Oral history interview with Tim Pharr, 2015

Biographical Note

Tim Pharr was born in Georgia. He is a carpenter and worked building frameworks for Robert Rauschenberg in Captiva, FL, beginning in 1976. Pharr also worked on installing large pieces in various museums for Rauschenberg. They developed a long-term working relationship and friendship

Scope and Contents

Tim Pharr, a carpenter who worked for Robert Rauschenberg building frames, describes the long working relationship he had with the artist. He talks about the difficulties of engineering specialized frames as Rauschenberg worked in ever-changing media. He also recalls both the professional and the personal dynamic of the compound at Captiva. He reflects on the influence Rauschenberg and artists like Cy Twombly had on him, and offers some reflections on Rauschenberg's personal and professional anxieties

Subjects

• Artistic collaboration.
• Captiva Island (Fla.)
• Carpenters in art.
• Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Pharr, Tim--Interviews.
• Picture frames and framing.
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Sinclair, Sara interviewer.
• Site-specific installations (Art)

Access Conditions

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