Silkscreens

Robert Rauschenberg is among the most prominent figures in American printmaking, producing over 800 published editions during his artistic career. Printmaking was the perfect medium for the artist, who was fascinated with incorporating everyday materials into his art, including family photographs, street litter, magazine cut-outs, receipts, his personal medical x-rays, and even astrological charts. To create his ambitious collage-like prints, Rauschenberg invented entirely new printmaking techniques, such as one that combined lithography with silkscreen, in collaboration with the master printmaker Kenneth Tyler. Rauschenberg credits his success as a printmaker with his dyslexia. “I already see things backwards!” he says. “You see, in printmaking everything comes out backwards so printing is an absolute natural for me.”