Robert Rauschenberg

The Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange, or ROCI (pronounced “Rocky,” the name of the artist’s pet turtle), was a tangible expression of Robert Rauschenberg’s (1925–2008) long-term commitment to human rights and to the freedom of artistic expression. Funded almost entirely by the artist himself, Rauschenberg traveled to countries around the world often where artistic experimentation had been suppressed with the purpose of sparking a dialogue and achieving a mutual understanding through the creative process. Between 1985 and 1990, the project was realized in 10 countries in the following order: Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, China, Tibet, Japan, Cuba, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Germany and Malaysia, with a final exhibition held in 1991 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
This catalog is the only in-print publication on Rauschenberg’s ROCI initiative, making it an invaluable text for understanding this important and long-running project.

Over the course of a 15-year period, Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) frequently traveled to Japan, where he developed a keen interest in ceramics. The artist began to create his own, developing an idiosyncratic process that combined ancient Japanese pottery traditions with modern innovations.
This striking volume charts Rauschenberg’s foray into the medium. Including previously unpublished archival material, the book presents two of his rarely seen series,The Japanese Clayworks (1982/1985) and Japanese Recreational Clayworks (1982–83/1985). The former features sculptural elements and photographic imagery of ancient and modern Japan, as well as distinctive brushstrokes; the latter series comprises prefabricated reproductions of historical Western artworks on ceramic panels, to which Rauschenberg added his own imagery of contemporary Japan from photographs he took across the country, along with gestural brushwork.

This publication is entirely dedicated to Robert Rauschenberg’s (1925–2008) Phantoms and Night Shades, made in 1991 and widely considered to be the artist's most experimental series.

In the Night Shades, photographs by the artist are silkscreened onto aluminum panels that have been treated with a corrosive varnish, revealing and concealing evanescent images. In the Phantoms, photographs are silkscreened onto a mirrored surface.

In these ethereal works, Rauschenberg alludes to his artistic past by conjuring the palimpsestic actions of memory. This publication includes an essay by the American painter David Salle. The plates are accompanied by source images by the artist.

Asked about his use of the term “Spread,” Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) responded that it meant “as far as I can make it stretch, and land (like a farmer’s ‘spread’), and also the stuff you put on toast.” Prompted by an imminent retrospective of his work in 1976, Rauschenberg sourced motifs from his own past—tires, bedding, electric lights, bird wings, umbrellas and parachutes—and recombined them with textiles and printed media images in large-scale, quasi-architectural works.

This fully illustrated catalog is the first devoted to Robert Rauschenberg's Spreads series (1975–83). It includes full-page reproductions of the artist's paintings and works on paper. In her essay, Elisa Schaar states: "Rather than a retrospective exercise, the Spreads is a series with visual and historical specificity in its own right, incorporating not only elements from Rauschenberg’s earlier work, but also reflecting changes in his life, his practice and in contemporary art at the time."

Robert Rauschenberg: Borealis 1988–92 is the first publication dedicated to the Borealis series by Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) and accompanies the eponymous exhibition held at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, in 2019. The essay by Corinna Thierolf, chief curator of the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, examines the iconography of one of Rauschenberg’s most experimental series, for which he silk-screened his own photographs on reflective surfaces such as brass, copper and bronze.

This comprehensive publication documents the exhibition and features other major Borealis works from museum collections. In addition to Thierolf’s analysis, each work is accompanied by exclusive source images taken or found by the artist during his prescient global art project, the Robert Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI).

Between 1958 and 1960, Robert Rauschenberg produced a series of 34 drawings, one for each Canto, or section, of Dante’s poem The Inferno (1308–1321). Together they are a virtual encyclopedia of modern-day imagery, made by transferring photographic reproductions from magazines or newspapers onto the drawing surface. “I think a picture is more like the real world when it’s made out of the real world,” Rauschenberg said. With additional imagery in pencil, crayon, pastel and collage, the drawings reflect Rauschenberg’s desire to infiltrate his art with the scenes and sounds of the surrounding world, a radical departure from the more transcendent ambitions of Abstract Expressionism.

Published in conjunction with the first major retrospective on Rauschenberg’s career since the artist’s death in 2008, this book presents the complete set of 34 drawings, with an introduction by curator Leah Dickerman and newly commissioned poetry from Kevin Young and Robin Coste Lewis, each reflecting on a selection of drawings and their corresponding Cantos.

The early 1950s, when Robert Rauschenberg launched his career, was the heyday of the heroic gestural painting of Abstract Expressionism. Rauschenberg challenged this tradition, inventing new interdisciplinary models of artistic practice that shaped the decades to come. Published in conjunction with this century's first retrospective of this defining figure in postwar art, this richly illustrated catalog reframes Rauschenberg’s widely celebrated Combines (1954–64) and silkscreen paintings (1962–64) in fresh ways. It also illuminates lesser-known periods within Rauschenberg’s career, including his work of the early 1950s and that from the late 1960s onward, now compelling and prescient to contemporary eyes.

Sixteen short essays by eminent scholars and emerging new writers focus on specific moments throughout Rauschenberg’s career, exploring his creative production across an extraordinary range of media and following him on his travels around the globe. Integrating new scholarship, documentary imagery and archival materials, Robert Rauschenberg is the first comprehensive catalogue of the artist’s career in 20 years, an important contribution to American cultural and intellectual history and a necessary volume for anyone interested in contemporary art.

Over the span of six decades, Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) worked in an astonishing range of mediums including painting, sculpture, prints, photography and performance. Working alone and in collaboration with artists, dancers, musicians and writers, Rauschenberg produced a vast body of work that set the course for art of the present day.

Leah Dickerman is Director of Editorial & Content Strategy at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Achim Borchardt-Hume is Director of Exhibitions at Tate Modern, London.

Yve-Alain Bois is Professor of Art History at the School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University.

Andrianna Campbellis a doctoral candidate in the Department of Art History at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she specializes in American art in the modern and contemporary period.

Hal Foster is American art critic and historian.

Mark Godfrey is Curator of Contemporary Art at Tate Modern, London.

Hiroko Ikegami is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies at Kobe University and specializes in post-1945 American art and its global impact.

Branden Joseph is Frank Gallipoli Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University.

Ed Kr?ma is Lecturer in History of Art at the School of World Art and Museum Studies, University of East Anglia and co-editor of Enclave Review.

Michelle Kuo is Professor in the History, Law, and Society program at the American University of Paris on issues related to race, punishment, immigration and the law.

Pamela Lee is Carnegie Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at Yale University.

Emily Liebert is an American author. Her most recent novels are You Knew Me When (2013), When We Fall (2014), Those Secrets We Keep (2015) and Some Women (2016), all with Penguin Random House and Pretty Revenge (2019) with Simon & Schuster.

Richard Meyer is Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor in Art History at Stanford University.

Helen Molesworth is former Chief Curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Kate Nesin is an art historian based in New York.

Sarah Robertsis Assistant Professor of Information Studies at the University of California Los Angeles.

Catherine Wood is Senior Curator of Contemporary Art and Performance at Tate Modern."

This limited edition of 500 copies, housed in a clothbound clamshell box, includes the trade publication, plus a facsimile edition of Rauschenberg’s series of drawings from 1958–60, each reproduced at actual size on individual sheets.

The early 1950s, when Robert Rauschenberg launched his career, was the heyday of the heroic gestural painting of Abstract Expressionism. Rauschenberg challenged this tradition, inventing new intermedia forms of art making that shaped the decades to come. Published in conjunction with the inaugural 21st-century retrospective of this defining figure, this book offers fresh perspectives on Rauschenberg’s widely celebrated Combines (1954–64) and silkscreen paintings (1962–64). It also illuminates lesser-known periods within Rauschenberg’s career, including his work of the early 1950s and that from the late 1960s onward, now compelling and prescient to contemporary eyes.

Sixteen short essays by eminent scholars and emerging new writers focus on specific moments within Rauschenberg’s career, examining his creative production across an extraordinary range of media. Integrating new scholarship, documentary imagery and archival materials, Robert Rauschenberg is the first comprehensive catalogue of the artist’s career in 20 years, an important contribution to American cultural and intellectual history across disciplines and a necessary volume for anyone interested in art of the present day.

Over the span of six decades, Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) worked in an astonishing range of mediums including painting, sculpture, prints, photography and performance, and became one of the most transformative figures in postwar American culture. Working alone and in collaboration with artists, dancers, musicians and writers, Rauschenberg produced a vast body of work that continues to resonate today.

Leah Dickerman is The Marlene Hess Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. Achim Borchardt-Hume is Director of Exhibitions, Tate Modern. Yve-Alain Bois is Professor of Art History, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University. Andrianna Campbell is a Doctoral Candidate, CUNY Graduate Center. Hal Foster is Townsend Martin, Class of 1917, Professor of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University.  Mark Godfrey is Senior Curator, International Art (Europe and Americas), Tate Modern. Hiroko Ikegami is Associate Professor, Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Kobe University. Branden Joseph is Frank Gallipoli Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University. Ed Krcma is Lecturer in Art History, University of East Anglia. Michelle Kuo is Editor in Chief, Artforum International Magazine. Pamela Lee is Jeanette and William Hayden Jones Professor in American Art and Culture, Stanford University. Emily Liebert is Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. Richard Meyer is Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor in Art History, Stanford University. Helen Molesworth is Chief Curator, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Kate Nesin is Associate Curator, Art Institute of Chicago. Sarah Roberts is Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Catherine Wood is Senior Curator, International Art (Performance).