Oral history interview with Janet Begneaud, 2015

Biographical Note

Janet Begnaud was born in Port Arthur, TX, and grew up in Lafayette, LA. She is Robert Rauschenberg's sister, and was ten years younger than him. Begneaud worked as a real estate broker for many years and is active in community projects, serving as president and then participating in the Junior League of Lafayette for nearly six decades. Begneaud has one son, Rick Begneaud, and two grandchildren

Scope and Contents

Janet Begneaud, Robert Rauschenberg's sister, begins with a family history, talking about her parents' early lives and how they came to meet in Port Arthur, Texas where both she and her older brother were born. Begnead narrates her own childhood: her religious upbringing in the Church of Christ; the presence of a large extended family; and what she describes as a very simple, happy childhood. She talks about Rauschenberg's early encounters with paint. Begneaud recalls specific memories of her brother: travelling to Connecticut for Rauschenberg's wedding to Sue Weil; his untraditional painting for her parents' church; and a nude he painted at Black Mountain College. Begneaud talks of trips to visit her brother in New York City, including when Rauschenberg shared a loft with Jasper Johns. She remembers meeting Ileana Sonnabend, attending art openings, and various celebrity encounters. Begneaud discusses meeting Fidel Castro during travels for Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI) CUBA; shares her impressions of watching Rauschenberg do his walk through of gallery spaces before show openings; narrates the Mexico City ROCI opening; and discusses her travels to celebrate the commission of Whistle Stop (Spread) in Fort Worth, Texas. Begneaud also reminisces about Rauschenberg making her a Cardboard in her garage at home in Lafayette and years later seeing that piece at his Guggenheim retrospective

Subjects

• Abstract expressionism.
• Art--Exhibitions.
• Begneaud, Janet--Interviews.
• Castro, Fidel, 1926-2016.
• Cuba.
• Interviews.
• Johns, Jasper, 1930-
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Port Arthur (Tex.)
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange.
• Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
• Sinclair, Sara, interviewer.
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
• Sonnabend, Ileana.
• Weil, Susan.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2015