Oral history interview with Susan Davidson, 2015

Biographical Note

Susan Davidson was born in Houston, TX, and is a senior curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Previously, she was the collections curator at the Menil Collection in Houston. As an art historian and curator, Susan Davidson is an authority in the fields of Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art, with an expertise in the art of Robert Rauschenberg. She has been engaged with Rauschenberg's work since 1990, serving as a curatorial advisor to the artist from 2001 until his death in 2008 and as a board member to the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation from 2009 until 2014

Scope and Contents

Susan Davidson discusses her life from her childhood through her work as a young curator under her mentor Walter Hopps. She describes the relationship between Hopps and Robert Rauschenberg via the 1991 retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery and the Menil Collection. Davidson focuses on the transition between the Combines show and the 1997 retrospective in partnership with the Guggenheim Museum. She reviews the two shows co-curated by herself and David White in Italy in 2004 and 2005, touching on critical reception and the relationship between Rauschenberg's style and motivations over time. She also touches on his posthumous legacy, her role curating shows after his death, and serving on the board of the Rauschenberg Foundation

Subjects

• Art museum curators--New York (State)--New York.
• Arts, Modern--20th century.
• Davidson, Susan, 1958---Interviews.
• Hopps, Walter.
• Interviews.
• Menil Collection (Houston, Tex.)
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
• Sinclair, Sara, interviewer.
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Access Conditions

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