"_key":16181,"_type":12,"marks":16182,"text":16183},"3ceea64f69b2",[],"“Fashion Show Is Gala,” ",{"_key":16185,"_type":12,"marks":16186,"text":5005},"6171b134ba9c",[114],{"_key":16188,"_type":12,"marks":16189,"text":16190},"12c76e7078e4",[],", May 26, 1948, p. 30.",[],{"_key":16193,"_type":8,"children":16194,"markDefs":16208,"style":16},"10c9b35897fc",[16195,16199,16204],{"_key":16196,"_type":12,"marks":16197,"text":16198},"fdc0ffa8b380",[],"[April]: ",{"_key":16200,"_type":12,"marks":16201,"text":16203},"a3ad780fb615",[16202],"cfad31c543f4","Rauschenberg’s father is transferred by Gulf States Utilities to Lafayette, Louisiana, and promoted to general line foreman.",{"_key":16205,"_type":12,"marks":16206,"text":16207},"3642956e407e",[]," The family rents a cottage at Azalea Court in Lafayette for several months before building a new home on Brookside Drive.",[16209],{"_key":16202,"_type":474,"text":16210},[16211],{"_key":16212,"_type":8,"children":16213,"markDefs":16218,"style":16},"457426326842",[16214],{"_key":16215,"_type":12,"marks":16216,"text":16217},"7313d020ddc9",[],"Janet Begneaud, oral history interview by Sara Sinclair, Jan. 14, 2015, transcript, p. 1-19, Oral History Project, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":16220,"_type":8,"children":16221,"markDefs":16226,"style":16},"c4e4cb949e40",[16222],{"_key":16223,"_type":12,"marks":16224,"text":16225},"f7101f134873",[],"[May 29]: Departs Kansas City for New York.",[],{"_key":16228,"_type":8,"children":16229,"markDefs":16247,"style":16},"505873f3a52b",[16230,16234,16239,16243],{"_key":16231,"_type":12,"marks":16232,"text":16233},"12d073d1464e",[],"June 2: ",{"_key":16235,"_type":12,"marks":16236,"text":16238},"450c0f1b7e64",[16237],"f0c8dff030d1","Embarks for France from New York aboard the SS ",{"_key":16240,"_type":12,"marks":16241,"text":16242},"03640ec788f3",[114,16237],"Marine Falcon",{"_key":16244,"_type":12,"marks":16245,"text":16246},"925d4903400b",[16237],", a converted troop ship, arriving in Le Havre on June 12, then making his way to Paris.",[16248],{"_key":16237,"_type":474,"text":16249},[16250],{"_key":16251,"_type":8,"children":16252,"markDefs":16264,"style":16},"b2c46185d6e8",[16253,16257,16260],{"_key":16254,"_type":12,"marks":16255,"text":16256},"7a8417fd3661",[],"“In Society,” ",{"_key":16258,"_type":12,"marks":16259,"text":5005},"7716d5521a65",[114],{"_key":16261,"_type":12,"marks":16262,"text":16263},"8bd7d5180d23",[],", May 30, 1948, sec. C, p. 9.",[],[16266],{"_key":16267,"_type":1738,"alt":16268,"asset":16269,"caption":16272},"e354e739e8bd","Two black and white photographs depict people dancing outdoors; the top image shows a shirtless person with arms raised, and the bottom image focuses on the legs and feet of dancers in motion.",{"_type":1741,"asset":16270},{"_ref":16271,"_type":53},"image-40adf70fb09030518c376dfc70fb4379d13c3e14-2307x2827-png",[16273],{"_key":16274,"_type":8,"children":16275,"markDefs":16288,"style":16},"841a91457487",[16276,16280,16284],{"_key":16277,"_type":12,"marks":16278,"text":16279},"26e58ccaecdd",[],"Hazel Larsen Archer, ",{"_key":16281,"_type":12,"marks":16282,"text":16283},"faeab6aa996d",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg and Betty Jennerjahn",{"_key":16285,"_type":12,"marks":16286,"text":16287},"64105fdd4591",[],", ca. 1948–49. Gelatin silver prints; each sheet 6¼ × 8¾ in. (15.9 × 22.2 cm). Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Asheville, N.C.",[],{"_key":16290,"_type":1642,"content":16291,"images":16408},"435929d06d58",[16292,16326,16334,16350,16358,16377],{"_key":16293,"_type":8,"children":16294,"markDefs":16308,"style":16},"58a692b96710",[16295,16299,16304],{"_key":16296,"_type":12,"marks":16297,"text":16298},"ca6c65df8a55",[],"Summer: ",{"_key":16300,"_type":12,"marks":16301,"text":16303},"5d577024b983",[16302],"49932e68534a","Enrolls at Académie Julian on the G.I. Bill. Attends painting and drawing classes and meets Susan Weil (b. 1930), a fellow Julian student who lives in the same pensione as he.",{"_key":16305,"_type":12,"marks":16306,"text":16307},"3b1d6f81fed7",[]," Weil is a recent graduate of the prestigious Dalton School in New York, where she studied art with Aaron Kurzen, Rufino Tamayo, and Vaclav Vytlacil.",[16309],{"_key":16302,"_type":474,"text":16310},[16311],{"_key":16312,"_type":8,"children":16313,"markDefs":16325,"style":16},"cfc428b9dd91",[16314,16318,16321],{"_key":16315,"_type":12,"marks":16316,"text":16317},"3fecb39d8263",[],"The location of the pensione has previously been indicated as “just off the boulevard Raspail” and “on Rue Stanislas, just off Boulevard Raspail.” Tomkins, “Profiles: Moving Out,” p. 48, and Mary Lynn Kotz, ",{"_key":16319,"_type":12,"marks":16320,"text":4202},"a97d81c738d2",[114],{"_key":16322,"_type":12,"marks":16323,"text":16324},"071e5710035b",[],", 3rd ed. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2018), p. 61, respectively. The pensione has not been identified.",[],{"_key":16327,"_type":8,"children":16328,"markDefs":16333,"style":16},"d52922cb03c6",[16329],{"_key":16330,"_type":12,"marks":16331,"text":16332},"91f8f3c4a4b0",[],"Dissatisfied with Académie Julian’s traditional instruction, Rauschenberg and Weil attend evening life-drawing classes at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and sketch and paint on the streets of Paris and in their pensione. They visit museums and galleries, where Rauschenberg first encounters the work of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.",[],{"_key":16335,"_type":8,"children":16336,"markDefs":16349,"style":16},"c2282eb22660",[16337,16341,16345],{"_key":16338,"_type":12,"marks":16339,"text":16340},"6a99fe7cec01",[],"September 23: Sails for New York aboard the SS ",{"_key":16342,"_type":12,"marks":16343,"text":16344},"7e61a4a89b98",[114],"Marine Tiger",{"_key":16346,"_type":12,"marks":16347,"text":16348},"3b3ae4b4b344",[],", arriving on October 3.",[],{"_key":16351,"_type":8,"children":16352,"markDefs":16357,"style":16},"81117e05b489",[16353],{"_key":16354,"_type":12,"marks":16355,"text":16356},"789915d3f556",[],"October 16: Follows Weil to Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina, where she has already enrolled. Founded in 1933, the progressive institution is led by Josef Albers (1888–1976), a former instructor at the Bauhaus in Germany. Rauschenberg starts classes—drawing and painting with Albers, dance with Elizabeth Jennerjahn (1923–2007), and chorus with Charlotte Schlesinger (1909–1976)—one month into the fall term, again on the G.I. Bill. Fellow students include Ruth Asawa, Donald Droll, Delores Fullman, Hazel-Frieda Larsen (later Archer), and Andy Oates.",[],{"_key":16359,"_type":8,"children":16360,"markDefs":16366,"style":16},"68c03193f130",[16361],{"_key":16362,"_type":12,"marks":16363,"text":16365},"5b51cc69947d",[16364],"dbc0efdc4b0d","As his obligatory work assignment, joins Weil on the “Truck Crew,” or garbage detail, through which they find castoffs for use in costumes and collages.",[16367],{"_key":16364,"_type":474,"text":16368},[16369],{"_key":16370,"_type":8,"children":16371,"markDefs":16376,"style":16},"e39544a3a4b9",[16372],{"_key":16373,"_type":12,"marks":16374,"text":16375},"d86646c8ea31",[],"“Work Program—Fall Semester 1948–49,” BMC Records, series 506.2, box 39, folder 8, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville.",[],{"_key":16378,"_type":8,"children":16379,"markDefs":16397,"style":16},"7a0ee69e0138",[16380,16384,16388,16392],{"_key":16381,"_type":12,"marks":16382,"text":16383},"871c51b50816",[],"November 28: ",{"_key":16385,"_type":12,"marks":16386,"text":16387},"9a65ab1e5c0c",[114],"The Good and Obedient Young Man: A Play in the Japanese Manner",{"_key":16389,"_type":12,"marks":16390,"text":16391},"dbfd0f5bfe48",[],", by Betty Barr and Gould Stevens, is presented in a student production at Black Mountain. ",{"_key":16393,"_type":12,"marks":16394,"text":16396},"96734fb2ca11",[16395],"711a7f25b2de","Rauschenberg has designed the set and costumes with Weil and plays the role of the “obedient young man.”",[16398],{"_key":16395,"_type":474,"text":16399},[16400],{"_key":16401,"_type":8,"children":16402,"markDefs":16407,"style":16},"6650870bd232",[16403],{"_key":16404,"_type":12,"marks":16405,"text":16406},"f0a40cb8aadb",[],"Rauschenberg later recalled that the costumes prompted Albers’s only compliment of his work. Rauschenberg, audio interview by Hopps and Ginsburg, Nov. 4, 1975, at 30:48.",[],[16409],{"_key":16410,"_type":1738,"alt":16411,"asset":16412,"caption":16415},"abeb3085dc91","A man is brushing a llama with a long, shaggy coat while a woman stands nearby, partially obscured by the animal.",{"_type":1741,"asset":16413},{"_ref":16414,"_type":53},"image-d98f503d0e2c25ff432ebb8f30f192abc9bbec29-1875x1954-jpg",[16416],{"_key":16417,"_type":8,"children":16418,"markDefs":16423,"style":16},"6aebaaa6e994",[16419],{"_key":16420,"_type":12,"marks":16421,"text":16422},"0b95c54bb448",[],"Robert Rauschenberg making adjustments to the unicorn costume he designed for his sister, Janet, modeled by Ingeborg Svarc, Black Mountain College, N.C., 1949",[],{"_key":16425,"_type":1642,"content":16426,"images":16535},"a2832647a7f6",[16427,16429,16436,16466,16485,16512],{"_key":16428,"_type":1942},"b70b8321957b",{"_key":16430,"_type":8,"children":16431,"markDefs":16435,"style":16},"e62e449ad2d5",[16432],{"_key":16433,"_type":12,"marks":16434,"text":15234},"0028da03d5ca",[],[],{"_key":16437,"_type":8,"children":16438,"markDefs":16455,"style":16},"261e77299256",[16439,16443,16446,16450],{"_key":16440,"_type":12,"marks":16441,"text":16442},"8e8c12a6ebda",[],"February 14–June 15: Takes eight classes during the spring term at Black Mountain: color, drawing, and painting with Josef Albers; textile construction with Anni Albers (1899–1994) and Trude Guermonprez (later Elsesser; 1910–1976); voice with Johanna Jalowetz (1885–1966); dance and elements of movement with Jennerjahn; and chorus with Schlesinger. Josef Albers’s color class, rooted in theories that will shape his 1963 treatise ",{"_key":16444,"_type":12,"marks":16445,"text":6802},"d96a03c3e904",[114],{"_key":16447,"_type":12,"marks":16448,"text":16449},"f39cc9999bee",[],", proves pivotal for Rauschenberg in the years that follow, mostly as something to react against. ",{"_key":16451,"_type":12,"marks":16452,"text":16454},"45d3a6b75f8f",[16453],"701c4f1ed058","At the end of the semester, Albers writes that Rauschenberg “though often undisciplined and sloppy improved consistently toward the end of term.”",[16456],{"_key":16453,"_type":474,"text":16457},[16458],{"_key":16459,"_type":8,"children":16460,"markDefs":16465,"style":16},"c01eba434240",[16461],{"_key":16462,"_type":12,"marks":16463,"text":16464},"0fa831921689",[],"Course card (drawing), term 2, 1948–49, Milton Ernest Rauschenberg file, BMC Records, series 506.7, box 17, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville.",[],{"_key":16467,"_type":8,"children":16468,"markDefs":16474,"style":16},"f508fb1b1f2e",[16469],{"_key":16470,"_type":12,"marks":16471,"text":16473},"3d9a4a4f9f8d",[16472],"635939b54f16","Makes a unicorn costume for his sister, Janet, which she wears in a Mardi Gras pageant held in Lafayette on March 1, and a dress for his fellow student Ingeborg Svarc (later Wages, then Lauterstein), known as Inga, which she wears to her wedding in April.",[16475],{"_key":16472,"_type":474,"text":16476},[16477],{"_key":16478,"_type":8,"children":16479,"markDefs":16484,"style":16},"ea6b020fe62d",[16480],{"_key":16481,"_type":12,"marks":16482,"text":16483},"a820559f5337",[],"Ingeborg Svarc Lauterstein, oral history interview by Mary Emma Harris, Aug. 13, 1995, AC.145, Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C.",[],{"_key":16486,"_type":8,"children":16487,"markDefs":16501,"style":16},"616dcd86acfd",[16488,16493,16497],{"_key":16489,"_type":12,"marks":16490,"text":16492},"74c2a02d434f",[16491],"56ba0360e6d4","Dances with Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), a fellow student of Jennerjahn’s, in an outdoor performance set to Igor Stravinsky’s ",{"_key":16494,"_type":12,"marks":16495,"text":16496},"ee8ade81c736",[114,16491],"Rite of Spring",{"_key":16498,"_type":12,"marks":16499,"text":16500},"2131072e4aa4",[16491]," (1913) and involving a lit torch.",[16502],{"_key":16491,"_type":474,"text":16503},[16504],{"_key":16505,"_type":8,"children":16506,"markDefs":16511,"style":16},"e8fdfde227f2",[16507],{"_key":16508,"_type":12,"marks":16509,"text":16510},"1cd363e952a9",[],"Ruth Asawa and Albert Lanier, oral history interview by Mark Johnson and Paul Karlstrom, June 21 and July 5, 2002, transcript, AAA.",[],{"_key":16513,"_type":8,"children":16514,"markDefs":16524,"style":16},"a5342866d27e",[16515,16519],{"_key":16516,"_type":12,"marks":16517,"text":16518},"d3cddaa97334",[],"March 31: ",{"_key":16520,"_type":12,"marks":16521,"text":16523},"bad6ac179c4d",[16522],"526a420afbc8","Designs the costumes (black leotards “bespangled with mirrors” and aluminum foil headpieces) for an event held in the college dining hall in honor of Weil’s birthday, with their fellow students Svarc and Ted Dreier, Jr., dancing and Julie Light playing piano music composed by Stanley Gordon Cooke.",[16525],{"_key":16522,"_type":474,"text":16526},[16527],{"_key":16528,"_type":8,"children":16529,"markDefs":16534,"style":16},"ab77fb32965e",[16530],{"_key":16531,"_type":12,"marks":16532,"text":16533},"80735cdfb5ea",[],"Lauterstein, interview by Harris, Aug. 13, 1995; Stanley Gordon Cooke, oral history interview by Mary Emma Harris, Jan. 23, 2001, AC.281, Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C.",[],[16536],{"_key":16537,"_type":1738,"alt":16538,"asset":16539,"caption":16542},"06c858aee67d","A newly married couple and two young girls playfully run along a rocky shoreline during a bright, sunny day.",{"_type":1741,"asset":16540},{"_ref":16541,"_type":53},"image-bed78baae5fca4ea7351ca6c428584940bcbad34-2205x2209-jpg",[16543],{"_key":16544,"_type":8,"children":16545,"markDefs":16550,"style":16},"557ca76eef3a",[16546],{"_key":16547,"_type":12,"marks":16548,"text":16549},"83bceda97622",[],"Robert Rauschenberg and Susan Weil at their wedding, with Jimmy Weil, Donald Droll, and Janet Rauschenberg, Outer Island, Conn., June 21, 1950",[],{"_key":16552,"_type":1642,"content":16553,"images":16657},"99da5fa6db26",[16554,16580,16622,16630],{"_key":16555,"_type":8,"children":16556,"markDefs":16569,"style":16},"cbacc850b8f9",[16557,16560,16565],{"_key":16558,"_type":12,"marks":16559,"text":16298},"4a4ebee3945b",[],{"_key":16561,"_type":12,"marks":16562,"text":16564},"24eb2f7ff1bd",[16563],"9ca8b58636a8","Stays with Weil at her family’s home on Outer Island, Connecticut. Paints throughout the summer and learns from Weil how to make cyanotypes.",{"_key":16566,"_type":12,"marks":16567,"text":16568},"fd4ef6c1b2fa",[]," Working outdoors with rolls of light-sensitive paper, they use natural materials such as shells, leaves, and flowers to create the prints; Weil’s younger brother, Jimmy, also serves as a model.",[16570],{"_key":16563,"_type":474,"text":16571},[16572],{"_key":16573,"_type":8,"children":16574,"markDefs":16579,"style":16},"f2cc4175489a",[16575],{"_key":16576,"_type":12,"marks":16577,"text":16578},"254b4c7a65b4",[],"The tradition of making cyanotypes in Weil’s family dated back to her paternal grandmother, Sara Adler Weil (1877–1963), who had made them as a child with her father, Dankmar Adler (1844–1900), an architect and partner of Louis Sullivan’s in Chicago. Susan Weil, oral history interview by Mary Marshall Clark, June 6, 2014, transcript, p. 2-89, Oral History Project, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":16581,"_type":8,"children":16582,"markDefs":16610,"style":16},"10995baeeef8",[16583,16587,16592,16595,16598,16602,16606],{"_key":16584,"_type":12,"marks":16585,"text":16586},"89ce9298cfb9",[],"August 17: ",{"_key":16588,"_type":12,"marks":16589,"text":16591},"353d25799bf4",[16590],"0aaf53022677","Writes to his parents of his progress on seven paintings, including ",{"_key":16593,"_type":12,"marks":16594,"text":579},"23cd501e17bc",[114,16590],{"_key":16596,"_type":12,"marks":16597,"text":338},"9b849ae09e95",[16590],{"_key":16599,"_type":12,"marks":16600,"text":587},"66ab42cab7ee",[16590,16601],"40e50926a2b3",{"_key":16603,"_type":12,"marks":16604,"text":16605},"92aca5904f4d",[16590],"),",{"_key":16607,"_type":12,"marks":16608,"text":16609},"ecff4757143b",[]," which his mother has requested that he paint for the baptistery of their Lafayette church’s new building.",[16611,16621],{"_key":16590,"_type":474,"text":16612},[16613],{"_key":16614,"_type":8,"children":16615,"markDefs":16620,"style":16},"f0cfb1268b9d",[16616],{"_key":16617,"_type":12,"marks":16618,"text":16619},"8e45899d6d2f",[],"Rauschenberg to Dora and Ernest Rauschenberg, Aug. 17, 1949, RFC. Digital reference copy held in RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":16601,"_type":239,"crNo":57},{"_key":16623,"_type":8,"children":16624,"markDefs":16629,"style":16},"1f5c8987c0af",[16625],{"_key":16626,"_type":12,"marks":16627,"text":16628},"8e454a8b6454",[],"Fall: Moves to New York. Rents a room near the Weil family’s brownstone at 432 East 87th Street.",[],{"_key":16631,"_type":8,"children":16632,"markDefs":16646,"style":16},"ab42f861b517",[16633,16637,16642],{"_key":16634,"_type":12,"marks":16635,"text":16636},"6ca46c1735af",[],"September 16–November 30: Attends the Art Students League of New York (ASL) on the G.I. Bill, studying life drawing, painting, and composition five days a week with Vaclav Vytlacil (1892–1984) in the mornings and Morris Kantor (1896–1974) in the afternoons. ",{"_key":16638,"_type":12,"marks":16639,"text":16641},"83fb07477d3b",[16640],"cfc93e6d0fed","Makes his first known prints.",{"_key":16643,"_type":12,"marks":16644,"text":16645},"ea5f9ad45473",[]," Fellow students include Weil and Knox Martin (1923–2022).",[16647],{"_key":16640,"_type":474,"text":16648},[16649],{"_key":16650,"_type":8,"children":16651,"markDefs":16656,"style":16},"5548d24466a0",[16652],{"_key":16653,"_type":12,"marks":16654,"text":16655},"5de0e59726b6",[],"Three etchings from Rauschenberg’s time at ASL are known to have survived: The first is dated 1949, another is dated 1950, and a third is undated.",[],[16658],{"_key":16659,"_type":1738,"alt":16660,"asset":16661,"caption":16664},"6b7ccc50bcc9","An artist and his wife are posed in front of several abstract paintings in a studio setting.",{"_type":1741,"asset":16662},{"_ref":16663,"_type":53},"image-00359ba1209839c5157054827e3cd4e2832c5ead-4040x2879-jpg",[16665],{"_key":16666,"_type":8,"children":16667,"markDefs":16672,"style":16},"79054818725c",[16668],{"_key":16669,"_type":12,"marks":16670,"text":16671},"24388263a4b5",[],"Robert Rauschenberg and Susan Weil in their apartment with several of her paintings and a dog, 6 West 95th Street, New York, ca. 1951",[],{"_key":16674,"_type":1642,"content":16675,"images":16838},"b92d812a2ed8",[16676,16684,16692,16694,16701,16709,16740,16748,16771,16802,16810],{"_key":16677,"_type":8,"children":16678,"markDefs":16683,"style":16},"265ba165b354",[16679],{"_key":16680,"_type":12,"marks":16681,"text":16682},"3f6ffae1754e",[],"With Weil, frequents the galleries of Charles Egan, Sidney Janis, Samuel Kootz, and Betty Parsons, located along 57th Street, where they encounter the latest developments in European and American art.",[],{"_key":16685,"_type":8,"children":16686,"markDefs":16691,"style":16},"215624d1aa0e",[16687],{"_key":16688,"_type":12,"marks":16689,"text":16690},"57ec11094be3",[],"Later in the semester, moves to a loft at 25 Willett Street, in Lower Manhattan near the Williamsburg Bridge, which he shares with a group of students from ASL.",[],{"_key":16693,"_type":1942},"ff3a6195dcdd",{"_key":16695,"_type":8,"children":16696,"markDefs":16700,"style":16},"d2c1c9e3b577",[16697],{"_key":16698,"_type":12,"marks":16699,"text":15242},"e754f2fe50ef",[],[],{"_key":16702,"_type":8,"children":16703,"markDefs":16708,"style":16},"8e6e6dc831c6",[16704],{"_key":16705,"_type":12,"marks":16706,"text":16707},"a1b94613381e",[],"January 1–March 31: Attends Vytlacil’s morning and Kantor’s afternoon classes at ASL.",[],{"_key":16710,"_type":8,"children":16711,"markDefs":16721,"style":16},"1b3049c78377",[16712,16716],{"_key":16713,"_type":12,"marks":16714,"text":16715},"4a3899325815",[],"January 9–21: ",{"_key":16717,"_type":12,"marks":16718,"text":16720},"065c265f3fa7",[16719],"5cf70d7be150","Included in the juried Emily Lowe Award exhibition at Ward Eggleston Galleries, New York.",[16722],{"_key":16719,"_type":474,"text":16723},[16724],{"_key":16725,"_type":8,"children":16726,"markDefs":16739,"style":16},"17cd0012ed83",[16727,16731,16735],{"_key":16728,"_type":12,"marks":16729,"text":16730},"5d357a703d83",[],"“22 League Students in Emily Lowe Award,” ",{"_key":16732,"_type":12,"marks":16733,"text":16734},"51fc561a171f",[114],"Art Students League News",{"_key":16736,"_type":12,"marks":16737,"text":16738},"f3368d38cdad",[]," 3, no. 2 (Jan. 16, 1950).",[],{"_key":16741,"_type":8,"children":16742,"markDefs":16747,"style":16},"6b11b0e50d08",[16743],{"_key":16744,"_type":12,"marks":16745,"text":16746},"11297e50d898",[],"June 21: Marries Weil on Outer Island. Rauschenberg’s parents and sister, Janet, attend, along with Pat Pearman. Janet is the maid of honor, and Donald Droll, a friend of Weil’s from Black Mountain, is the best man. Weil’s parents’ wedding gift to the couple is an etching by Matisse. The couple honeymoon in Bermuda.",[],{"_key":16749,"_type":8,"children":16750,"markDefs":16760,"style":16},"08bdb8cc1af2",[16751,16755],{"_key":16752,"_type":12,"marks":16753,"text":16754},"1fdbe4e82bb1",[],"August 12–13: ",{"_key":16756,"_type":12,"marks":16757,"text":16759},"916abe749290",[16758],"8e4172bf0277","Attends the third American Dance Festival at Connecticut College in New London to see performances by Merce Cunningham (1919–2009), who is accompanied on piano by the composer John Cage (1912–1992).",[16761],{"_key":16758,"_type":474,"text":16762},[16763],{"_key":16764,"_type":8,"children":16765,"markDefs":16770,"style":16},"9e3aa1842b12",[16766],{"_key":16767,"_type":12,"marks":16768,"text":16769},"363dd8b75ab9",[],"Ray Johnson to Frances X. Profumo, Aug. 19, 1950, Ray Johnson Estate, New York.",[],{"_key":16772,"_type":8,"children":16773,"markDefs":16800,"style":16},"9216e63266bb",[16774,16778,16781,16784,16788,16792,16796],{"_key":16775,"_type":12,"marks":16776,"text":16777},"c7287a38088f",[],"September: Submits the sculpture ",{"_key":16779,"_type":12,"marks":16780,"text":183},"9125a6732474",[114],{"_key":16782,"_type":12,"marks":16783,"text":338},"c41c865dfb63",[],{"_key":16785,"_type":12,"marks":16786,"text":192},"7b753de48e5c",[16787],"8b72d14b3521",{"_key":16789,"_type":12,"marks":16790,"text":16791},"13f7f9764e68",[],") to the juried ",{"_key":16793,"_type":12,"marks":16794,"text":16795},"282bc540a973",[114],"Twelfth Texas Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition",{"_key":16797,"_type":12,"marks":16798,"text":16799},"d1e2a26fd0c7",[],", organized by the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The sculpture is not selected for the October exhibition.",[16801],{"_key":16787,"_type":239,"crNo":57},{"_key":16803,"_type":8,"children":16804,"markDefs":16809,"style":16},"a7d2ba56d5de",[16805],{"_key":16806,"_type":12,"marks":16807,"text":16808},"9f7fd8dfa509",[],"[Fall]: Rents a ground-floor apartment with Weil at 6 West 95th Street, New York. The apartment, which opens onto a small backyard, also serves as their studio. There, in addition to their own paintings and sculptures, they create large, collaborative cyanotypes using themselves and their friends—including Pat Pearman, now living in New York—as models.",[],{"_key":16811,"_type":8,"children":16812,"markDefs":16822,"style":16},"064d3a67f046",[16813,16817],{"_key":16814,"_type":12,"marks":16815,"text":16816},"6d727d744ef7",[],"October 16–November 4: Sees the first solo exhibition of the work of Franz Kline (1910–1962) at Charles Egan Gallery, New York. ",{"_key":16818,"_type":12,"marks":16819,"text":16821},"6a6201456a13",[16820],"8b60b2e2a804","Rauschenberg later remembers, “The door was open. It was after dark, and there was no one there. These black-and-white apparitions were vibrating on the wall.”",[16823],{"_key":16820,"_type":474,"text":16824},[16825],{"_key":16826,"_type":8,"children":16827,"markDefs":16837,"style":16},"a9da6187886d",[16828,16831,16834],{"_key":16829,"_type":12,"marks":16830,"text":2102},"f9cc161affb1",[],{"_key":16832,"_type":12,"marks":16833,"text":871},"ef8364e3a778",[114],{"_key":16835,"_type":12,"marks":16836,"text":14210},"8f69f64bd189",[],[],[16839],{"_key":16840,"_type":1738,"alt":16841,"asset":16842,"caption":16845},"7805eb090fa7","A black-and-white photograph depicting a person using a lamp to provide light or warmth to a woman lying face down on a mat, surrounded by art supplies and artworks in a studio setting.",{"_type":1741,"asset":16843},{"_ref":16844,"_type":53},"image-0d94383df48ad20c1b06b296e73d21bca81b1c8f-2542x3844-jpg",[16846],{"_key":16847,"_type":8,"children":16848,"markDefs":16861,"style":16},"4021dc538061",[16849,16853,16857],{"_key":16850,"_type":12,"marks":16851,"text":16852},"4fb2de1c3a69",[],"Robert Rauschenberg with an unidentified model demonstrating the cyanotype-making process for ",{"_key":16854,"_type":12,"marks":16855,"text":16856},"39bc72a82503",[114],"Life ",{"_key":16858,"_type":12,"marks":16859,"text":16860},"f86b4f308222",[],"photographer Wallace Kirkland, 6 West 95th Street, New York, February 1951",[],{"_key":16863,"_type":1642,"content":16864,"images":16981},"bc333ae7de6e",[16865,16867,16874,16920,16928,16951],{"_key":16866,"_type":1942},"ef1608d43a5b",{"_key":16868,"_type":8,"children":16869,"markDefs":16873,"style":16},"80137298fcd1",[16870],{"_key":16871,"_type":12,"marks":16872,"text":15250},"baaf15fe4b39",[],[],{"_key":16875,"_type":8,"children":16876,"markDefs":16901,"style":16},"b8330c038019",[16877,16881,16886,16889,16893,16897],{"_key":16878,"_type":12,"marks":16879,"text":16880},"894b6bfb1225",[],"January 2–February 3: ",{"_key":16882,"_type":12,"marks":16883,"text":16885},"ab1101cd3269",[16884],"7c5d1dca232d","Sees work by Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) for the first time when ",{"_key":16887,"_type":12,"marks":16888,"text":671},"03587317aa78",[114,16884],{"_key":16890,"_type":12,"marks":16891,"text":16892},"59303a70a5e9",[16884],"(1913; remade 1951) is included in the exhibition ",{"_key":16894,"_type":12,"marks":16895,"text":16896},"f507ec94bfb2",[114,16884],"Climax in 20th Century Art, 1913",{"_key":16898,"_type":12,"marks":16899,"text":16900},"77542535c776",[16884]," at Sidney Janis Gallery, New York.",[16902],{"_key":16884,"_type":474,"text":16903},[16904],{"_key":16905,"_type":8,"children":16906,"markDefs":16919,"style":16},"2ca2a1233c29",[16907,16911,16915],{"_key":16908,"_type":12,"marks":16909,"text":16910},"891377ad9945",[],"Barbaralee Diamonstein, “Robert Rauschenberg and Leo Castelli,” in ",{"_key":16912,"_type":12,"marks":16913,"text":16914},"354fd6eea219",[114],"Inside New York’s Art World",{"_key":16916,"_type":12,"marks":16917,"text":16918},"f380f1b3ac29",[]," (New York: Rizzoli, 1979), p. 307.",[],{"_key":16921,"_type":8,"children":16922,"markDefs":16927,"style":16},"e77debce9422",[16923],{"_key":16924,"_type":12,"marks":16925,"text":16926},"a61201ded6d0",[],"February 1–April 30: Attends ASL for the spring semester. 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",{"_key":17416,"_type":12,"marks":17417,"text":17419},"f5741f221436",[17418],"f36b1532288a","Rauschenberg meets Leo Castelli (1907–1999) for the first time at the exhibition; Castelli, an art dealer and member of the Club, has paid to rent the space and produce the exhibition posters.",[17421,17430],{"_key":17418,"_type":474,"text":17422},[17423],{"_key":17424,"_type":8,"children":17425,"markDefs":17429,"style":16},"78d61380fa2d",[17426],{"_key":17427,"_type":12,"marks":17428,"text":14385},"f124cad0208f",[],[],{"_key":17402,"_type":239,"crNo":59},{"_key":17432,"_type":8,"children":17433,"markDefs":17438,"style":16},"1feb70880356",[17434],{"_key":17435,"_type":12,"marks":17436,"text":17437},"93add21e1003",[],"July 16: Rauschenberg and Weil’s son, Christopher, is born in New York.",[],[17440],{"_key":17441,"_type":1738,"alt":17442,"asset":17443,"caption":17446},"4b81e3b8f3ba","A handwritten letter to Betty discusses the merits of a group of paintings and a place where painting art has not been created.",{"_type":1741,"asset":17444},{"_ref":17445,"_type":53},"image-cd7ab84f546a1085149736bef63b5f0813f1aa62-1882x2555-jpg",[17447],{"_key":17448,"_type":8,"children":17449,"markDefs":17461,"style":16},"ba18e3bb4cf0",[17450,17454,17457],{"_key":17451,"_type":12,"marks":17452,"text":17453},"84f1114fcb70",[],"Page of a letter from Robert Rauschenberg to Betty Parsons concerning the ",{"_key":17455,"_type":12,"marks":17456,"text":250},"3ebbdbb87696",[114],{"_key":17458,"_type":12,"marks":17459,"text":17460},"733f9c755711",[],", postmarked October 18, 1951",[],{"_key":17463,"_type":1642,"content":17464,"images":17596},"db1aea19122a",[17465,17473,17487,17495,17503,17541,17562],{"_key":17466,"_type":8,"children":17467,"markDefs":17472,"style":16},"52ecab4a69e0",[17468],{"_key":17469,"_type":12,"marks":17470,"text":17471},"43c67b09b32e",[],"July 25–August 31: Attends the summer session at Black Mountain College, having missed the first two weeks of class. Weil and Christopher follow soon after Rauschenberg arrives. Visiting professors include the painters Ben Shahn (1898–1969) in July and Robert Motherwell (1915–1991) in August, along with Siskind, the photographer Harry Callahan, and the composer Lou Harrison. Rauschenberg is enrolled in Shahn’s and Motherwell’s painting tutorials. Fellow students at the college include Twombly, Nicholas Cernovitch, Fielding Dawson, Suzi Gablik, and Joel Oppenheimer.",[],{"_key":17474,"_type":8,"children":17475,"markDefs":17486,"style":16},"d5d7406cdadf",[17476,17480,17483],{"_key":17477,"_type":12,"marks":17478,"text":17479},"b28ddaeb4cd9",[],"Paints the ",{"_key":17481,"_type":12,"marks":17482,"text":200},"8068f827f964",[114],{"_key":17484,"_type":12,"marks":17485,"text":10606},"1ed4473a2996",[],[],{"_key":17488,"_type":8,"children":17489,"markDefs":17494,"style":16},"68a48a92ab5c",[17490],{"_key":17491,"_type":12,"marks":17492,"text":17493},"fbb67ff55c48",[],"While at Black Mountain, Weil recognizes that Rauschenberg and Twombly are having an affair.",[],{"_key":17496,"_type":8,"children":17497,"markDefs":17502,"style":16},"59f2e639dda7",[17498],{"_key":17499,"_type":12,"marks":17500,"text":17501},"d11b78e7bd9a",[],"[August 31–September 23]: Rauschenberg, Weil, and Christopher go to Outer Island, accompanied by Twombly. Rauschenberg also spends time in New York; on one occasion, he meets with Gene Moore (1910–1998), display manager for the department store Bonwit Teller, about using his and Weil’s cyanotypes in window displays.",[],{"_key":17504,"_type":8,"children":17505,"markDefs":17515,"style":16},"1994beb1ba48",[17506,17510],{"_key":17507,"_type":12,"marks":17508,"text":17509},"428a5390677a",[],"September 24, 1951–February 2, 1952: Attends the fall term at Black Mountain over Weil’s objections. She and Christopher remain in New York. Rauschenberg is enrolled in three courses: photography with Hazel-Frieda Larsen, Russian with Anna Goldowski, and a painting tutorial. ",{"_key":17511,"_type":12,"marks":17512,"text":17514},"ee44348edef6",[17513],"87a13757c5d9","He conceives of a project to photograph the United States inch by inch, an idea he soon recognizes as impractical.",[17516],{"_key":17513,"_type":474,"text":17517},[17518],{"_key":17519,"_type":8,"children":17520,"markDefs":17540,"style":16},"76d903a6fcc7",[17521,17525,17529,17533,17536],{"_key":17522,"_type":12,"marks":17523,"text":17524},"d68393ee5d64",[],"Alain Sayag, “Interview with Robert Rauschenberg,” in ",{"_key":17526,"_type":12,"marks":17527,"text":17528},"2a4bbb92ecee",[114],"Robert Rauschenberg: Photographs",{"_key":17530,"_type":12,"marks":17531,"text":17532},"e55b2db51502",[],", exh. cat. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1981), n.p. Elsewhere, Rauschenberg said he had planned to go “foot by foot.” Rose, ",{"_key":17534,"_type":12,"marks":17535,"text":871},"d4d244d0a015",[114],{"_key":17537,"_type":12,"marks":17538,"text":17539},"6cb9a5410a6c",[],", p. 75.",[],{"_key":17542,"_type":8,"children":17543,"markDefs":17561,"style":16},"3d98cb4fa870",[17544,17548,17551,17554,17557],{"_key":17545,"_type":12,"marks":17546,"text":17547},"5736a64c75b8",[],"Begins two series, the ",{"_key":17549,"_type":12,"marks":17550,"text":250},"d50dd8157a66",[114],{"_key":17552,"_type":12,"marks":17553,"text":6687},"8c0cd8a3a934",[],{"_key":17555,"_type":12,"marks":17556,"text":843},"a07ca8f33698",[114],{"_key":17558,"_type":12,"marks":17559,"text":17560},"6727f9f0bfeb",[],", and works on them simultaneously.",[],{"_key":17563,"_type":8,"children":17564,"markDefs":17584,"style":16},"55987dc48de3",[17565,17570,17573,17576,17580],{"_key":17566,"_type":12,"marks":17567,"text":17569},"5af8990c8699",[17568],"4d6261ef5581","Makes his first woodcuts, including ",{"_key":17571,"_type":12,"marks":17572,"text":12438},"24faf869c3a0",[114,17568],{"_key":17574,"_type":12,"marks":17575,"text":7196},"f089a3aa59d0",[17568],{"_key":17577,"_type":12,"marks":17578,"text":1510},"811d9ea7a63c",[17568,17579],"468d1341eed1",{"_key":17581,"_type":12,"marks":17582,"text":17583},"59eeba53ae9a",[17568],"), in the college print shop.",[17585,17595],{"_key":17568,"_type":474,"text":17586},[17587],{"_key":17588,"_type":8,"children":17589,"markDefs":17594,"style":16},"008a8fff5063",[17590],{"_key":17591,"_type":12,"marks":17592,"text":17593},"a3979a6d471a",[],"Carroll Warner Williams, oral history interview by Mary Emma Harris, March 8, 2002, AC.315, Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C.",[],{"_key":17579,"_type":239,"crNo":1520},[17597],{"_key":17598,"_type":1738,"alt":17599,"asset":17600,"caption":17603},"c1eb48bc1cde","A smiling man holds his newborn baby daughter outdoors amidst lush greenery.",{"_type":1741,"asset":17601},{"_ref":17602,"_type":53},"image-c21c4e378ef0740e91d53ae6a384cbb77eb8ab60-1759x1800-jpg",[17604],{"_key":17605,"_type":8,"children":17606,"markDefs":17611,"style":16},"d8fa59b0e4b7",[17607],{"_key":17608,"_type":12,"marks":17609,"text":17610},"4b4a0001c072",[],"Susan Weil, Robert Rauschenberg, and their infant son, Christopher, 1951",[],{"_key":17613,"_type":1642,"content":17614,"images":17780},"b3aac6c58b23",[17615,17645,17681,17716,17732,17740,17742,17749,17772],{"_key":17616,"_type":8,"children":17617,"markDefs":17634,"style":16},"6f069d81e85e",[17618,17622,17627,17630],{"_key":17619,"_type":12,"marks":17620,"text":17621},"c4c316969daa",[],"October 18: ",{"_key":17623,"_type":12,"marks":17624,"text":17626},"2100a565a94c",[17625],"ac3c6fae5316","Writes an impassioned letter to Parsons about the ",{"_key":17628,"_type":12,"marks":17629,"text":250},"45fe69af695e",[114,17625],{"_key":17631,"_type":12,"marks":17632,"text":17633},"d336d89eb56e",[17625],", describing them as “a group of paintings that I consider almost an emergency. . . . They are not art because they take you to a place in painting art has not been. . . . I will be in N.Y. Nov. 1st and will forfeit all right to ever show again for their being given a chance to be considered for this year’s calendar.”",[17635],{"_key":17625,"_type":474,"text":17636},[17637],{"_key":17638,"_type":8,"children":17639,"markDefs":17644,"style":16},"64320832b866",[17640],{"_key":17641,"_type":12,"marks":17642,"text":17643},"4f62e2ba20d2",[],"Rauschenberg to Betty Parsons, postmarked Oct. 18, 1951, Lawrence Alloway Papers, 1935–2003, series II.A, box 16, folder 7, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.",[],{"_key":17646,"_type":8,"children":17647,"markDefs":17670,"style":16},"562fd4bdaea6",[17648,17652,17657,17661,17664,17667],{"_key":17649,"_type":12,"marks":17650,"text":17651},"688328003389",[],"[November 1]: ",{"_key":17653,"_type":12,"marks":17654,"text":17656},"d2e889ecef9c",[17655],"56d9510f9444","Drives from Black Mountain to New York to show Betty Parsons four examples of his recent ",{"_key":17658,"_type":12,"marks":17659,"text":17660},"a97e9e902d81",[114,17655],"White Paintings ",{"_key":17662,"_type":12,"marks":17663,"text":3687},"d6625e774d35",[17655],{"_key":17665,"_type":12,"marks":17666,"text":843},"36e23558f302",[114,17655],{"_key":17668,"_type":12,"marks":17669,"text":236},"6a9ac1a98c76",[17655],[17671],{"_key":17655,"_type":474,"text":17672},[17673],{"_key":17674,"_type":8,"children":17675,"markDefs":17680,"style":16},"e8b777199f39",[17676],{"_key":17677,"_type":12,"marks":17678,"text":17679},"1d1c3e047b13",[],"Rauschenberg, interview by Walter Hopps, Jan. 18–20, 1991, typed notes by Susan Davidson, annotations by Rauschenberg, p. 7, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives. No exhibition resulted from the artist’s visit.",[],{"_key":17682,"_type":8,"children":17683,"markDefs":17697,"style":16},"fa40468e59e9",[17684,17688,17693],{"_key":17685,"_type":12,"marks":17686,"text":17687},"c8cca55c823b",[],"December 4: ",{"_key":17689,"_type":12,"marks":17690,"text":17692},"dd6cea1b5676",[17691],"3af69f2099ba","Twombly’s first New York exhibition opens at Kootz Gallery.",{"_key":17694,"_type":12,"marks":17695,"text":17696},"42920848327f",[]," To be able to attend, he and Rauschenberg have left Black Mountain several days before the official start of the holiday break (December 8).",[17698],{"_key":17691,"_type":474,"text":17699},[17700],{"_key":17701,"_type":8,"children":17702,"markDefs":17715,"style":16},"91a0d6736a18",[17703,17707,17711],{"_key":17704,"_type":12,"marks":17705,"text":17706},"b61cd1fe8fdb",[],"Kootz Gallery, New York, ",{"_key":17708,"_type":12,"marks":17709,"text":17710},"750dde0f49ec",[114],"New Talent: Gandy Brodie and Cy Twombly",{"_key":17712,"_type":12,"marks":17713,"text":17714},"c61c81fe1409",[],", Dec. 4–22, 1951.",[],{"_key":17717,"_type":8,"children":17718,"markDefs":17731,"style":16},"feba4cc6c55b",[17719,17723,17727],{"_key":17720,"_type":12,"marks":17721,"text":17722},"c1abd7d59676",[],"[December 12]: Photographs the exhibition ",{"_key":17724,"_type":12,"marks":17725,"text":17726},"55eb2859b9fc",[114],"Jackson Pollock",{"_key":17728,"_type":12,"marks":17729,"text":17730},"08f42dbdb583",[]," at Betty Parsons Gallery, in which Pollock (1912–1956) is showing his new black-enamel paintings.",[],{"_key":17733,"_type":8,"children":17734,"markDefs":17739,"style":16},"0820f9872530",[17735],{"_key":17736,"_type":12,"marks":17737,"text":17738},"c0d2c27277b1",[],"[Late December]: Visits his family in Lafayette for Christmas.",[],{"_key":17741,"_type":1942},"02b188dfeabc",{"_key":17743,"_type":8,"children":17744,"markDefs":17748,"style":16},"db2c687ec181",[17745],{"_key":17746,"_type":12,"marks":17747,"text":15258},"5a040dac4421",[],[],{"_key":17750,"_type":8,"children":17751,"markDefs":17761,"style":16},"f5498a253e09",[17752,17756],{"_key":17753,"_type":12,"marks":17754,"text":17755},"96a844a102bc",[],"January: ",{"_key":17757,"_type":12,"marks":17758,"text":17760},"cad867c8dd5c",[17759],"880d488edc94","Assists Nicholas Cernovitch (1929–2018) in cutting the woodblocks for “The Song of the Border Guard,” a broadside featuring a poem by Robert Duncan (1919–1988) and a design by Twombly.",[17762],{"_key":17759,"_type":474,"text":17763},[17764],{"_key":17765,"_type":8,"children":17766,"markDefs":17771,"style":16},"1c618980facc",[17767],{"_key":17768,"_type":12,"marks":17769,"text":17770},"b527bb22301e",[],"Published by Black Mountain Graphics Workshop in 1952. A copy signed by Duncan, with an inscription by Cernovitch, is in the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Illus. in PS3507.U629.S6 1952 [Case Y]).",[],{"_key":17773,"_type":8,"children":17774,"markDefs":17779,"style":16},"2a5ae9f04d4c",[17775],{"_key":17776,"_type":12,"marks":17777,"text":17778},"fe2f7b133b82",[],"February 7: Weil files to divorce Rauschenberg.",[],[17781],{"_key":17782,"_type":1738,"alt":17783,"asset":17784,"caption":17787},"19fe69d06443","A man in a white shirt and tie stands beside a large, blank, four-panel white canvas mounted on a wooden wall.",{"_type":1741,"asset":17785},{"_ref":17786,"_type":53},"image-e6ca9b87299a1de969ad77abb66899ae434d9b83-3000x3000-jpg",[17788],{"_key":17789,"_type":8,"children":17790,"markDefs":17809,"style":16},"0a67e605d606",[17791,17795,17798,17801,17805],{"_key":17792,"_type":12,"marks":17793,"text":17794},"db7ced99a2eb",[],"Robert Rauschenberg standing beside ",{"_key":17796,"_type":12,"marks":17797,"text":367},"1fc22381066f",[114],{"_key":17799,"_type":12,"marks":17800,"text":338},"c6dac293a12c",[],{"_key":17802,"_type":12,"marks":17803,"text":284},"aae877bae313",[17804],"4e45c3670090",{"_key":17806,"_type":12,"marks":17807,"text":17808},"b615582d0e23",[],") at Black Mountain College, N.C., ca. 1951",[17810],{"_key":17804,"_type":239,"crNo":323},{"_key":17812,"_type":1642,"content":17813,"images":18033},"55dd9801d7fd",[17814,17822,17853,17929,17937,17990,17998,18025],{"_key":17815,"_type":8,"children":17816,"markDefs":17821,"style":16},"656f4b3cc3a0",[17817],{"_key":17818,"_type":12,"marks":17819,"text":17820},"9a30c56eee42",[],"February 11–June 7: Attends the spring term at Black Mountain, where he takes the same three classes as in the fall.",[],{"_key":17823,"_type":8,"children":17824,"markDefs":17834,"style":16},"885f97824e17",[17825,17829],{"_key":17826,"_type":12,"marks":17827,"text":17828},"d6f31a5998ba",[],"[February]: ",{"_key":17830,"_type":12,"marks":17831,"text":17833},"c488e354496f",[17832],"3c3cec779b3b","Rauschenberg and Weil’s cyanotypes appear in Bonwit Teller’s windows at Fifth Avenue and 56th Street, New York.",[17835],{"_key":17832,"_type":474,"text":17836},[17837],{"_key":17838,"_type":8,"children":17839,"markDefs":17852,"style":16},"7928ee8fbc8a",[17840,17844,17848],{"_key":17841,"_type":12,"marks":17842,"text":17843},"28a7c4815967",[],"“Coats: N.Y. Bonwit Teller,” ",{"_key":17845,"_type":12,"marks":17846,"text":17847},"c495ad8f3919",[114],"Views and Reviews",{"_key":17849,"_type":12,"marks":17850,"text":17851},"c874e9ba6e48",[],", March 1952, n.p. The display was designed by Gene Moore.",[],{"_key":17854,"_type":8,"children":17855,"markDefs":17889,"style":16},"382e9da5748b",[17856,17860,17865,17869,17874,17878,17882,17885],{"_key":17857,"_type":12,"marks":17858,"text":17859},"89faeaf8e297",[],"March 29–April 14: ",{"_key":17861,"_type":12,"marks":17862,"text":17864},"f6be636ba893",[17863],"1ff324da964e","Visits New York during Black Mountain’s spring break.",{"_key":17866,"_type":12,"marks":17867,"text":17868},"8789c02ad7b0",[]," It is likely during this time that Rauschenberg and Twombly visit Tworkov’s studio at 85 Fourth Avenue and Rauschenberg sneaks across the hall into the studio of Willem de Kooning (1904–1997). ",{"_key":17870,"_type":12,"marks":17871,"text":17873},"91b63a2bc595",[17872],"772f8b034458","There, he photographs early states of ",{"_key":17875,"_type":12,"marks":17876,"text":17877},"37e47387d6b0",[114,17872],"Woman II",{"_key":17879,"_type":12,"marks":17880,"text":17881},"4652d2930dae",[17872]," (1952) and ",{"_key":17883,"_type":12,"marks":17884,"text":11430},"b3f52f8fe4db",[114,17872],{"_key":17886,"_type":12,"marks":17887,"text":17888},"e19df365a4ae",[17872]," (1953) and takes a drawing from de Kooning’s trash.",[17890,17900],{"_key":17863,"_type":474,"text":17891},[17892],{"_key":17893,"_type":8,"children":17894,"markDefs":17899,"style":16},"99849f650151",[17895],{"_key":17896,"_type":12,"marks":17897,"text":17898},"92578b5d9236",[],"Francine du Plessix, Journal, Spring ’52–Fall ’52, Francine du Plessix Gray Collection, box 8, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University Libraries.",[],{"_key":17872,"_type":474,"text":17901},[17902],{"_key":17903,"_type":8,"children":17904,"markDefs":17928,"style":16},"487fc3725ee5",[17905,17908,17912,17916,17920,17924],{"_key":17906,"_type":12,"marks":17907,"text":11422},"7ec0a770d079",[114],{"_key":17909,"_type":12,"marks":17910,"text":17911},"8f0e4ff6f125",[],"(The Museum of Modern Art, New York [332.1955]); ",{"_key":17913,"_type":12,"marks":17914,"text":17915},"5d50773e4f27",[114],"Woman III ",{"_key":17917,"_type":12,"marks":17918,"text":17919},"7039c20ac88f",[],"(private coll.). In one of Rauschenberg’s photographs, a copy of the ",{"_key":17921,"_type":12,"marks":17922,"text":17923},"1d750d25238f",[114],"New York Times",{"_key":17925,"_type":12,"marks":17926,"text":17927},"03a65d418aa0",[]," dated March 23, 1952, is visible on the floor of the studio. See also “The Erased de Kooning,” Jan. 23, [1978], Calvin Tomkins Papers, series II.B, folder 4, MoMA Archives.",[],{"_key":17930,"_type":8,"children":17931,"markDefs":17936,"style":16},"f12999c64f24",[17932],{"_key":17933,"_type":12,"marks":17934,"text":17935},"62ef1d3a5b51",[],"April 12: Rauschenberg and Weil’s divorce is finalized.",[],{"_key":17938,"_type":8,"children":17939,"markDefs":17978,"style":16},"30adadb197bb",[17940,17944,17949,17952,17956,17960,17964,17967,17970,17974],{"_key":17941,"_type":12,"marks":17942,"text":17943},"887810ef318d",[],"May 12–June 14: ",{"_key":17945,"_type":12,"marks":17946,"text":17948},"f2ed511d29e0",[17947],"358acbb0a3be","One of the ",{"_key":17950,"_type":12,"marks":17951,"text":13488},"4a7181c95a17",[114,17947],{"_key":17953,"_type":12,"marks":17954,"text":17955},"3c8c6ebcfdc5",[17947],"paintings, ",{"_key":17957,"_type":12,"marks":17958,"text":17959},"2c2f0b64de65",[114,17947],"No. 10–1951",{"_key":17961,"_type":12,"marks":17962,"text":17963},"1336e1c30e6d",[17947],", now designated ",{"_key":17965,"_type":12,"marks":17966,"text":8086},"d4b0d41fb7a7",[114,17947],{"_key":17968,"_type":12,"marks":17969,"text":7196},"917221ca6cb0",[17947],{"_key":17971,"_type":12,"marks":17972,"text":827},"c9788abdcd44",[17947,17973],"595bccd64c3c",{"_key":17975,"_type":12,"marks":17976,"text":17977},"3620a8346b75",[17947],"), is included in a group exhibition at Betty Parsons Gallery.",[17979,17989],{"_key":17947,"_type":474,"text":17980},[17981],{"_key":17982,"_type":8,"children":17983,"markDefs":17988,"style":16},"4cdeda3bbc83",[17984],{"_key":17985,"_type":12,"marks":17986,"text":17987},"09ca98f0dd56",[],"Betty Parsons Gallery Records and Personal Papers, 1916–1991, box 19, folder 54, AAA.",[],{"_key":17973,"_type":239,"crNo":898},{"_key":17991,"_type":8,"children":17992,"markDefs":17997,"style":16},"88409ce08213",[17993],{"_key":17994,"_type":12,"marks":17995,"text":17996},"9b746d73246c",[],"May 26: Twombly receives a traveling fellowship of $1,800 from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, which he plans to use to visit Europe. He invites Rauschenberg to accompany him.",[],{"_key":17999,"_type":8,"children":18000,"markDefs":18014,"style":16},"6864b98f1b73",[18001,18005,18010],{"_key":18002,"_type":12,"marks":18003,"text":18004},"c8bdc760ea13",[],"June 11: ",{"_key":18006,"_type":12,"marks":18007,"text":18009},"bc5d22c60aba",[18008],"a1100f2959a0","Sells two photographs to Edward Steichen for the Museum of Modern Art, New York; one depicts the interior of a horse-drawn carriage, and the other, Twombly sitting on a bench in the Quiet House at Black Mountain College.",{"_key":18011,"_type":12,"marks":18012,"text":18013},"5637c1bac566",[]," They are Rauschenberg’s first works to be acquired by a museum.",[18015],{"_key":18008,"_type":474,"text":18016},[18017],{"_key":18018,"_type":8,"children":18019,"markDefs":18024,"style":16},"c617c7212934",[18020],{"_key":18021,"_type":12,"marks":18022,"text":18023},"17c4e9ab64a8",[],"The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Nelson A. Rockefeller Fund, 1952 (393.1978, 392.1978).",[],{"_key":18026,"_type":8,"children":18027,"markDefs":18032,"style":16},"52700ab73103",[18028],{"_key":18029,"_type":12,"marks":18030,"text":18031},"b52ad7b69d45",[],"June 25–August 19: Attends the summer session at Black Mountain, where he is enrolled in a single course: voice with Johanna Jalowetz. Visiting faculty include Tworkov in July and Kline in August, both of whom Rauschenberg already knows from New York. Cage and Cunningham arrive by July 28 and remain for the rest of the session.",[],[18034],{"_key":18035,"_type":1738,"alt":18036,"asset":18037,"caption":18040},"f7c08a9a8c50","A grayscale photograph depicts a man sitting on a curved bench in a room with a textured wall, creating a sense of solitude and contemplation.",{"_type":1741,"asset":18038},{"_ref":18039,"_type":53},"image-dee9c64aae644762e07e336362b7d407d31e8e70-2386x2458-jpg",[18041],{"_key":18042,"_type":8,"children":18043,"markDefs":18056,"style":16},"d23db0faf1a6",[18044,18048,18052],{"_key":18045,"_type":12,"marks":18046,"text":18047},"15a12cc99241",[],"Robert Rauschenberg, ",{"_key":18049,"_type":12,"marks":18050,"text":18051},"c3f964f2d114",[114],"Cy Twombly",{"_key":18053,"_type":12,"marks":18054,"text":18055},"1645cf1cd0f9",[],", 1951. Gelatin silver print; 10⅛ × 9⅞ in. (25.7 × 25.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York",[],{"_key":18058,"_type":1642,"content":18059,"images":18329},"9575c3a5ee82",[18060,18108,18224,18279,18295],{"_key":18061,"_type":8,"children":18062,"markDefs":18080,"style":16},"3882369597ec",[18063,18067,18071,18075],{"_key":18064,"_type":12,"marks":18065,"text":18066},"bbf9ee4b54d5",[],"With Twombly, stages a performance of scenes from Shakespeare’s ",{"_key":18068,"_type":12,"marks":18069,"text":18070},"7f3d0c4d2517",[114],"Hamlet",{"_key":18072,"_type":12,"marks":18073,"text":18074},"8b3e59031b6b",[],", which they have rewritten. ",{"_key":18076,"_type":12,"marks":18077,"text":18079},"0efeb998087f",[18078],"629507a25e21","The artist Dorothea Rockburne (b. 1932) appears as Ophelia on a raft in Lake Eden, in the center of campus, with her hair floating on the surface of the water.",[18081],{"_key":18078,"_type":474,"text":18082},[18083],{"_key":18084,"_type":8,"children":18085,"markDefs":18106,"style":16},"5fa2c2748027",[18086,18090,18094,18098,18103],{"_key":18087,"_type":12,"marks":18088,"text":18089},"b289a75d28b4",[],"Dorothea Rockburne, interview by Connie Bostic, April 19, 2002, transcribed by Jolene Mechanic, ",{"_key":18091,"_type":12,"marks":18092,"text":18093},"38cfc93410bd",[114],"Journal of Black Mountain College Studies",{"_key":18095,"_type":12,"marks":18096,"text":18097},"c2ee53b5a09c",[],", no. 1 (2011), ",{"_key":18099,"_type":12,"marks":18100,"text":18102},"98f29e9694ea",[18101],"6bfaf8cd4fbe","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.blackmountaincollege.org\u002F1-1-dorothea-rockburne-interview\u002F",{"_key":18104,"_type":12,"marks":18105,"text":236},"c49231bf07b5",[],[18107],{"_key":18101,"_type":375,"href":18102},{"_key":18109,"_type":8,"children":18110,"markDefs":18150,"style":16},"7b93e40a567a",[18111,18115,18120,18123,18127,18130,18135,18138,18142,18145],{"_key":18112,"_type":12,"marks":18113,"text":18114},"29e65f2d92b8",[],"August 3: ",{"_key":18116,"_type":12,"marks":18117,"text":18119},"7161e22c20ed",[18118],"40c4dd397722","Participates in a performance organized by Cage, later given the title ",{"_key":18121,"_type":12,"marks":18122,"text":939},"de74ea962951",[114,18118],{"_key":18124,"_type":12,"marks":18125,"text":18126},"146224976135",[18118],", in Black Mountain’s dining hall. Rauschenberg plays wax cylinders on a hand-cranked Edison phonograph.",{"_key":18128,"_type":12,"marks":18129,"text":793},"c67c043c059b",[],{"_key":18131,"_type":12,"marks":18132,"text":18134},"2575135a5dae",[18133],"f91d86f2c313","At least one of his ",{"_key":18136,"_type":12,"marks":18137,"text":250},"ca352c33dd8e",[114,18133],{"_key":18139,"_type":12,"marks":18140,"text":18141},"87a131e499d4",[18133]," is on view during the performance.",{"_key":18143,"_type":12,"marks":18144,"text":793},"ba4679b30c37",[],{"_key":18146,"_type":12,"marks":18147,"text":18149},"cf8d988ba6c1",[18148],"c0bc9fe99184","Other participants are Cage himself, Charles Olson, and M. C. Richards, reading texts; David Tudor, playing the piano; and one or more students projecting films or slides.",[18151,18175,18206],{"_key":18118,"_type":474,"text":18152},[18153],{"_key":18154,"_type":8,"children":18155,"markDefs":18174,"style":16},"e71a48a5cadb",[18156,18160,18163,18167,18170],{"_key":18157,"_type":12,"marks":18158,"text":18159},"96f9f5b7783a",[],"The only known contemporaneous account of the event is by Francine du Plessix (later Gray), Journal, Spring ’52–Fall ’52. Rauschenberg’s memory of the event is summarized in “Chronology,” in ",{"_key":18161,"_type":12,"marks":18162,"text":871},"0d2f46c4ccc1",[114],{"_key":18164,"_type":12,"marks":18165,"text":18166},"656440257a39",[],", exh. cat. (1976), p. 33. See also Rauschenberg, quoted in Rose, ",{"_key":18168,"_type":12,"marks":18169,"text":871},"74839679e154",[114],{"_key":18171,"_type":12,"marks":18172,"text":18173},"13c82762f669",[],", p. 34.",[],{"_key":18133,"_type":474,"text":18176},[18177],{"_key":18178,"_type":8,"children":18179,"markDefs":18205,"style":16},"e3c63101795b",[18180,18184,18187,18191,18194,18198,18201],{"_key":18181,"_type":12,"marks":18182,"text":18183},"4f9aacc4383f",[],"John Cage “invited . . . Robert Rauschenberg to show his paintings on the ceiling of the dining hall.” Cage, interview by Duberman, April 26, 1969, pp. 28–29. In a 1965 interview, Cage recalled that Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":18185,"_type":12,"marks":18186,"text":250},"5c6cde513e05",[114],{"_key":18188,"_type":12,"marks":18189,"text":18190},"7e9bc7ff05a4",[]," were “suspended at various angles, a canopy of painting above the audience.” Cage, “An Interview with John Cage,” by Michael Kirby and Richard Schechner, ",{"_key":18192,"_type":12,"marks":18193,"text":961},"6edd34b25fc8",[114],{"_key":18195,"_type":12,"marks":18196,"text":18197},"c925b2a64d45",[]," 10, no. 2 (Winter 1965), p. 53. It is generally believed that this was the four-panel ",{"_key":18199,"_type":12,"marks":18200,"text":367},"a656ef5e281c",[114],{"_key":18202,"_type":12,"marks":18203,"text":18204},"4b2f1d5aceef",[],", which Rauschenberg later lent to Cage.",[],{"_key":18148,"_type":474,"text":18207},[18208],{"_key":18209,"_type":8,"children":18210,"markDefs":18223,"style":16},"e69b5f631866",[18211,18215,18219],{"_key":18212,"_type":12,"marks":18213,"text":18214},"fd5c7233d9e7",[],"Mary Emma Harris, ",{"_key":18216,"_type":12,"marks":18217,"text":18218},"991f93cf1606",[114],"The Arts at Black Mountain College ",{"_key":18220,"_type":12,"marks":18221,"text":18222},"420ee21641b6",[],"(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1987), pp. 226–28.",[],{"_key":18225,"_type":8,"children":18226,"markDefs":18258,"style":16},"e3d0b07d2746",[18227,18231,18234,18239,18243,18246,18250,18253],{"_key":18228,"_type":12,"marks":18229,"text":18230},"daa04c33bc96",[],"August 10:",{"_key":18232,"_type":12,"marks":18233,"text":793},"3f7fea86cfb7",[114],{"_key":18235,"_type":12,"marks":18236,"text":18238},"9f5fb0f2c1f9",[114,18237],"82f35662e2c1","Paintings by Robert Rauschenberg",{"_key":18240,"_type":12,"marks":18241,"text":18242},"97289a622970",[18237],", featuring the artist’s recent ",{"_key":18244,"_type":12,"marks":18245,"text":843},"c9ba8b9cc31f",[114,18237],{"_key":18247,"_type":12,"marks":18248,"text":18249},"9067faf0097a",[18237],", is presented at Black Mountain.",{"_key":18251,"_type":12,"marks":18252,"text":793},"b31dc57423e7",[],{"_key":18254,"_type":12,"marks":18255,"text":18257},"ca39d2ba9c9b",[18256],"a60e03ee45d6","Cage later recalls that Kline was “sure they were great paintings because he felt absolutely—we could never remember whether he said ‘helpless’ or ‘hopeless’ in front of them.”",[18259,18269],{"_key":18237,"_type":474,"text":18260},[18261],{"_key":18262,"_type":8,"children":18263,"markDefs":18268,"style":16},"591f7c90b2b2",[18264],{"_key":18265,"_type":12,"marks":18266,"text":18267},"a9cfe011bfc0",[],"Black Mountain College had a tradition of Sunday evening exhibitions, so this was likely a one-day show. Exhibition announcement, FS 123, Frakes Estate, Menil Archives.",[],{"_key":18256,"_type":474,"text":18270},[18271],{"_key":18272,"_type":8,"children":18273,"markDefs":18278,"style":16},"8592ae80d1e3",[18274],{"_key":18275,"_type":12,"marks":18276,"text":18277},"fa44a24b4086",[],"John Cage, telephone interview by Martin Duberman, April 26, 1969, transcript, pp. 28–29, Martin Duberman Collection, series PC.1678, box 13, Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina, Asheville.",[],{"_key":18280,"_type":8,"children":18281,"markDefs":18294,"style":16},"b5886fb2a3b3",[18282,18286,18290],{"_key":18283,"_type":12,"marks":18284,"text":18285},"b966de8428cb",[],"August 20: Embarks for Italy from New York with Twombly aboard the SS ",{"_key":18287,"_type":12,"marks":18288,"text":18289},"4e5f3d76e7ef",[114],"Argentina",{"_key":18291,"_type":12,"marks":18292,"text":18293},"783ba6e2e8c2",[],", arriving in Palermo, Sicily, on August 31.",[],{"_key":18296,"_type":8,"children":18297,"markDefs":18316,"style":16},"4d7924a46b18",[18298,18302,18307,18312],{"_key":18299,"_type":12,"marks":18300,"text":18301},"a0df9be381dd",[],"August 23: Fire consumes the Weil home on Outer Island. Susan Weil and Christopher Rauschenberg are there with the gallerist Charles Egan (1914–1993), his wife, Teresa, and their newborn son. ",{"_key":18303,"_type":12,"marks":18304,"text":18306},"ba57656fd6cd",[18305],"c83d80fd49b4","All escape without injury. Rauschenberg’s works stored in the house are destroyed, including an early glass sculpture (",{"_key":18308,"_type":12,"marks":18309,"text":18311},"9f9c7662a324",[18305,18310],"f7409668bb9c","12",{"_key":18313,"_type":12,"marks":18314,"text":18315},"3859cec08ec0",[18305],") and paintings from his 1951 Betty Parsons exhibition.",[18317,18327],{"_key":18305,"_type":474,"text":18318},[18319],{"_key":18320,"_type":8,"children":18321,"markDefs":18326,"style":16},"73c15219f1f9",[18322],{"_key":18323,"_type":12,"marks":18324,"text":18325},"9f100d62361e",[],"Susan Weil, oral history interview by Mary Marshall Clark, Jan. 27, 2014, transcript, p. 1-58, Oral History Project, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":18310,"_type":239,"crNo":18328},"50.008",[18330],{"_key":18331,"_type":1738,"alt":18332,"asset":18333,"caption":18336},"2e0da07884dc","A black and white photograph of a textured, abstract wall covered in paint and materials, with a wooden ladder leaning against it in a rustic setting.",{"_type":1741,"asset":18334},{"_ref":18335,"_type":53},"image-6fb098d9fe8f5960b74a3da3e41c6a64a131dee7-2000x2000-jpg",[18337],{"_key":18338,"_type":8,"children":18339,"markDefs":18358,"style":16},"3027882a10fb",[18340,18344,18347,18350,18354],{"_key":18341,"_type":12,"marks":18342,"text":18343},"b71503557fbc",[],"Early states of two panels of ",{"_key":18345,"_type":12,"marks":18346,"text":208},"71226f8af0fb",[114],{"_key":18348,"_type":12,"marks":18349,"text":338},"a57c7c443ff6",[],{"_key":18351,"_type":12,"marks":18352,"text":7746},"9e38804ea7e7",[18353],"c5d27daa357b",{"_key":18355,"_type":12,"marks":18356,"text":18357},"568a2af555ac",[],") outside the Studies Building, Black Mountain College, N.C., 1952. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[18359],{"_key":18353,"_type":239,"crNo":7760},{"_key":18361,"_type":1642,"content":18362,"images":18541},"b32773c5df9a",[18363,18390,18409,18463,18515],{"_key":18364,"_type":8,"children":18365,"markDefs":18379,"style":16},"3eba245c1589",[18366,18370,18375],{"_key":18367,"_type":12,"marks":18368,"text":18369},"7eadda0c314a",[],"September 6: ",{"_key":18371,"_type":12,"marks":18372,"text":18374},"8cbabed5b1ca",[18373],"4ad4a36b142e","Arrives in Rome with Twombly after spending several days in Palermo and Naples.",{"_key":18376,"_type":12,"marks":18377,"text":18378},"0ad2091b48c9",[]," They choose to live near via Margutta, where many Italian artists, including Alberto Burri, keep studios.",[18380],{"_key":18373,"_type":474,"text":18381},[18382],{"_key":18383,"_type":8,"children":18384,"markDefs":18389,"style":16},"5b959955a0ba",[18385],{"_key":18386,"_type":12,"marks":18387,"text":18388},"118fbd901bd3",[],"Twombly to Leslie Cheek, Jr., Sept. 6, 1952, Virginia Museum Fellowship: Twombly, E. Parker, 1952–53, box 68, folder 42, Director’s Correspondence, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives, Richmond.",[],{"_key":18391,"_type":8,"children":18392,"markDefs":18398,"style":16},"6a9fc2457fd2",[18393],{"_key":18394,"_type":12,"marks":18395,"text":18397},"f566c5c1084e",[18396],"78a47bc1bac1","With Twombly, spends a week in Florence and travels to Assisi, Perugia, and Siena.",[18399],{"_key":18396,"_type":474,"text":18400},[18401],{"_key":18402,"_type":8,"children":18403,"markDefs":18408,"style":16},"b1b96df762a0",[18404],{"_key":18405,"_type":12,"marks":18406,"text":18407},"6e2feefd57cd",[],"Rauschenberg to Rachel “Wally” Tworkov, Oct. 5, [1952], Jack Tworkov Papers, 1926–1993, series 2, box 3, folder 73, AAA.",[],{"_key":18410,"_type":8,"children":18411,"markDefs":18429,"style":16},"7586b9b6fa42",[18412,18416,18421,18424],{"_key":18413,"_type":12,"marks":18414,"text":18415},"374383b51e4f",[],"October: ",{"_key":18417,"_type":12,"marks":18418,"text":18420},"23398328cef7",[18419],"8a1faec442f8","Realizing that Twombly’s fellowship will not support them both for long, flies to Casablanca to look for work with Atlas Constructors, an American corporation building five U.S. Air Force bases in French Morocco.",{"_key":18422,"_type":12,"marks":18423,"text":793},"4a3e4efde673",[],{"_key":18425,"_type":12,"marks":18426,"text":18428},"9417a6b1b366",[18427],"3a4b4031f370","He is hired at a salary of four hundred dollars a month to work in a warehouse conducting what he later describes as “perpetual inventory.”",[18430,18447],{"_key":18419,"_type":474,"text":18431},[18432],{"_key":18433,"_type":8,"children":18434,"markDefs":18446,"style":16},"02a8eefabdbe",[18435,18439,18442],{"_key":18436,"_type":12,"marks":18437,"text":18438},"7b7cefef30ca",[],"Often erroneously referred to as “Atlas Construction.” See “New Bomber Bases in Morocco Bolster U.S. Global Air Strategy,” ",{"_key":18440,"_type":12,"marks":18441,"text":17923},"1ab629a44ac2",[114],{"_key":18443,"_type":12,"marks":18444,"text":18445},"d68914ff9086",[],", Feb. 9, 1952, p. 5.",[],{"_key":18427,"_type":474,"text":18448},[18449],{"_key":18450,"_type":8,"children":18451,"markDefs":18462,"style":16},"b7451929259c",[18452,18455,18458],{"_key":18453,"_type":12,"marks":18454,"text":2102},"5dae6e6dcbfa",[],{"_key":18456,"_type":12,"marks":18457,"text":871},"b5d7d93eef41",[114],{"_key":18459,"_type":12,"marks":18460,"text":18461},"cecf07d3846d",[],", p. 39.",[],{"_key":18464,"_type":8,"children":18465,"markDefs":18494,"style":16},"c8dcdf7eae17",[18466,18470,18475,18478,18483,18487,18490],{"_key":18467,"_type":12,"marks":18468,"text":18469},"8cfdb064a921",[],"Late October: ",{"_key":18471,"_type":12,"marks":18472,"text":18474},"971aac1dc1ad",[18473],"8ae843e886fb","Quits his job of two and a half weeks when Twombly joins him in Casablanca.",{"_key":18476,"_type":12,"marks":18477,"text":793},"cc87ea7a3d28",[],{"_key":18479,"_type":12,"marks":18480,"text":18482},"eb7548623192",[18481],"3379a3202413","The pair travel south through the Atlas Mountains to Marrakech and Ouarzazate, on the edge of the Sahara Desert.",{"_key":18484,"_type":12,"marks":18485,"text":18486},"7497f045bbd0",[]," While in Morocco, they both take photographs with Rauschenberg’s Rolleicord camera. Rauschenberg begins to collect the materials from which he will assemble the ",{"_key":18488,"_type":12,"marks":18489,"text":1232},"aef7484db992",[114],{"_key":18491,"_type":12,"marks":18492,"text":18493},"ba30f8099e49",[]," sculptures.",[18495,18505],{"_key":18473,"_type":474,"text":18496},[18497],{"_key":18498,"_type":8,"children":18499,"markDefs":18504,"style":16},"79df0e0778a2",[18500],{"_key":18501,"_type":12,"marks":18502,"text":18503},"7b002c539d67",[],"“I plan to go to Africa at the end of this week.” Twombly to Leslie Cheek, Jr., Oct. 15, 1952, Virginia Museum Fellowship: Twombly, E. Parker, 1952–53, box 68, folder 42, Director’s Correspondence, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives, Richmond.",[],{"_key":18481,"_type":474,"text":18506},[18507],{"_key":18508,"_type":8,"children":18509,"markDefs":18514,"style":16},"c75aa2dce1d2",[18510],{"_key":18511,"_type":12,"marks":18512,"text":18513},"c019865a3439",[],"Rauschenberg to Hazel-Frieda Larsen, postcard, Nov. 2, 1952, Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Collection, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University, Atlanta.",[],{"_key":18516,"_type":8,"children":18517,"markDefs":18531,"style":16},"482d0d25ae9e",[18518,18522,18527],{"_key":18519,"_type":12,"marks":18520,"text":18521},"f0f2a098069f",[],"November 3: ",{"_key":18523,"_type":12,"marks":18524,"text":18526},"35fe66f79e50",[18525],"c5ebddb820ae","Travels to Tangier with Twombly.",{"_key":18528,"_type":12,"marks":18529,"text":18530},"55b0b2bcb213",[]," Later in the month, when Twombly takes a side trip to an archaeological site, Rauschenberg likely accompanies him.",[18532],{"_key":18525,"_type":474,"text":18533},[18534],{"_key":18535,"_type":8,"children":18536,"markDefs":18540,"style":16},"a409069e1513",[18537],{"_key":18538,"_type":12,"marks":18539,"text":14385},"a4121f75368f",[],[],[18542],{"_key":18543,"_type":1738,"alt":18544,"asset":18545,"caption":18548},"eaf057dfd3e2","A black-and-white photograph of a narrow alleyway lined with hanging textiles, where a woman and a child walk past stacks of dyed materials, while a figure in traditional attire observes from the side.",{"_type":1741,"asset":18546},{"_ref":18547,"_type":53},"image-5ea9f5249adf0c3cf282dc3e2f64f394882d9651-1875x1875-jpg",[18549],{"_key":18550,"_type":8,"children":18551,"markDefs":18556,"style":16},"a29a78d24fcc",[18552],{"_key":18553,"_type":12,"marks":18554,"text":18555},"c920ea3988f7",[],"Souk des Teinturiers (Souk Sebbaghine), Marrakech, fall 1952. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[],{"_key":18558,"_type":1642,"content":18559,"images":18742},"5f21b75e606e",[18560,18589,18597,18642,18644,18651,18674,18719],{"_key":18561,"_type":8,"children":18562,"markDefs":18572,"style":16},"025dd7addbe6",[18563,18567],{"_key":18564,"_type":12,"marks":18565,"text":18566},"0f480cab3bd2",[],"December: ",{"_key":18568,"_type":12,"marks":18569,"text":18571},"fec447b4b5dd",[18570],"3998468c51ad","Having returned to Tangier, meets the American expatriate writer and composer Paul Bowles (1910–1999), whom he and Twombly have looked up at de Kooning’s suggestion.",[18573],{"_key":18570,"_type":474,"text":18574},[18575],{"_key":18576,"_type":8,"children":18577,"markDefs":18588,"style":16},"c5002efeda52",[18578,18581,18584],{"_key":18579,"_type":12,"marks":18580,"text":9337},"284dcb89c854",[],{"_key":18582,"_type":12,"marks":18583,"text":9341},"641cd23a1ace",[114],{"_key":18585,"_type":12,"marks":18586,"text":18587},"2534d9dff543",[]," 150, no. 1264 (July 2008), p. 465, 465n42. Twombly (and Rauschenberg, by implication) is confirmed to have been back in Tangier by December 5 on the basis of a letter from Twombly to Leslie Cheek, Jr., Dec. 5, 1952, Virginia Museum Fellowship: Twombly, E. Parker, 1952–53, box 68, folder 42, Director’s Correspondence, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives, Richmond.",[],{"_key":18590,"_type":8,"children":18591,"markDefs":18596,"style":16},"54739c479c58",[18592],{"_key":18593,"_type":12,"marks":18594,"text":18595},"7a9d2255b85a",[],"December 6: Departs Tangier for Tétouan in Spanish Morocco, where he and Twombly stay at the Hôtel Bilbao.",[],{"_key":18598,"_type":8,"children":18599,"markDefs":18614,"style":16},"952251f6d267",[18600,18605,18609],{"_key":18601,"_type":12,"marks":18602,"text":18604},"3e0bed01ca93",[18603],"a0aadca316c7","Bowles and the artist Ahmed Yacoubi (1928–1985), who exhibited in April 1952 in New York at Betty Parsons Gallery,",{"_key":18606,"_type":12,"marks":18607,"text":18608},"b3924b227f85",[]," join Rauschenberg and Twombly in Tétouan. ",{"_key":18610,"_type":12,"marks":18611,"text":18613},"daa5806056d7",[18612],"f71d02998e0e","Bowles, who has a Rolls-Royce and a personal driver, invites the younger Americans on frequent excursions.",[18615,18625],{"_key":18603,"_type":474,"text":18616},[18617],{"_key":18618,"_type":8,"children":18619,"markDefs":18624,"style":16},"9c9e44ad1609",[18620],{"_key":18621,"_type":12,"marks":18622,"text":18623},"273112c03370",[],"Betty Parsons Records and Personal Papers, 1916–1991, series 1, box 17, folder 56, AAA.",[],{"_key":18612,"_type":474,"text":18626},[18627],{"_key":18628,"_type":8,"children":18629,"markDefs":18641,"style":16},"9b56ab947bb7",[18630,18633,18637],{"_key":18631,"_type":12,"marks":18632,"text":9571},"9cb4984592b3",[],{"_key":18634,"_type":12,"marks":18635,"text":18636},"ea0d42f7579f",[114],"Without Stopping: An Autobiography",{"_key":18638,"_type":12,"marks":18639,"text":18640},"90b8dfceafb3",[]," (New York: Ecco, 1985), pp. 310–11.",[],{"_key":18643,"_type":1942},"4181f4874221",{"_key":18645,"_type":8,"children":18646,"markDefs":18650,"style":16},"e2be38fa3052",[18647],{"_key":18648,"_type":12,"marks":18649,"text":15266},"087bb372585c",[],[],{"_key":18652,"_type":8,"children":18653,"markDefs":18663,"style":16},"523389d654ab",[18654,18658],{"_key":18655,"_type":12,"marks":18656,"text":18657},"1a48ab3ec5aa",[],"[January]: ",{"_key":18659,"_type":12,"marks":18660,"text":18662},"ec1132ff55da",[18661],"aaab7ba874bb","Travels to Spain with Twombly, visiting Madrid, Toledo, and Barcelona before returning to Rome.",[18664],{"_key":18661,"_type":474,"text":18665},[18666],{"_key":18667,"_type":8,"children":18668,"markDefs":18673,"style":16},"3003a5245386",[18669],{"_key":18670,"_type":12,"marks":18671,"text":18672},"2d73e2f6c7f1",[],"Twombly to Leslie Cheek, Jr., Feb. 9, 1953, Virginia Museum Fellowship: Twombly, E. Parker, 1952–53, box 68, folder 42, Director’s Correspondence, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives, Richmond.",[],{"_key":18675,"_type":8,"children":18676,"markDefs":18701,"style":16},"98141af31f2f",[18677,18681,18685,18689,18694,18697],{"_key":18678,"_type":12,"marks":18679,"text":18680},"9fd1aa88dfbb",[],"January 11–February 7: Included in ",{"_key":18682,"_type":12,"marks":18683,"text":18684},"1dc0c9d953fc",[114],"Second Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture",{"_key":18686,"_type":12,"marks":18687,"text":18688},"eeea1ec8dc82",[],", successor to the 9th Street Show of 1951, at Stable Gallery, New York, founded by Eleanor Ward (1909–1984) in December 1952. (This show would recur every year through 1957 and become known, familiarly, as the “Stable Annual.”) ",{"_key":18690,"_type":12,"marks":18691,"text":18693},"8c07917dd265",[18692],"9f2db26db5e6","One of Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":18695,"_type":12,"marks":18696,"text":843},"626cb7328f20",[114,18692],{"_key":18698,"_type":12,"marks":18699,"text":18700},"850aba930c67",[18692]," is submitted to the exhibition by Tworkov, who has been storing it.",[18702],{"_key":18692,"_type":474,"text":18703},[18704],{"_key":18705,"_type":8,"children":18706,"markDefs":18718,"style":16},"ba6175c65d4a",[18707,18711,18714],{"_key":18708,"_type":12,"marks":18709,"text":18710},"f92b91415eb4",[],"It is not known which ",{"_key":18712,"_type":12,"marks":18713,"text":7782},"a1c11780adae",[114],{"_key":18715,"_type":12,"marks":18716,"text":18717},"ae072771f676",[],"was shown.",[],{"_key":18720,"_type":8,"children":18721,"markDefs":18731,"style":16},"2d6f01a35d76",[18722,18726],{"_key":18723,"_type":12,"marks":18724,"text":18725},"6c93a01feef0",[],"By February 7: ",{"_key":18727,"_type":12,"marks":18728,"text":18730},"5a375a7210db",[18729],"081dc28d157e","Returns with Twombly to Rome, where they rent a room at the Pensione Lago di Alleghe, on Piazza di Spagna.",[18732],{"_key":18729,"_type":474,"text":18733},[18734],{"_key":18735,"_type":8,"children":18736,"markDefs":18741,"style":16},"8967ca6f0055",[18737],{"_key":18738,"_type":12,"marks":18739,"text":18740},"f29a309b6c18",[],"Rauschenberg to Hazel-Frieda Larsen, postcard, Feb. 7, 1953, Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Collection, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University, Atlanta.",[],[18743],{"_key":18744,"_type":1738,"alt":18745,"asset":18746,"caption":18749},"86c09749660c","A man stands beside a large, ancient stone sculpture of a hand with an extended finger, set against a backdrop of weathered stone columns and walls.",{"_type":1741,"asset":18747},{"_ref":18748,"_type":53},"image-1fcace7f73e34548336ce20b397a400b516d0a4b-1600x1611-jpg",[18750],{"_key":18751,"_type":8,"children":18752,"markDefs":18757,"style":16},"2b6c82a2f51c",[18753],{"_key":18754,"_type":12,"marks":18755,"text":18756},"654aea21b98f",[],"Cy Twombly standing beside the marble hand of Constantine at the Musei Capitolini, Rome, ca. 1952. Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[],{"_key":18759,"_type":1642,"content":18760,"images":18972},"dd745e03d52c",[18761,18826,18841,18856],{"_key":18762,"_type":8,"children":18763,"markDefs":18789,"style":16},"6762ba4797b4",[18764,18768,18773,18776,18781,18784],{"_key":18765,"_type":12,"marks":18766,"text":18767},"ebffaef59f66",[],"February: Visits the artist Alberto Burri (1915–1995) in his studio in Rome, then visits again after learning that Burri is ill. ",{"_key":18769,"_type":12,"marks":18770,"text":18772},"19ebd84ea222",[18771],"ea6fae272029","Later recalls, “I was doing fetishes and immediately concocted and delivered a healing work for [Burri].”",{"_key":18774,"_type":12,"marks":18775,"text":793},"afa0ea418af2",[],{"_key":18777,"_type":12,"marks":18778,"text":18780},"c4bda661fee5",[18779],"fe044d1428f3","This get-well gift was a small box described by Burri as containing “sand and a dead fly.”",{"_key":18782,"_type":12,"marks":18783,"text":793},"947d599cec66",[],{"_key":18785,"_type":12,"marks":18786,"text":18788},"3c3b2eebfd21",[18787],"5466198d22ff","Shortly after, Burri gives Rauschenberg an untitled miniature painting collaged with fabric.",[18790,18800,18816],{"_key":18771,"_type":474,"text":18791},[18792],{"_key":18793,"_type":8,"children":18794,"markDefs":18799,"style":16},"9d252c315a5d",[18795],{"_key":18796,"_type":12,"marks":18797,"text":18798},"dfe89143f6d5",[],"Rauschenberg to Charles Stuckey, handwritten draft, June 24, 1997, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[],{"_key":18779,"_type":474,"text":18801},[18802],{"_key":18803,"_type":8,"children":18804,"markDefs":18815,"style":16},"9b107a0ca549",[18805,18809,18812],{"_key":18806,"_type":12,"marks":18807,"text":18808},"d4f53a3ec939",[],"“[U]na scatoletta con dentro della sabia e una mosca morta.” Alberto Burri, quoted in Stefano Zorzi, ",{"_key":18810,"_type":12,"marks":18811,"text":13678},"e45e736125cf",[114],{"_key":18813,"_type":12,"marks":18814,"text":13682},"7a099c1207c3",[],[],{"_key":18787,"_type":474,"text":18817},[18818],{"_key":18819,"_type":8,"children":18820,"markDefs":18825,"style":16},"cb4cf4cb159e",[18821],{"_key":18822,"_type":12,"marks":18823,"text":18824},"0a40feb55138",[],"Rauschenberg to Stuckey, June 24, 1997.",[],{"_key":18827,"_type":8,"children":18828,"markDefs":18840,"style":16},"e7fd5aa6d88f",[18829,18833,18836],{"_key":18830,"_type":12,"marks":18831,"text":18832},"f16953f05e08",[],"Walter Auerbach (1908–1966), a photographer and friend of de Kooning’s, photographs Rauschenberg’s ",{"_key":18834,"_type":12,"marks":18835,"text":13649},"7114ed989547",[114],{"_key":18837,"_type":12,"marks":18838,"text":18839},"a1330aa51204",[],"sculptures in the pensione and outdoors in the Pincio Gardens, Rome.",[],{"_key":18842,"_type":8,"children":18843,"markDefs":18855,"style":16},"9044a69f0aff",[18844,18848,18851],{"_key":18845,"_type":12,"marks":18846,"text":18847},"51baf6222d80",[],"March 3–10: ",{"_key":18849,"_type":12,"marks":18850,"text":1277},"d84f48240f91",[114],{"_key":18852,"_type":12,"marks":18853,"text":18854},"a1582182a258",[],", the artist’s first solo exhibition in Europe, is presented at Galleria dell’Obelisco, Rome.",[],{"_key":18857,"_type":8,"children":18858,"markDefs":18906,"style":16},"816270437cef",[18859,18863,18867,18870,18874,18878,18883,18886,18891,18894,18898,18901],{"_key":18860,"_type":12,"marks":18861,"text":18862},"6013faff5921",[],"March 14: The concurrent exhibitions ",{"_key":18864,"_type":12,"marks":18865,"text":18866},"548d7297e52d",[114],"Scatole e costruzioni contemplative di Bob Rauschenberg ",{"_key":18868,"_type":12,"marks":18869,"text":3687},"a8f3a6410023",[],{"_key":18871,"_type":12,"marks":18872,"text":18873},"0e8ad9239cbd",[114],"Mostra di arazzi di Cy Twombly ",{"_key":18875,"_type":12,"marks":18876,"text":18877},"c2049505e035",[],"open at Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea, Florence. ",{"_key":18879,"_type":12,"marks":18880,"text":18882},"60ebcc115421",[18881],"507dfa1a33ae","Rauschenberg photographs the exhibition, and two of his works are sold to a local collector.",{"_key":18884,"_type":12,"marks":18885,"text":793},"26b758c04367",[],{"_key":18887,"_type":12,"marks":18888,"text":18890},"41f3c577b0e6",[18889],"f61dfdeebfea","The exhibition is covered widely in the local press, most notably by Carlo Volpe in ",{"_key":18892,"_type":12,"marks":18893,"text":1295},"992e7ed155cb",[114,18889],{"_key":18895,"_type":12,"marks":18896,"text":18897},"caea67470726",[18889],", who says that “it would have been good fun . . . to fling that whole curse into the Arno.”",{"_key":18899,"_type":12,"marks":18900,"text":793},"12621ac45538",[],{"_key":18902,"_type":12,"marks":18903,"text":18905},"21d4b521af20",[18904],"c0f1af342ce9","Rauschenberg later claims to have followed the critic’s advice.",[18907,18938,18955],{"_key":18881,"_type":474,"text":18908},[18909],{"_key":18910,"_type":8,"children":18911,"markDefs":18933,"style":16},"fc34b640d85a",[18912,18916,18921,18924,18929],{"_key":18913,"_type":12,"marks":18914,"text":18915},"a722e5b3da8d",[],"Rosina Donati Bryk purchased two works (",{"_key":18917,"_type":12,"marks":18918,"text":18920},"544c206d43da",[18919],"a91a2c2eebea","58,",{"_key":18922,"_type":12,"marks":18923,"text":793},"227c97bfcaa9",[],{"_key":18925,"_type":12,"marks":18926,"text":18928},"462f2ca8fa43",[18927],"138f2a072ea3","79",{"_key":18930,"_type":12,"marks":18931,"text":18932},"d40a780b7e9b",[],"). Rosina Donati Bryk to Rauschenberg, Aug. 14, 1970, Robert Rauschenberg Papers, RRF Archives.",[18934,18936],{"_key":18919,"_type":375,"href":18935},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F53.057",{"_key":18927,"_type":375,"href":18937},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fartworks\u002F52.023",{"_key":18889,"_type":474,"text":18939},[18940],{"_key":18941,"_type":8,"children":18942,"markDefs":18954,"style":16},"75407dfacb75",[18943,18947,18950],{"_key":18944,"_type":12,"marks":18945,"text":18946},"14a35b303a8b",[],"Carlo Volpe, “Mostre d’arte a Firenze: Alla Galleria d’Arte contemporanea,” ",{"_key":18948,"_type":12,"marks":18949,"text":1295},"7f853091acff",[114],{"_key":18951,"_type":12,"marks":18952,"text":18953},"c6910f8c9444",[],", March 25, 1953, p. 3 (translation by eds.).",[],{"_key":18904,"_type":474,"text":18956},[18957],{"_key":18958,"_type":8,"children":18959,"markDefs":18971,"style":16},"3d733d0666f2",[18960,18964,18967],{"_key":18961,"_type":12,"marks":18962,"text":18963},"0741146e8417",[],"“It saved the packing problem.” Rauschenberg, quoted in “Chronology,” in ",{"_key":18965,"_type":12,"marks":18966,"text":871},"7df8ea9b830e",[114],{"_key":18968,"_type":12,"marks":18969,"text":18970},"4ec675b7162d",[],", exh. cat. (1976), p. 33. In a conversation with Calvin Tomkins, Cy Twombly apparently demurred: “Florence—won’t contradict story [about the] Arno, but hints it wasn’t as neat as all that.” “Cy” (verso), Jan. 14, 1979, Calvin Tomkins Papers, series IV.C, folder 9, MoMA Archives.",[],[18973],{"_key":18974,"_type":1738,"alt":18975,"asset":18976,"caption":18979},"a02322ed49e1","A black and white quilt featuring geometric patterns hangs on a wall, accompanied by a decorative staff and a hanging piece of fabric.",{"_type":1741,"asset":18977},{"_ref":18978,"_type":53},"image-e36f8c1840d846dbaeb48bce22a62086e8483680-1920x1973-jpg",[18980],{"_key":18981,"_type":8,"children":18982,"markDefs":19041,"style":16},"05e8f6c96f94",[18983,18986,18989,18992,18996,19000,19003,19006,19009,19013,19018,19021,19024,19027,19030,19033,19037],{"_key":18984,"_type":12,"marks":18985,"text":16995},"45cbe2ea3231",[],{"_key":18987,"_type":12,"marks":18988,"text":18866},"861744cd098e",[114],{"_key":18990,"_type":12,"marks":18991,"text":3687},"945e71c9eafd",[],{"_key":18993,"_type":12,"marks":18994,"text":18995},"bc209eef4d52",[114],"Mostra di arazzi di Cy Twombly",{"_key":18997,"_type":12,"marks":18998,"text":18999},"9b272453c7ec",[]," (Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea, Florence, opened March 14, 1953). 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Photograph by Robert Rauschenberg",[19042,19044],{"_key":19016,"_type":239,"crNo":19043},"53.069",{"_key":19036,"_type":239,"crNo":19045},"53.068",{"_key":19047,"_type":1642,"content":19048,"images":19235},"e0f41d5d2b04",[19049,19072,19088,19103,19144,19159,19174],{"_key":19050,"_type":8,"children":19051,"markDefs":19061,"style":16},"4c6fa3c2e4fc",[19052,19056],{"_key":19053,"_type":12,"marks":19054,"text":19055},"f7cabfa984a0",[],"Late March: ",{"_key":19057,"_type":12,"marks":19058,"text":19060},"a75e5899fdf7",[19059],"def841d43551","Travels with Twombly to Venice and takes photographs, including a double exposure of himself and Twombly on the loggiaof the Basilica di San Marco.",[19062],{"_key":19059,"_type":474,"text":19063},[19064],{"_key":19065,"_type":8,"children":19066,"markDefs":19071,"style":16},"b16e8c5abb61",[19067],{"_key":19068,"_type":12,"marks":19069,"text":19070},"8127dacc1f28",[],"Twombly to Leslie Cheek, Jr., n.d. [ca. April 1953], Virginia Museum Fellowship: Twombly, E. Parker, 1952–53, box 68, folder 42, Director’s Correspondence, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives, Richmond.",[],{"_key":19073,"_type":8,"children":19074,"markDefs":19087,"style":16},"e0985bb03d3a",[19075,19079,19083],{"_key":19076,"_type":12,"marks":19077,"text":19078},"29cf560f49d8",[],"April 3: Sails with Twombly from Naples to New York on the SS ",{"_key":19080,"_type":12,"marks":19081,"text":19082},"5d4999e3313f",[114],"Andrea Doria",{"_key":19084,"_type":12,"marks":19085,"text":19086},"e29690b911fb",[],", arriving on April 11.",[],{"_key":19089,"_type":8,"children":19090,"markDefs":19102,"style":16},"bcabc2d5075a",[19091,19095,19098],{"_key":19092,"_type":12,"marks":19093,"text":19094},"1029c4350e33",[],"April 15–May 9: Visits the exhibition ",{"_key":19096,"_type":12,"marks":19097,"text":8926},"eca16e701d0a",[114],{"_key":19099,"_type":12,"marks":19100,"text":19101},"781f077342dd",[],", curated and installed by Marcel Duchamp, during its run at Sidney Janis Gallery, New York.",[],{"_key":19104,"_type":8,"children":19105,"markDefs":19123,"style":16},"ad29104bdc44",[19106,19110,19115,19118],{"_key":19107,"_type":12,"marks":19108,"text":19109},"a9bf2f961420",[],"April 16: ",{"_key":19111,"_type":12,"marks":19112,"text":19114},"32d3b1a68d5b",[19113],"1c97c20ecea4","Writes to tell Twombly, who is visiting family, that he has rented the top floor of 61 Fulton Street, a former industrial building without plumbing in Lower Manhattan.",{"_key":19116,"_type":12,"marks":19117,"text":793},"e9238fe2f07b",[],{"_key":19119,"_type":12,"marks":19120,"text":19122},"37ebf8236ce7",[19121],"cd6c3878c49c","Twombly soon joins him there.",[19124,19134],{"_key":19113,"_type":474,"text":19125},[19126],{"_key":19127,"_type":8,"children":19128,"markDefs":19133,"style":16},"e570a5291092",[19129],{"_key":19130,"_type":12,"marks":19131,"text":19132},"f280c422e7bb",[],"Rauschenberg to Cy Twombly, postcard, April 16, 1953, Cy Twombly Archive, Gaeta.",[],{"_key":19121,"_type":474,"text":19135},[19136],{"_key":19137,"_type":8,"children":19138,"markDefs":19143,"style":16},"060c15ccc65b",[19139],{"_key":19140,"_type":12,"marks":19141,"text":19142},"dd42fbacd005",[],"In four letters to the gallerist Larom Munson, dated from July 6 to ca. 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Phong Bui, “The Stable Gallery: In Conversation with Nicolas Carone,” ",{"_key":19215,"_type":12,"marks":19216,"text":19217},"ae5c23ca2743",[114],"Brooklyn Rail",{"_key":19219,"_type":12,"marks":19220,"text":19221},"7b58cd204229",[]," (Early Summer 2002), ",{"_key":19223,"_type":12,"marks":19224,"text":19226},"57d08443bc37",[19225],"4d1b293c3c06","https:\u002F\u002Fbrooklynrail.org\u002F2002\u002F07\u002Fart\u002Fthe-stable-gallery-in-conversation-with-nicolas-carone",{"_key":19228,"_type":12,"marks":19229,"text":236},"f0167393f663",[],[19231,19232,19233],{"_key":19225,"_type":375,"href":19226},{"_key":19199,"_type":375},{"_key":19208,"_type":375,"href":19234},"https:\u002F\u002Frrfcr.netlify.app\u002Fessays\u002Fjcb-chronology#fn54",[19236],{"_key":19237,"_type":1738,"alt":19238,"asset":19239,"caption":19242},"3e894721174f","A person in a suit sits on a wooden beam in an art space, with a large blank canvas and a few stones visible in the background.",{"_type":1741,"asset":19240},{"_ref":19241,"_type":53},"image-3bf53e27590af61bd42ec5bbafd067bb28b7e215-3000x2845-jpg",[19243],{"_key":19244,"_type":8,"children":19245,"markDefs":19312,"style":16},"44f0841778d2",[19246,19250,19253,19256,19259,19262,19266,19270,19274,19278,19281,19284,19288,19292,19295,19298,19301,19304,19309],{"_key":19247,"_type":12,"marks":19248,"text":19249},"f378496cf091",[],"Robert Rauschenberg seated on ",{"_key":19251,"_type":12,"marks":19252,"text":1372},"2a08a6b10335",[114],{"_key":19254,"_type":12,"marks":19255,"text":338},"6c81f54e61f2",[],{"_key":19257,"_type":12,"marks":19258,"text":1319},"f0d76d56c363",[114],{"_key":19260,"_type":12,"marks":19261,"text":8096},"f23f79ca2fa9",[],{"_key":19263,"_type":12,"marks":19264,"text":8397},"f4a55d9ff834",[19265],"d0b9f246493d",{"_key":19267,"_type":12,"marks":19268,"text":19269},"188ed7b5b0c0",[],") at Stable Gallery, New York, on the occasion of the exhibition ",{"_key":19271,"_type":12,"marks":19272,"text":19273},"91a028864e35",[114],"Rauschenberg: Paintings and Sculpture ",{"_key":19275,"_type":12,"marks":19276,"text":19277},"c64cfd82cfd0",[],"(September 15–October 3, 1953). 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Ward agrees on the condition that they clean it out themselves. They spend much of the summer on the project. ",{"_key":19336,"_type":12,"marks":19337,"text":19339},"2bbbe52eefda",[19338],"d74d8acfb734","Rauschenberg later recalls “pouring a concrete floor and painting the walls.”",[19341],{"_key":19338,"_type":474,"text":19342},[19343],{"_key":19344,"_type":8,"children":19345,"markDefs":19356,"style":16},"faa5d84225d8",[19346,19349,19352],{"_key":19347,"_type":12,"marks":19348,"text":2102},"e19fd0b960bb",[],{"_key":19350,"_type":12,"marks":19351,"text":871},"bd6002393e2a",[114],{"_key":19353,"_type":12,"marks":19354,"text":19355},"0883ba4ebfd6",[],", p. 47.",[],{"_key":19358,"_type":8,"children":19359,"markDefs":19398,"style":16},"614cc340f1db",[19360,19365,19368,19371,19375,19379,19383,19386,19389,19394],{"_key":19361,"_type":12,"marks":19362,"text":19364},"8756d289a87e",[19363],"a67cb8118085","Paints over ",{"_key":19366,"_type":12,"marks":19367,"text":17320},"194c362253ce",[114,19363],{"_key":19369,"_type":12,"marks":19370,"text":338},"6a3ebff815ea",[19363],{"_key":19372,"_type":12,"marks":19373,"text":17328},"86f674d58e85",[19363,19374],"8c03958ef9c1",{"_key":19376,"_type":12,"marks":19377,"text":19378},"6a11f16b1705",[19363],")—the work he gave to Cage in 1951—while the composer is out of town.",{"_key":19380,"_type":12,"marks":19381,"text":19382},"6d73713a5313",[]," Cage is surprised when he returns home to find ",{"_key":19384,"_type":12,"marks":19385,"text":208},"372dd7e4b226",[114],{"_key":19387,"_type":12,"marks":19388,"text":338},"3d4f264fe816",[],{"_key":19390,"_type":12,"marks":19391,"text":19393},"581d1f5660fa",[19392],"87f99d65e2a4","83",{"_key":19395,"_type":12,"marks":19396,"text":19397},"f88cdf6fa527",[],") hanging on his wall.",[19399,19409,19410],{"_key":19363,"_type":474,"text":19400},[19401],{"_key":19402,"_type":8,"children":19403,"markDefs":19408,"style":16},"8d7a779aa136",[19404],{"_key":19405,"_type":12,"marks":19406,"text":19407},"4d81ca646c97",[],"This may have occurred while Cage was at Black Mountain College, Aug. 21–24, 1953.",[],{"_key":19374,"_type":239,"crNo":17385},{"_key":19392,"_type":239,"crNo":19411},"53.016",{"_key":19413,"_type":8,"children":19414,"markDefs":19485,"style":16},"dc6f64112c8d",[19415,19419,19422,19425,19428,19432,19435,19438,19441,19444,19447,19451,19456,19459,19462,19465,19469,19473,19477,19480],{"_key":19416,"_type":12,"marks":19417,"text":19418},"927947fcacc6",[],"September 15–October 3: ",{"_key":19420,"_type":12,"marks":19421,"text":8053},"066325354514",[114],{"_key":19423,"_type":12,"marks":19424,"text":204},"e5d091d27fab",[],{"_key":19426,"_type":12,"marks":19427,"text":8183},"b1ee047956bd",[114],{"_key":19429,"_type":12,"marks":19430,"text":19431},"80762f362f75",[]," are presented concurrently at Stable Gallery, New York. 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",{"_key":19452,"_type":12,"marks":19453,"text":19455},"36b2ca7a2e38",[19454],"c6a2a852bbc7","To Hubert Crehan of ",{"_key":19457,"_type":12,"marks":19458,"text":8257},"5e423f1be684",[114,19454],{"_key":19460,"_type":12,"marks":19461,"text":1403},"7d64937df4d3",[19454],{"_key":19463,"_type":12,"marks":19464,"text":17660},"d2be937cdec2",[114,19454],{"_key":19466,"_type":12,"marks":19467,"text":19468},"c4abd68150ca",[19454],"are “beyond the artistic pale”; James Fitzsimmons, in ",{"_key":19470,"_type":12,"marks":19471,"text":19472},"8f284f6539e7",[114,19454],"Arts and Architecture",{"_key":19474,"_type":12,"marks":19475,"text":19476},"5381b6222f7b",[19454],", maintains that Rauschenberg “has committed a gratuitously destructive act” in hanging them as art.",{"_key":19478,"_type":12,"marks":19479,"text":793},"5faf626dd4e7",[],{"_key":19481,"_type":12,"marks":19482,"text":19484},"84848b8c5007",[19483],"c2334a26ab4a","Ward later recalls, “I lost friends over that show. 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Page of a letter from Robert Rauschenberg to Arthur Frakes, with a self-portrait of the artist, February 1944",[],{"_key":20312,"_type":19894,"label":15203,"sectionBody":20313},"28b98139a4ce",[20314],{"_key":20315,"_type":1642,"content":20316,"images":20371},"5144d736661f",[20317,20337,20349,20361],{"_key":20318,"_type":8,"children":20319,"markDefs":20329,"style":16},"00eecb67b7ea",[20320,20325],{"_key":20321,"_type":12,"marks":20322,"text":20324},"b7c2e3862a3d",[20323,96],"128fc0976454","January 4:",{"_key":20326,"_type":12,"marks":20327,"text":20328},"7e56c051838a",[20323]," Writes to Frakes about his desire to study in Paris and one day open fashion salons in Dallas and New York.",[20330],{"_key":20323,"_type":474,"text":20331},[20332],{"_key":15798,"_type":8,"children":20333,"markDefs":20336,"style":16},[20334],{"_key":15801,"_type":12,"marks":20335,"text":4225},[],[],{"_key":20338,"_type":8,"children":20339,"markDefs":20348,"style":16},"dd7dc85e927f",[20340,20344],{"_key":20341,"_type":12,"marks":20342,"text":20343},"ad0255bf3f7e",[96],"July 2:",{"_key":20345,"_type":12,"marks":20346,"text":20347},"669f9ff9676d",[]," Promoted to the petty officer rank of Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class. His family visits him in San Diego at the end of the month.",[],{"_key":20350,"_type":8,"children":20351,"markDefs":20360,"style":16},"3f6b24d990d5",[20352,20356],{"_key":20353,"_type":12,"marks":20354,"text":20355},"3c5a2bdd7d14",[96],"July 31:",{"_key":20357,"_type":12,"marks":20358,"text":20359},"8a68d9a0c3c1",[]," Transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego to train as a neuropsychiatric technician. 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