“The Private Collection of Robert Rauchenberg” will be on view at Gagosian Gallery for the first time. A collaboration between Gagosian Gallery and the Robert Rauchenberg Foundation, proceeds will help fund the philanthropic activities of the Foundation. This is also the first time an artist’s personal collection will be presented by Gagosian. It follows the 2010 survey exhibition of his work.
During his career as an artist he formed many long lasting friendships with his contemporaries and collected the work of others voraciously. Included in the show are pieces by Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Beuys Claes Olsenburg, Andy Warhol and Cy Twombly, all masters of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Robert Rauchenberg was a pioneer in the Abstract Expressionist movement and worked alongside Jasper Johns, Willem deKooning, and Jackson Pollack. He created works using a solvent transfer method and assemblage where he combined found objects with painting to create wonderful mixtures with both humorous and complex ideas. His performances with other artists, musicians and actors were the first “Happenings” and hailed by the public as some of the most exciting and revolutionary of the times. Also designing for the theater and dance worlds, his collaborations include costumes and sets for the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Merce Cunningham.
Throughout his life he devoted his time to both art and philanthropy. In 1970 he founded an organization to help artists financially, Change, Inc. and in the 1980’s the Rauchenberg Overseas Culture Interchange, a ground breaking collaborative that forged ties among communities and the modern world through international dialogue and peace-keeping efforts. In 1990 he started the Robert Rauchenberg Foundation to promote the awareness of charitable causes he had a special affinity for. He once said “Art Can Change the World” and his foundation hopes to further the aims of various environmental and humanitarian efforts through grants, educational programs and artworks that benefit these groups. Since the artist’s death in 2008 the Foundation has endeavored to maintain his legacy.
The exhibit includes works spanning his entire career and a catalogue of these pieces is now currently underway. The show will be on view through December 23 of this year. Gagosian Gallery is located at 980 Madison Avenue, telephone: 212.744.2313. Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10-6.
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