Robert Rauschenberg

Rauschenberg was one of the first artists to combine elements high and low art in his work, challenging the cultural hierarchy implied by such terms. For Rauschenberg, everyday life was just as interesting and complex as traditional ‘high’ art and in Persimmon, he blends a contemporary New York street scene and various everyday objects with a reproduction of Venus in front of the Mirror by Peter Paul Rubens.

• Artist Robert Rauschenberg
• Artwork Persimmon
• Exhibition Robert Rauschenberg
• Image size 167.6 x 127 cm
• Date of work 1964
• Credit Original: Oil and silkscreen ink on canvas 167.6 x 127 cm Private collection © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation/DACS  

One of the most influential figures of twentieth-century art, Robert Rauschenberg was a pioneering artist who ultimately challenged perceptions of what art could be. Born in Texas in 1925 he later moved to New York, where he created many of his best-known works. Endlessly curious and inventive, his work ranged from painting and sculpture to performance and dance. His refusal to accept existing boundaries of what was considered art led him to continually experiment with new techniques, from innovative printing methods to incorporating found objects and detritus in his works. This radical approach prefigured pop art and inspired generations of conceptual artists in the decades that followed.

• Product Code S20600