Winter Pool, the first painting by Rauschenberg to enter the Museum's collection, is a prime example of a very important period in this highly inventive and influential artist's work—the mid-1950s to the early 1960s—when he created bold objects that were a hybrid of painting and sculpture and a reinvention of collage. He called them Combines. In Cubist collage, pasted papers add up to a readable image, such as a still life. With Combines, there is no narrative and the interpretation is left to the viewer.
The work, in exceptionally fresh condition, consists of two separate canvases, each about the height of a man. A wooden ladder bridges the gap between them, and its legs extend to the floor, inviting the viewer to climb into the picture. The compositions of both canvases consist of syncopated grids formed by rectangles of paint and found objects: shirt cuffs, a handkerchief, poster letters, and photographic reproductions. Rauschenberg's virtuoso handling of paint both exploits and confronts the dominant painterly style of the early 1950s—Abstract Expressionism—and undermines the Renaissance notion that a painting shows an ideal world behind the canvas surface.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Winter Pool
Artist:Robert Rauschenberg (American, Port Arthur, Texas 1925–2008 Captiva Island, Florida)
Date:1959
Medium:Combine painting: oil, paper, fabric, wood, metal, sandpaper, tape, printed paper, printed reproductions, handheld bellows, and found painting, on two canvases, with ladder
Credit Line:Gift of Steven and Alexandra Cohen, and Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, Bequest of Gioconda King, by exchange, Anonymous Gift and Gift of Sylvia de Cuevas, by exchange, Janet Lee Kadesky Ruttenberg Fund, in memory of William S. Lieberman, Mayer Fund, Norman M. Leff Bequest, and George A. Hearn and Kathryn E. Hurd Funds, 2005
[Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, until 1960; sold on June 6, 1960 to Panza]; Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo, Milan (1960–63; sold on May 22, 1963, through Leo Castelli, to Ganz); Victor and Sally Ganz (1963–88; their sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 10, 1988, no. 8, sold to Brant); Mr. and Mrs. Peter M. Brant, Greenwich, Conn. (from 1988); David Geffen (by 1997–2005; sold in November 2005, through Gagosian Gallery, New York, to Cohen and MMA); Steven and Alexandra Cohen, Greenwich, Conn. (2005–12, jointly with MMA; their gift to MMA)
New York. Leo Castelli Gallery. "Robert Rauschenberg," March 29–April 16, 1960, no catalogue.
Moderna Museet, Stockholm. "4 Amerikanare: Jasper Johns, Alfred Leslie, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Stankiewicz," March 17–May 6, 1962, no. 33.
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. "4 Amerikanen: Jasper Johns, Alfred Leslie, Rauschenberg, Stankiewicz," May 18–June 18, 1962, not in catalogue.
Kunsthalle Bern. "4 Amerikaner: Jasper Johns, Alfred Leslie, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Stankiewicz," July 7–September 2, 1962, not in catalogue.
Jewish Museum, New York. "Robert Rauschenberg," March 31–May 12, 1963, no. 28.
Venice. United States Pavilion. "XXXII International Biennial Exhibition of Art: Four Younger Artists," June 20–October 18, 1964, no. 28 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Victor Ganz, New York, N.Y.).
Providence, R. I. Annmary Brown Memorial, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design and Providence Arts Club. "Critics' Choice: Art Since World War II. 1965 Kane Memorial Exhibition in Honor of Brown University," March 31–April 24, 1965, no. 61 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Victor Ganz).
Minneapolis. Walker Art Center. "Robert Rauschenberg: Paintings 1953–1964," May 3–June 6, 1965, no. 10 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Victor W. Ganz, New York).
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art," April 15–September 30, 1966, no catalogue (lent by a private collection, courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery, New York City).
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. "Robert Rauschenberg," February 23–April 7, 1968, no. 15.
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. "Robert Rauschenberg," June 7–July 14, 1968, no. 15.
London. Hayward Gallery. "Pop Art Redefined," July 9–September 3, 1969, no. 115 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Victor W. Ganz, New York).
Washington, D.C. National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution. "Robert Rauschenberg," October 30, 1976–January 7, 1977, no. 75 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Victor W. Ganz).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Robert Rauschenberg," March 25–May 17, 1977, no. 75.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Robert Rauschenberg," June 24–August 21, 1977, no. 75.
Buffalo. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. "Robert Rauschenberg," September 23–October 30, 1977, no. 75.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Robert Rauschenberg," December 3, 1977–January 15, 1978, no. 75.
London. Tate Gallery. "Robert Rauschenberg," April 28–June 14, 1981, no. 19 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Victor Ganz, New York).
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Blam! The Explosion of Pop, Minimalism, and Performance, 1958–1964," September 20–December 2, 1984, unnumbered cat. (fig. 4, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Victor W. Ganz).
Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. "American Painting at Mid-Century: Highlights from a Private Collection," June 12–November 14, 1993, not in catalogue [added to exhibition on September 15, 1993].
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective," September 19, 1997–January 7, 1998, no. 113 (lent by David Geffen, Los Angeles).
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and The Menil Collection, Houston. "Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective," February 13–May 17, 1998, no. 113.
Cologne. Museum Ludwig. "Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective," June 27–October 11, 1998, no. 113.
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. "Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective," November 20, 1998–February 26, 1999, no. 113.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Robert Rauschenberg: Combines," December 20, 2005–April 2, 2006, unnumbered cat. (pl. 111; lent by David Geffen, Los Angeles).
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. "Robert Rauschenberg: Combines," May 21–September 6, 2006, unnumbered cat.
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. "Robert Rauschenberg: Combines," October 11, 2006–January 15, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Moderna Museet, Stockholm. "Robert Rauschenberg: Combines," February 17–May 6, 2007, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," October 24, 2008–February 1, 2009, online catalogue.
Tate Modern, London. "Robert Rauschenberg," December 1, 2016–April 2, 2017, unnumbered cat. (pl. 153).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Robert Rauschenberg," May 21–September 4, 2017, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Robert Rauschenberg," November 4, 2017–March 25, 2018, no. 153.
Mirta D'Argenzio with Mayo Thompson inRobert Rauschenberg: Travelling '70– '76. Exh. cat., Fundacao de Serralves, Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto. Milan, , pp. 201, 203.
Alan R. Solomon. Robert Rauschenberg. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum. New York, 1963, pp. 6–7, fig. 28.
Irving Sandler. "In the Galleries." New York Post (April 14, 1963), p. 14.
Dean Swanson. Robert Rauschenberg: Paintings 1953–1964. Exh. cat., Walker Art Center. Minneapolis, 1965, n.p., no. 10, ill.
Françoise Choay. "The Object and 'Realism' in Contemporary Art." The Man-Made Object. Ed. György Kepes. Vol. 6, Vision + Value Series, London, 1966, fig. 9.
Andrew Forge. Robert Rauschenberg. New York, 1969, pp. 90, 131, ill. p. 208 (color).
Christopher Finch. "The Role of the Spectator." Design Quarterly no. 73 (1969), ill. p. 4.
Leo Steinberg. Other Criteria: Confrontations with Twentieth-Century Art. New York, 1972, pp. 87–88, fig. 38.
Amei Wallach. "The Jewish Museum: SolvingIits Three-Year-Old Identity Crisis?" Newsday (June 5, 1974), p. 11A, ill.
Walter Hopps. Robert Rauschenberg. Exh. cat., National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C., 1976, p. 106, no. 75, ill.
Charles F. Stuckey. "Reading Rauschenberg." Art in America 65 (March/April 1977), p. 84.
Calvin Tomkins. Off the Wall: Robert Rauschenberg and the Art World of Our Time. Garden City, N. Y., 1980, pp. 108, 209.
Evelyn Apgar. "Whitney: When Art Went Pop." Home News (October 7, 1984), p. F1.
Arlene Raven. Crossing Over: Feminism and Art of Social Concern. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1988, pp. 41–42.
Roni Feinstein. "Random Order: The First Fifteen Years of Robert Rauschenberg's Art, 1949–1964." PhD diss., New York University, 1990, p. 301, fig. 127.
Michael FitzGerald, ed. A Life of Collecting: Victor and Sally Ganz. New York, 1997, pp. 148–49, ill. (color).
Joan Young Susan Davidson in Walter Hopps and Susan Davidson. Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective. Exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York, 1997, pp. 562, 564, 566, 570, 578, ill. p. 140, no. 113 (color).
Anne Umland. Pop Art: Selections from The Museum of Modern Art. Exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta. New York, 1998, p. 18.
Carol Vogel. "The Artist Shuffles, Then Deals; A Rauschenberg As a Work of Chance." New York Times (June 1, 2000), p. E4.
David Sylvester. "Robert Rauschenberg (1964)." Interviews with American Artists. New Haven, 2001, p. 138.
Irving Sandler. A Sweeper–Up After Artists: A Memoir. New York, 2003, p. 251.
Mary Lynn Kotz. Rauschenberg: Art and Life. New York, 2004, pp. 25, 33, 91, 211, 214, ill. p. 53.
Carol Vogel. "Inside Art: The Met Purchases a Rauschenberg Painting." New York Times (November 18, 2005), p. E35, ill.
Carol Vogel. "The Robert Rauschenberg Reunion Tour." New York Times (December 18, 2005), ill. p. A38.
Nan Rosenthal in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 2005–2006." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 64 (Fall 2006), pp. 62–63, ill. (color).
Stephanie Rosenthal. Black Paintings. Exh. cat., Haus der Kunst. Munich, 2006, pp. 31–32, 33 n. 35, fig. 8, dates it about 1959 and locates it in the David Geffen Collection, Los Angeles.
Sam Hunter. Robert Rauschenberg: Works, Writings and Interviews. Barcelona, 2006, p. 157, ill. p. 61 (color).
Graham Bader. "Rauschenberg's Skin." Grey Room no. 27 (Spring 2007), p. 117 n. 10.
Branden W. Joseph. Random Order: Robert Rauschenberg and the Neo-Avant-Garde. Cambridge, Mass., 2007, p. 156.
Roberta Smith. "Rauschenberg Got a Lot From the City and Left a Lot Behind." New York Times (May 16, 2008), p. E34, ill.
Holland Cotter. "A Banquet of World Art, 30 Years in the Making." New York Times (October 24, 2008), ill. pp. C27, C33 (installation photo, Exh. New York 2008–9).
Gary Tinterow. "The Modern Era." Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977–2008. New York, 2009, fig. 152 (color).
Tom Folland. "Robert Rauschenberg's Queer Modernism: The Early Combines and Decoration." Art Bulletin 92 (December 2010), p. 357, discusses Ref. Steinberg 1972.
Daniel Grant. "Leo Castelli's Cache Of Art-History Gold." Wall Street Journal (February 24, 2011), p. D5.
Margalit Fox. "Nan Rosenthal, 76, Advocate of 20th-Century Artworks." New York Times (May 2, 2014), p. B10.
"Robert Rauschenberg, Winter Pool." Harvard Review no. 47 (2015), ill. p. 157.
Kathryn Calley Galitz. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Masterpiece Paintings. New York, 2016, p. 532, ill. (color), colorpl. 485.
Achim Borchardt-Hume in Leah Dickerman and Achim Borchardt-Hume. Robert Rauschenberg. Exh. cat., Tate Modern, London. New York, 2016, pp. 14–15, ill. (color detail published on the cover of "Time" magazine, November 29, 1976).
Ed Krčma in Leah Dickerman and Achim Borchardt-Hume. Robert Rauschenberg. Exh. cat., Tate Modern, London. New York, 2016, pl. 150 (installation photo, Exh. New York 1960), colorpl. 153.
Catherine Wood in Leah Dickerman and Achim Borchardt-Hume. Robert Rauschenberg. Exh. cat., Tate Modern, London. New York, 2016, p. 240.
Emily Liebert in Leah Dickerman and Achim Borchardt-Hume. Robert Rauschenberg. Exh. cat., Tate Modern, London. New York, 2016, p. 363.
Leah Dickerman in Leah Dickerman and Achim Borchardt-Hume. Robert Rauschenberg. Exh. cat., Tate Modern, London. New York, 2016, p. 400.
David Salle. How to See: Looking, Talking, and Thinking about Art. New York, 2016, p. 216, compares this work to Richard Aldrich's "Two Dancers with Haze in Their Heart Waves Atop a Remake of 'One Page, Two Pages, Two Paintings'" (2010).
Randall R. Griffey inMy Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, p. 26, fig. 13 (color).
Max Hollein. Modern and Contemporary Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019, ill. p. 115 (color).
Robert Rauschenberg (American, Port Arthur, Texas 1925–2008 Captiva Island, Florida)
1974
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