Erasing the Rules - A Robert Rauschenberg Retrospective at SFMOMA

The long creative career of the iconic American artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925 - 2008) has left an incredibly diverse body of work, which proved to be intriguing, whimsical, and sometimes deeply profound, as seen in a special exhibition at SFMOMA, titld Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules (November 18, 2017–March 25, 2018):

From the 1940s until his passing in 2008, Rauschenberg worked with everything from photography to items scavenged from New York City streets to vats of bubbling mud. More than 150 of Rauschenberg’s artworks, including prints, sculptures, paintings, and Combines (works that incorporate painting and sculpture), will be on view in the retrospective Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules, celebrating the artist’s continual experimentation with materials and collaborative working processes. The exhibition demonstrates how, with razor-sharp humor and intelligence, Rauschenberg broke down boundaries between disciplines, anticipated many of the defining cultural and social issues of our time, and redefined what art could be for the generations of artists who followed.

The exhibition was largely organized in chronological order, thus gave the viewers a clear sense of the evolution of the artist, and also certain trends of the art world.

First group mostly consisted of chromatic graphic works from the 1950s and they were quite fascinating.


Sue, c 1950, Robert Rauschenberg & Susan Weil


Untitles (Scatole personali), c 1952


22 The Lily White, 1951 & Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953


A Print Designed to exist in passing time, Rauschenberg, 1948


Automobile Tire Print, 1953


Untitled (Night Blooming), c 1951 & Untitled [black painting], 1952

Later on, his works obtained more colors and the third dimension, literally.


Untitled, 1958


Bed, 1955 & First Time Painting, 1961


Monogram, 1955-59


Factum I & Factum II, 1957 & 1957

One of his most ambitious and impactful accomplishment was a cycle of thirty-four illustrations for Inferno, with complex motifs and compositions, and appealingly understated palettes. These illustrations were as profound as they were beautiful.


Thirty-Four Illustrations for Inferno (1-4, 18-21), 1958-60


Thirty-Four Illustrations for Inferno (5-8, 22-25), 1958-60


Thirty-Four Illustrations for Inferno (9-12, 26-29), 1958-60

 
Thirty-Four Illustrations for Inferno (13-17, 30-34), 1958-60


Thirty-Four Illustrations for Inferno, 1958-60

Moving to the 1970s, Rauschenberg produced more works in three dimensions, and sometimes with additional mechanical motions and even sound, a fourth dimension.


Mud Muse, 1968-71


Untitled (Venetian), 1973

Some were startlingly delicate, such as the Glacier and Jetty (Hoarfrost), and some robust and foreboding, such as Sor Aqua (Venetia).


Glacier (Hoarfrost), 1974 & Jetty (Hoarfrost), 1974


Sor Aqua (Venetia), 1973

Another highlight was his 1978 Hiccups, a group of paintings/prints on paper and zipped together into a long band, in no specified order. They were intriguing, beautiful, and deeply touching, for reasons hard to pin down.


Hiccups (partial), 1978








Hiccups, 1978

I also like several pieces from late, such as the 1991 Holiday Ruse (Night Shade), when he was in his mid-seventies.


Holiday Ruse (Night Shade), 1991


Catastrophe (Arcadian Retreat), 1996


Jap, 1999


Eagle Eye (Ruminations), 1999

Great encounter with this amazing artist.


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