Calendar

Robert Rauschenberg American

Not on view

Calendar marks the first time that Rauschenberg used the transfer technique in a canvas, following his experiments with transfer drawings beginning in 1958. Using a solvent (turpentine or similar), the artist moistened magazine or newspaper illustrations, placed the image face down, and then rubbed the back to impress the image on the surface of the canvas. The work features several transferred photographs as well as graphite marks and gestural applications of diluted paint in layers of white, gray, black, and, in one instance, blue. This iconographically charged and complex painting conveys the agitation of an exciting discovery. Rauschenberg made only one other transfer drawing on canvas in his career. Shortly after Calendar, he started using silkscreens, which allowed him to enlarge the size of the transferred photos.

Calendar, Robert Rauschenberg (American, Port Arthur, Texas 1925–2008 Captiva Island, Florida), Solvent transfer and mixed media on canvas

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Calendar, Robert Rauschenberg (American, Port Arthur, Texas 1925–2008 Captiva Island, Florida), Solvent transfer and mixed media on canvas
Calendar, Robert Rauschenberg (American, Port Arthur, Texas 1925–2008 Captiva Island, Florida), Solvent transfer and mixed media on canvas

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