Robert Rauschenberg Foundation oral history collection, 2013-2016

Biographical Note

Robert Rauschenberg was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his use of everyday objects as art materials, which blurred the distinctions between painting and sculpture. Rauschenberg was both a painter and a sculptor, but he also worked with photography, printmaking, papermaking and performance. Collaboration and experimentation were constants in Rauschenberg's art. The list of his collaborators is long and varied, including composer John Cage and dancers Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown. In 1966 he established Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) with scientist Billy Kluver to promote interaction between artists and scientists. Rauschenberg was also active in matters of artists' rights. During the early 1970s he established Change, Inc., to provide quick access to funds for artists in need. Rauschenberg received numerous awards during his nearly sixty-year artistic career. Among the most prominent were the International Grand Prize in Painting at the 32nd Venice Biennale in 1964 (both the youngest artist and first American-born artist to win the Golden Lion) and the National Medal of Arts in 1993. In 1984, Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI) was established, with exhibitions traveling to Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, China, Tibet, Japan, Cuba, the Soviet Union, Germany, Malaysia, and the United States. Rauschenberg lived and worked in New York City and on Captiva Island, Florida, until his death in May 2008

Scope and Contents

The Robert Rauschenberg oral history collection consists of 59 interviews taken for a joint oral history project between the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and the Columbia Center for Oral History Research at INCITE (Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics). The project's objectives were twofold: 1) To explore the forces that shaped Rauschenberg, and the evolution of the artist over the course of his lifetime and 2) To explore Rauschenberg's influence upon artistic individuals and communities, and to investigate the complexity of this influence which transcended the genres and movements of his time. Four distinct time periods were identified that would be focused on: 1950s-1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s-2008. Using these time periods, the following strands were investigated: Rauschenberg's life and legacy; the creative legacy of the individuals interviewed; and how, through innovation and experimentation, these individuals shaped the artistic and social movements of their time. Most narrators are artists or creators, ranging from dancers to composers to engineers to photographers to printmakers, Rauschenberg collaborated with, but there are also family members, friends, gallery owners, journalists, and others he met in his travels Interviewers begin by asking the narrator about their early life, their introduction to art, and how they came to be a part of Rauschenberg's world. Narrators discuss Rauschenberg's early life and his family; growing up in Texas, serving in the Navy, studying at the Kansas City Art Institute, the Académie Julian in Paris, France, and at Black Mountain College in North Carolina They describe the energy at 381 Bowery and New York City's downtown social scene in the 1960s and 1970s: the community and ambiance that was created out of necessity, how artists related to each other at the time, and a revolving door of art, people, and parties. Narrators reflect on how Rauschenberg surrounded himself with a community of artists that were constantly working, collaborating, and creating together, and how Rauschenberg functioned as a network-builder in that scene. Narrators talk about Rauschenberg's property in Captiva, Florida: the community created there, the feeling of physical remoteness in the early days, and the party scene that emerged. Many touched on Rauschenberg's struggle with dyslexia that led him to absorb information in a variety of other ways. Several narrators discuss specific works of art they helped create; they discuss new techniques and technologies that he embraced, his use of found objects in his art, and his artistic process. His mentoring of younger artists, his philanthropy, and his clear focus on his legacy towards the end of his life are all discussed by a variety of narrators The collection's narrators are: Laurie Anderson, Dore Ashton, Janet Begneaud, Rick Begneaud, Jr., Lynda Benglis, Irving Blum, Thomas Buehler, Ed Chappell, Jack Cowart, Susan Davidson, Laddie John Dill, Virginia Dwan, Ken Elliott, Kat Epple, Sidney B. Felsen, Simone Forti, Laurence Getford, John Giorno, Arne Glimcher, Agnes Gund, Matt Hall, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Harold Hodges, Eric Holt, George Holzer, Caroline Huber, Fredericka Hunter, Mary Lynn Kotz, Charles Lahti, Richard Landry, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Anne Hodge Livet, Lewis Lloyd, Sheryl Long, Peter MacGill, Brice Marden, Julie Martin, Bob Monk, Patty Mucha, Robert Petersen, Tim Pharr, Yvonne Rainer, Christopher Rauschenberg, Deli Sacilotto, Donald Saff, Asha Sarabhai, Suhrid Sarabhai, Hisachika Takahashi, Mayo Thompson, Calvin Tomkins, Lawrence Voytek, Susan Weil, Lawrence Weiner, David White, Robert Whitman, Sylvia Palacios Whitman, Ealan Wingate, and Larry B. Wright

Subjects

• Art, Modern--20th century.
• Art--Technique--20th century.
• Artists--New York (State)--New York--20th century.
• Artists and community.
• Arts--Experimental methods--20th century.
• Interviews
• Oral histories
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008
• Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange.
• Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, with the exception of the interview with Ed Chappell, for which Columbia Universtiy holds a non-exclusive license.