Beschreibung:

Robert Rauschenberg Quarters (from 'Anagrams, A Pun') 1997 Vegetable dye transfer on polylaminate. 151.7 x 114.6 cm. (59 3/4 x 45 1/8 in). Signed and dated 'Rauschenberg 97' lower left.
Provenance Galleria Lawrence Rubin, Milan Exhibited Milan, Galleria Lawrence Rubin, Robert Rauschenberg Anagrams (A Pun), 29 January – 7 March, 1998; Seoul, Gallery Hyundai, Robert Rauschenberg December 2006 – January 2007 Literature Exhibition catalogue: Galleria Lawrence Rubin, Robert Rauschenberg Anagrams (A Pun), Milan, 1998, pl. 9, p. 27 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay ABOUT MY PAINTINGS WE ALL LIVE FROM DAY TODAY. (TODAY) WE MOVE FROM MOMENT TO MOMENT,MOOD TO MOOD, MAKING DECISIONS THAT CONTROL OUR ACTS, INSISTING AND RECOGNIZING THAT FACTS ARE CHANGING LIKE THE LIGHTWE ARE SEEING THEM IN AND AS OUR MOTIVATION TO LOOK.(Robert Rauschenberg statement on Anagrams (A Pun)) Robert Rauschenberg's Anagrams (A Pun) series continues toexplore the ‘gap between art and life'. His works stem from the observations and visual language of daily life.This quotidian contemplation with an emphasis on human interdependence continues throughout his oeuvre, from his ‘Combine' works to his transfers. The present lot entitled Quarters executed in 1997 is part of theAnagram series which later developed into Anagrams (A Pun).The delicate rendering of the polylaminate surface reflects Rauschenberg's view that the canvas needs to be filled. The borders of the canvas are not acting as physical borders for the works, instead they are seen as a ‘termination of activity',acknowledgements that the given surface has been filled, almost like a view from a window, where the viewer is aware that the landscape is bigger and continues beyond the frames of the window itself. In conversation with David Sylvester Rauschenberg stated that: "The canvas itself has to be recognized as having as much presence before one begins to paint as it does afterwards...In my own work I would like any time I'm finished with a picture for it to look complete but not in the sense of ‘complete' meaning filled Imean space is not to be just filled, it's to be dealt with...Now, you can put an awful lot into a picture if you keep in mind that this painting could actually be a little larger but it isn't, so that the edge of the canvas is just a stopping, a termination of activity that's been going on-which is something that anyone can see. I mean, that's a fact, it's not an aesthetic". (D. Sylvester, Interviews with American Artists, London, 2001) The images taken by Rauschenberg himself are transferred onto the surface using soluble vegetable dye and are usually done so by hand with water.This organic and natural process echoes Rauschenberg's approach to life and his work.There is no need for a central focus or grammatical continuity in the work which echoes the Neo Dadaist approach.The multiple vertical and horizontal lines of the architecture divide the surface into numerous fragments, encouraging the viewer to contemplate all the juxtaposed images at once, from the grey table cloth to the polished surface of the skyscrapers, to the couple looking at an old cut-out of a waiter in front of a restaurant. Spatially the tablecloth dominates the image of the skyscrapers, emphasizing the validity of an everyday object. The imagery that Robert Rauschenberg used in his work is directly linked to his need to work in the space between art and life, interlinking the notions of permanence and vulnerability, and extracting moral and ethical value out of everyday objects. Read More