Griep 1

Kylie Griep
Mrs. Rossi
Art II
2 November 2016
Robert Rauschenberg
The artist I chose was Robert Rauschenberg and he alive from 1925 to 2008. Rauschenbergs art
showed a lot of what was going on in the world. For example, one of his paintings called Earth Day
was a collage of many things relating to the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Rauschenberg was known
for his Neo-Dada style which refers to pieces of artwork from the 1950s that use modern materials in a
pop art style. He was a big part of the Neo-Dada movement along with other artist such as Jasper Johns,
Allan Kaprow, and Robert Morris.
Robert Rauschenberg was born on October 22, 1925, where his mother made his familys
clothing from scrap pieces of fabric. This later influenced some of his later art work with collages and
assemblages. As a kid, he also drew images like the ones from his comic books, but he was
unappreciated for his drawings. Robert started out by going to the University of Texas in Austin to study
pharmacology, but in his first year he got expelled because he didnt want to dissect a frog. Later, during
the war, he was a medical technician in the Navy Hospital Corps but after the war ended, he attended art
classes at Kansas State University. This is where he decided to start a new life with a new name (Bob). A
year after, he traveled to Paris to study at the Academie Julian. After meeting another American student
named Susan Weil, they went to Black Mountain College in North Carolina. The director at the school,
Josef Albers, who greatly inspired Robert Rauschenbergs later pieces of work. Rauschenberg followed
the Neo-Dada movement, which emphasizes on the art produced, not on the concept of making the art.
He also expressed an art style of pop art, abstract expressionism, postmodernism, and modern art.

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Rauschenberg made a lot of collages and assemblages too. Some of his work, like in Retroactive I he
used oil and silkscreen ink on a canvas. He took many different images, objects, or scenes from
magazines or TV and put them together into a one piece of art.
Sky Garden

By Robert Rauschenberg

Created: 1969

In Sky Garden there were multiple pictures from newspapers and magazines, some of them include
Apollo 11 lunar launch, and other space related images. He created a piece that incorporated the
technology from the space mission and the nature (some trees and a heron).
The piece Sky Garden has many different images within the photo. In the top right corner, as well as
diagonally to the bottom right, are two pictures of the space shuttle launch in 1969. These two pictures
show natural colors but make them stand out more. For example, the water is just a single blue color.
There are also palm trees around the space shuttle in the upper right hand corner. In the upper left hand
corner, there is a heron in blue and white with red lines above it. Directly below the first space shuttle is,
what looks like, the inside of the space craft in a red and white monochromatic scheme. A little bit
farther below that is another red and white print that looks like a zebra pattern. In the middle of the
artwork, there is the shuttle blasting off into space with a white cloud trailing behind it (also printed in
red and white). In the bottom right hand corner there is a badge in red and white that has the words
From Plant Earth on the top edge of the badge, along with the date, 1969, on bottom edge. Above the
badge there is an image of a man at a control station which is also in red and white. If you look at the
overall picture together there is a white outline of a spaceship along with lines pointing and naming the
parts of the ship.

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Retroactive I

By Robert Rauschenberg

Created in 1963

This piece of art work was made in 1963, including many different photos/objects/scenes from this time.
Retroactive I has many different pictures each representing different thing. For example, the Astronaut
symbolizes the wealth of the United States. The picture of John F. Kennedy symbolizes the hope of
Americas future. Each of these pictures are created on a canvas using oil and silkscreen.
In the artwork Retroactive I By Robert Rauschenberg, there are multiple different images created from
the oil and silkscreen. The oil and silkscreen makes each image look slightly transparent and have a
cross hatched appearance because of the silkscreen. In the upper right hand corner, there is an image of
an American astronaut falling from the sky with a parachute. This image is in black and white with hints

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of blue. Directly below this is a picture in yellow and orange of something that looks like beads. Below
that, is an image in a light blue that is John F. Kennedys hand pointing towards the bottom right hand
corner of the canvas. This is also a part of the bigger image of Kennedy directly right to it showing him
in blue and white with a green tie. Below Kennedys hand there is a small black rectangle with a few
white lines throughout. In the bottom right corner of the canvas, next to Kennedy, there is red image
with lines throughout that as well. Directly above the red image, there is a small lime green square with
a small white cylinder in the center that looks like a candle. In the upper right hand corner there is
another black image with white lines scattered throughout. To the left of that is an orange and white
photo, which I believe is a soda can. Between these last to images there is a black, orange, cream, and
whitish gray image that resembles the top of a jellyfish.

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Works Cited
"Rauschenberg and Earth Day | Unframed." Rauschenberg and Earth Day | Unframed.
LACMA, n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.
"Retroactive I by Rauschenberg." Retroactive I by Rauschenberg. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov.
2016.
"Robert Rauschenberg Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. N.p., n.d.
Web. 01 Nov. 2016.