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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 Rauschenberg, I think about his GIANT, framed, pop, mixed-media pieces that always give me a sense of historical references, urban hipness and this feeling of rustic modernity.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






















