Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, 1967,
acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen,
14 x 10 1/4 in. (35.6 x 26 cm),
© Andy Warhol. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.
Photography by Robert McKeever.
Collection of the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust
You go to someone’s home, observe what’s around, meet their friends and, from this input, gain a better understanding of the person. Similarly, for more insight into an artist and what he or she does, look at what he or she collects.
The exhibition, The Private Collection of Robert Rauschenberg at the Gagosian Gallery offers this opportunity. Curated by Ealen Wingate, the director of Gagosian’s 24th Street gallery, the show provides visual evidence of Robert Rauschenberg’s extensive interests and intimacies. It makes obvious the collection's inclusive quality which links it to the artist's own work - silk screens and Combines which may include anything and everything.
The exhibition, The Private Collection of Robert Rauschenberg at the Gagosian Gallery offers this opportunity. Curated by Ealen Wingate, the director of Gagosian’s 24th Street gallery, the show provides visual evidence of Robert Rauschenberg’s extensive interests and intimacies. It makes obvious the collection's inclusive quality which links it to the artist's own work - silk screens and Combines which may include anything and everything.
Installation view of The Private Collection of Robert Rauschenberg
© Gagosian Gallery.
Photography by Robert McKeever.
Collection of the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust
From left to right:
Jean Tinquely, Untitiled, 1962,
brick, metal, feather, tape and motor,
21 x 10 1/2 x 8 in. (53.3 x 26.7 x 20.3 cm)
Unknown, Mali (Bamana), Power Object (Boli)
wood, clay, organic substances such as earth, sacrificial blood,
bark, honey, chewed kola nut, millet and beet,
15 x 20 x 6 1/2 in. (38.1 x 50.8 x 16.5 cm)
Unknown Amazon, Tribal Costumes, 20th Century,
beaten bark, string, balsa wood,
73 x 25 in. (185.4 x 63.5 cm)
Some 145 works which the artist acquired through gifts, exchanges, or purchases are on view. There are paintings, drawings, sculptures, sketches, letters, notes, photographs, musical notations, tribal artifacts, and other items held on to for private reasons. The installation, which takes over three of the gallery's floors, entices visitors with interesting juxtapositions and surprises. Since archival material is scarce, determining how and when pieces were obtained is difficult.
Installation view of The Private Collection of Robert Rauschenberg
© Gagosian Gallery.
Photography by Robert McKeever.
Collection of the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust
From left to right:
Andy Warhol, Gem, 1979,
acrylic, silkscreen ink, and diamond dust on linen,
54 x 86 in. (137.2 x 218.4 cm)
John Chamberlain, Untitled, c. 1965,
painted and chroium plated steel,
43 x 35 1/2 x 26 in. (109.2 x 90.2 x 66 cm)
James Rosenquist, Spaghetti, 1965,
oil on linen,
30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm)
There are works by Rauschenberg’s close friends Cy Twombly and Jasper Johns as well as other contemporaries like Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Frank Stella, Öyvind Fahlström, James Rosenquist, and John Chamberlain. Women artists include Elaine Sturtevant, Susan Weil and Niki de Saint Phalle. Among a younger generation are Brice Marsden, Damian Hirst, Ed Ruscha and Al Taylor. Photographers represented include Hans Namuth, Robert Mapplethorpe, Mathew Brady, and Eadweard Muybridge. Materials by choreographers and composers such as Philip Glass, John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Trish Brown are also here. In addition, there are modern masters like Henri Matisse, Kurt Schwitters, Marcel Duchamp, René Magritte and Francis Picabia. The variety attests to Rauschenberg's gregarious and generous nature.
Many items were made for Rauschenberg and inscribed - For Bob, Marcel (Marcel Duchamp), For Bob, B. Marsden (Brice Marden), Flowers for Bob, Cy (Cy Twombly), Token for Bob, Trish Brown, For Bob, Al Tayor, Pour Robert, Tinguely (Jean Tinguely) and more. Merce Cunningham’s 1993 pen on paper, Choreography Instructions, has on its reverse a letter which describes the dance and ends with the wish: “I hope you will help us do this.”
Installation view of The Private Collection of Robert Rauschenberg
© Gagosian Gallery.
Photography by Robert McKeever.
Collection of the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust
Clockwise from top left to right:
Andy Warhol, Eggs, 1982,
Acrylic and silkscreen enamel on canvas,
8 x 8 in. (20.3 x 20.3 cm)
Elaine Sturtevant, Untitled, 1967,
silkscreen on canvas,
40 x 32 3/8 in. (101.6 x 82.2 cm)
Jean Tinquely, Saint Phalle, 1961,
wood stool, wire and pigments,
28 1/2 x 14 x 16 1/2 in. (72.4 x 35.6 41.9 cm)
The show presents something for everyone. Two photographs of stores are sumptuous in detailing. Themes of sales and foreign lands, various objects, shapes, textures, layers of space and the mechanically made would surely have intrigued Rauschenberg. Eugene Atget’s Shop, Halles Market, 1925, is all reflections and ambiguous layers of planes. Hung below is Kusakabe Kimbei’s The Silk Store, c. 1890. Although black and white, Kimbei’s image of overlapping textile patterns appears colorful.
Duchamp’s pencil drawing, Peasant’s Leg, 1904-05, is adjacent to Magritte’s 1963 Study for the Well of Truth, a pastel depicting a trouser leg. Seen together, they illicit concepts of rural and urban, formal and informal as well as what constitutes suburb draftsmanship.
Twombly’s 1970 and 1982 “Flowers for Bob” were birthday pictures made for Rauschenberg. The graphite and crayon earlier work could pass for a Matisse or Bonnard design.
Twombly’s 1970 and 1982 “Flowers for Bob” were birthday pictures made for Rauschenberg. The graphite and crayon earlier work could pass for a Matisse or Bonnard design.
Cy Twombly, Untitled, 1953,
oil based house paint on canvas,
52 1/8 x 52 1/8 in. (132.4 x 132.4 cm),
© Cy Twombly. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.
Photography by Robert McKeever.
Collection of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
Not often seen are two early career pieces. One is by Hirst, Expanded from Small Red Wheel, a 1985 assemblage-like construction; the other is by Twombly, a suggestive black and white canvas, Untitled, 1953. The latter reminiscent of Jean Dubuffet’s late 1940s and early 1950s paintings,
Although some important works by Johns had been sold in the 1980s to support the artist’s international project ROCI - Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange - significant things remain such as the encaustic Map of 1960 and 1958 papier-mâché Flashlight II.
Although some important works by Johns had been sold in the 1980s to support the artist’s international project ROCI - Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange - significant things remain such as the encaustic Map of 1960 and 1958 papier-mâché Flashlight II.
The exhibit has many things that simply delight. Marden’s elegance is nicely exemplified by Study for Lot, 1968 and Untitled Drawing, 1965. Ruscha’s 1980 Romeo, With Contraceptive Ghost is alluring. Warhol’s portraits of the artist are touching. Alexander Calder’s 1925 Study of a Chicken amuses. Fahlström’s Unititled Cutout, c. 1973, provokes thought.
On the fourth floor, opposite the building’s two main elevators, is a blown-up, mural-size photograph of Rauschenberg in his studio. The image is filled with works from the artist’s collection. You can clearly recognize Marcel Duchamp’s Bottle Rack (aka Bottle dryer) and two of Tinquely’s constructions, Radio No. 1 and Saint Phalle. The photo is a record of how Rauschenberg lived with these artworks on a daily basis.
Many exhibition pieces are for sale to benefit the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Established by the artist in 1990, the Foundation engages in philanthropic activities supporting artists, arts education, environmental and humanitarian endeavors.
A catalogue of selected works from the collection is in progress.
The Private Collection of Robert Rauschenberg
November 3, 2011 - December 23, 2011
980 Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York
Tuesday - Saturday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
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