RAUSCHENBERG, ROBERT

rouˈshənbûrgˌ, 1925–, American painter, b. Port Arthur, Tex. Rauschenberg studied with Josef Albers. In the late 1950s he came under the influence of Marcel Duchamp, and with Jasper Johns, Rauschenberg became a pivotal figure in the emerging pop art movement. His enormously inventive paintings, incorporating everyday images and objects, are executed in a loose, spontaneous style. He has also experimented with assemblage. Gloria (1956; Cleveland Mus. of Art) and Summer Rental III (1960; Whitney Mus., New York City) are characteristic of his collages known as "combines." Major works of the 1980s and 90s are mainly large constructions, and many of his later works have incorporated photographic images. Rauschenberg has also collaborated with composer John Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham.

See catalogue of his work (National Collection of Fine Arts, 1976) and study by M. Ormond (1985).

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

-39812-