05/14/2008: "Robert Rauschenberg" by Michael Corbin

(May 13, 2008) - I was online earlier today and read that artist Robert Rauschenberg died yesterday of heart failure. He was 82. The New York Times called him a "Titan of American Art."

First off, isn't it funny how the legendary-sized compliments flow after you die? We need to get into the habit of complimenting people while they're ALIVE. Praising me while I'm dead does me no good, but a nice comment while I'm alive might actually get me through another day.

Anyway, I feel the need to just sit here for a moment and talk about someone I did not know. I'm not an expert on Mr. Rauschenberg or his work, but I DO remember the times when I saw his work for myself in places like the Fisher Landau Center which has a great Rauschenberg collection or the Museum of Modern Art or even the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.

(May 13, 2008) - I was online earlier today and read that artist Robert Rauschenberg died yesterday of heart failure. He was 82. The New York Times called him a "Titan of American Art."

First off, isn't it funny how the legendary-sized compliments flow after you die? We need to get into the habit of complimenting people while they're ALIVE. Praising me while I'm dead does me no good, but a nice comment while I'm alive might actually get me through another day.

Anyway, I feel the need to just sit here for a moment and talk about someone I did not know. I'm not an expert on Mr. Rauschenberg or his work, but I DO remember the times when I saw his work for myself in places like the Fisher Landau Center which has a great Rauschenberg collection or the Museum of Modern Art or even the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.

I'm smiling right now because when I think of Mr. Rauschenberg, I think about his GIANT, framed, pop, mixed-media pieces that always give me a sense of historical references, urban hipness and this feeling of rustic modernity. I have NOT read what anyone else has said about him. I'm just taking a moment to be
in the moment of my own memory of the man's work which I've seen with my own eyes.

My somewhat cloudy memory is giving me images of soldiers, black birds, city streets and spliced-together, sepia-toned photographs of things ... exactly what I cannot recall ... however I'm continuing to smile because I'm feeling myself standing in the presence of his work inside these museums and the word that comes to mind is ... communion. I feel that as an uneducated observer of art, I actually GOT what he was doing. For me, his splicing and dicing was about slicing life ... making connections of wayward things and times, perhaps with the hope of making sense of it all ... or maybe not.

Even though I never met Mr. Rauschenberg and will never own any of his work, I feel connected to him through my observations of what he leaves behind and the fact that he was a famous artist who was actually alive during my own lifetime. I wish that I could say something profound about him that would set the world ablaze, but all I can say is that I'm still smiling as I'm typing these words. He's gone, but his spirit is in my smile. I can just feel it. Communion. A moment of silence.

From now on, whenever I happen upon a Rauschenberg during my art museum visits, I'll say, "Hey Robert!" Then, I'll stand there and bask in the presence of a titan ... and as always, smile.

MICHAEL CORBIN IS AN AVID ART COLLECTOR AND AUTHOR OF THE NEW BOOK, "THE ART OF EVERYDAY JOE: A COLLECTOR'S JOURNAL." CHECK IT OUT AT
WWW.ARTMAESTROGALLERY.COM

Replies: 9 Comments

on Sunday, June 8th, Andrew said

Michael;
You say we ought to honor an artist while they're alive, but I have to question your sincerity. When are YOU going to do that? When are YOU going to promote the art of an unknown talent, not just by buying it cheap, as you often recount, but by you, writer, writing something eloquent enough to change the life of that artist for the better?

on Friday, May 16th, Beverly Kaye said

Several years ago I attended a lecture by a woman who knew him well, and wrote a beautiful book about his work. For an hour I sat with a hundred other people, completely dumbstruck by the power and breadth of his collage. I hated when the afternoon was over.
Thank goodness museums throughout the country have good examples for future generations to ponder. A genius has passed our way.

on Thursday, May 15th, bmgrval@yahoo.com">val said

I was just watching a piece they re-ran on Ovation TV last night about Rauschy. I am an art student and a year ago I did not know who Rauchenberg was, but I had seen some of his art and had run across his name. I had the distinct pleasure of getting to know him and his works through a couple of different assignments this past semester. He was greatly respected in the art community. He and Jasper Johns have often been credited with bridging the gap between abstract expressionism and pop art. One of my teachers had met him a year or so ago and said he was so humbled just to shake his hand. He will be missed.

on Thursday, May 15th, bmgrval@yahoo.com">val said

on Thursday, May 15th, Michael Lynn Adams said

Both the art and graphic design worlds were greatly influenced by Robert Rauschenberg . My wife and I are both artists and designers and have been inspired by Rauschenberg's work for years. Younger artists, especially those doing collage art, may not know the great debt their work owes to his paintings and prints.

Rauschenberg's life and work were all about exploration and change. Never comfortable with the staus quo he pushed beyond the current trends of his time. He once said “I usually work in a direction until I know how to do it, then I stop. At the time that I am bored or understand — I use those words interchangeably — another appetite has formed. A lot of people try to think up ideas. I’m not one. I’d rather accept the irresistible possibilities of what I can’t ignore.”

If you don't know Robert Rauschenberg work, or even if you think you know it, it would be a fitting tribute to him to take a fresh look at the creativity, richness and variety of his work.

on Thursday, May 15th, Ellen said

Rouschenberg is greatly to be admired for "DOING IT." Day in day out, he worked and promoted his art. I think that his art reflected a time of incredible change and experimentation in the art world. He is to be admired for living his dreams to the end of his life.

on Thursday, May 15th, josé said

It's the artist we have to honour, not even the Man, for we will always find fault in Man. It was the being up front that counted for me, the risk taking and the innovation; that constant quest for a surprise to share with the public… and those pieces that I chose to like out of the many he came up with. Let's face it, not everything Picasso churned out is top class either, we all have our good moments and our bad moments and when an artist reaches the heights these guys reach it all becomes visible. His work, the one’s I liked, were a great inspiration.

on Wednesday, May 14th, Odette said

Dear Michael,

I liked your post... I do think we have to honored people while they are alive :)
And I also agree with Walt's comment. Rauschenberg has to be admired for the risks he took, although I don't like all his stuff either I think that he is a real artist, someone who is always taking risks! in spite of results and do not follow a success formula.

on Wednesday, May 14th, walt said

Michael, I guess we're not supposed to say anything bad about someone after they're gone. I liked much of Rouschenberg's work. But also think he made a lot of really awful stuff that just didn't quite make it up to the quality of the rest. I suppose I must allow that some of it was the 'risk taker' in him that we all admired. He took risk's that most would have shyed away from. I think that's what inspires me the most about him.

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05/14/2008: "Robert Rauschenberg" by Michael Corbin