Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925, Port Arthur, Texas; d. 2008, Captiva, Florida) briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin in 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II prior to studying art. Upon being honorably discharged in the summer of 1945, Rauschenberg enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute (1947) and later at the Académie Julien in Paris (1948) before studying with Josef Albers at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where he formed life-long friendships with John Cage, Merce Cunningham and David Tudor. Rauschenberg received acclaim for his C_ombine sculptures_, works that incorporated painting and a variety of found objects. The juxtaposition of different media (lithography, painting, photography, silk-screening and sculpture) and their interplay comprise Rauschenberg's chief interests, and throughout his career, his work has been marked by a sense of experimentation and chance.