Robert Rauschenberg

Over the course of his six-decade career, Robert Rauschenberg embraced pop culture, technical experimentation, and material eclecticism. Today, he’s perhaps best known for his radical, three-dimensional “Combines”—which he composed from discarded materials and mundane objects such as sheet metal, newspaper, tires, and umbrellas—and for his colorful silkscreen paintings on which he screen-printed, then painted over, collaged photographs sourced from books and magazines. In 1964, Rauschenberg made history when he became the first American to win the Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale. In the years since, Rauschenberg has been the subject of solo shows at the Guggenheim, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, and Moderna Museet, among other institutions. His work belongs in collections worldwide and has sold for tens of millions at auction.