Robert Rauschenberg's New York: Pictures from the Real World

Marking the centennial of Robert Rauschenberg’s birth, this long over-due publication examines the central importance of photography to the artist.

Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) was a quintessential artist of post-war New York and one of the most influential creators of twentieth-century America, best known as a painter and graphic artist who paved the way for Pop Art. Robert Rauschenberg’s New York takes a deep dive into the artist’s engagement with photographs, focusing on his relationship with New York City. Seminal early photographs set the stage for the entire volume, examining the artist’s early life and career and the New York arts scene of the 1950s and early 1960s. Later on, the career-defining photographs made by Rauschenberg in New York City between 1979 and 1981 are presented alongside a small selection of his paintings and prints that reproduce and repurpose the photographs in new ways. Here photographic imagery is seen in a new context, as source material for further artistic creativity and improvisation.

Publication accompanies the exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York.

Sean Corcoran is senior curator, Prints and Photography, Museum of the City of New York.

Helen Hsu is associate curator for Research, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.