One of the hallmarks of modern art, beginning with artists like Picasso, was the incorporation of items from real life into art. Robert Rauschenberg was one of the first artists, following in the tradition of Picasso, to take items and images from the word around him and incorporate them into his art.
Origins
Robert Rauschenberg was born in 1925 in Port Arthur, Texas. He grew up wanting to be a minister, but abandoned the idea after joining the Marines, where he discovered his drawing talent.
Black Mountain College
After Rauschenberg left the Marines, he became an art student at the Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Black Mountain College was a center or artistic exploration and radical new ideas, formed and taught by artists like John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Willen de Kooning and Franz Kline.
New York City
Feeling isolated in the country setting of Black Mountain College, Rauschenberg decided to leave the school and try his luck as an artist in New York City. There, among the city's frenetic pace and creative energy, Rauschenberg found his style as a painter.
Rejection of Ab Ex
Rauschenberg did not believe in the ethos of abstract expressionism, which was the prevalent style of the time; he felt that abstract expressionism took itself too seriously.
Combines
Rauschenberg's legendary works--what he called "combines"--were three-dimensional collages made from found objects. The idea behind the "combines" is both the process of finding and selecting the objects and images, and also what they are meant to say about our culture.
Pop Art
As Pop Art developed through the 1960s, Rauschenberg collaged and screenprinted pop culture images, and applied paint and/or ink over the top. These works appeared to be quite abstract, but the carefully selected details of connected imagery told a story about modern society.
