Robert Rauschenberg Foundation |

1925–2008

A native Texan, Robert Rauschenberg served in the U.S. Navy before studying art at the Kansas City Art Institute, Academie Julian in Paris, and Black Mountain College in North Carolina. In 1949 he moved to New York City and challenged the status quo with his Combines. Rauschenberg continued to break the mold throughout his career.

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Photo: Shunk-Kender © J. Paul Getty Trust

On View

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the historic July 20, 1969 moon landing, Craig F. Starr Gallery in New York will present Robert Rauschenberg: Stoned Moon 1969-70. The exhibition brings together pages of text and image from an unrealized artist book, prints, and drawings made by Rauschenberg in response to witnessing the launch of Apollo 11 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the invitation of NASA.

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Cover Page, Stoned Moon Book, 1970

2019 Archives Research Residents

The Rauschenberg Foundation announces the recipients for the 2019 Rauschenberg Foundation Archives Research Residency. This year’s winners, from six different countries, will spend one to two weeks researching at the Foundation throughout 2019.

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Rauschenberg in Mexico during a research trip for ROCI MEXICO, 1984. Photo: Terry Van Brunt

Highlights

Rauschenberg was known for his innovative approach and his experimental use of unconventional art materials. He moved seamlessly between painting, drawing, printmaking, performance, photography, sculpture, and installation, developing an artistic practice that defies categorization.

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Triatholon (Scenario), 2005

Robert Rauschenberg, TRIATHLON (SCENARIO) 2005

COLLECTIONS

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Archives contain the most comprehensive body of information on the artist’s life and career. This rich resource includes the artist’s personal writings, sketches, correspondence, and audiovisual material, as well as documentary photographs and records from his collaborators.
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Rauschenberg's prop list for his performance, Spring Training, 1965

Programs

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation grants program aspires to a vibrant, equitable, and sustainable world through the power of
creative problem solving.

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Still from 96 Acres, Artist as Activist Fellow Maria Gaspar’s project in Cook County jail, 2012-16. Photo credit: Maria Gaspar.

CAPTIVA LEGACY

Established in 2012, our artist residency program fosters artistic experimentation, collaboration, and development in the very place where Rauschenberg lived and worked for nearly 40 years on Captiva Island, Florida.

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William Johnston photographs Eiko Otake as she performs in front of the Fish House. (photo by Mark Poucher)

Residency 28 Participants at Beach House

VISION AND MISSION

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation was founded by the artist in 1990, and transitioned to its current mission in 2010 – to foster the artistic and philanthropic legacy of Robert Rauschenberg through scholarship, grants, and a residency program.

A group gathers in the Chapel at Rauschenberg's former home and studio to discuss art and activism

Oral History

The Robert Rauschenberg Oral History Project, undertaken in collaboration with INCITE/Columbia Center for Oral History Research, is a collection of firsthand accounts, as told by the artist's family, friends, and many collaborators. To date, we have released thirty-three oral histories to the public.
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Rauschenberg and Julie Martin, Captiva, Florida, 1978. Photo: Attributed to Billy Klüver

Rauschenberg