Robert Rauschenberg Residence (Speculations)

The celebrated Combines, begun in the mid-1950s, brought real-world images and objects into the realm of abstract painting and countered sanctioned divisions between painting and sculpture. These works established the artist’s ongoing dialogue between mediums, between the handmade and the readymade, and between the gestural brushstroke and the mechanically reproduced image. Rauschenberg’s lifelong commitment to collaboration—with performers, printmakers, engineers, writers, artists, and artisans from around the world—is a further manifestation of his expansive artistic philosophy.

Rauschenberg’s impulse to merge media and spheres of artistic activity propelled him into the realm of experimental dance and theater. He designed costumes, lighting, and sets for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1954 to 1964, and in 1963 he began choreographing and performing in works of his own invention. His interest in collaborating with scientists and engineers led him to cofound Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), an organization that fostered such partnerships, in 1967. The 1960s also saw Rauschenberg becoming increasingly active politically, with particular emphasis on global humanitarian and environmental issues. At the end of the decade, he moved permanently to Captiva Island, Florida, prompting a radical change in his work as he turned temporarily to simple materials such as paper, cardboard, and pencil, partly in response to the spare resources of his new island home.