Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Fostering the artistic and philanthropic legacy of artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008).
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NOW OPEN .krems - “Robert Rauschenberg: Image and Gesture.”To highlight the interplay between photographic imagery and g...
05/29/2026

NOW OPEN .krems - “Robert Rauschenberg: Image and Gesture.”

To highlight the interplay between photographic imagery and gestural painting across Rauschenberg’s career, this exhibition brings together artworks across many different series, time periods, and mediums.

A selection of Rauschenberg’s transfer drawings from 1961–69 showcases his use of solvent and pressure from a pencil or dry pen to transfer images from magazines and newspapers onto paper, to which he added watercolor and colored pencil. The “Revolver” sculpture highlights Rauschenberg’s use of silkscreened images and freehand paint on plexiglass discs inserted into a metal base with electric motors that can rotate each disc. Artworks from the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI; 1984–91) combine imagery from Rauschenberg’s own photographs alongside collage elements and gestural marks. In the 1990s, Rauschenberg returned to his transfer technique from the 1950s and 1960s, this time transferring imagery from inkjet prints of his photographs.

The exhibition at the Kunsthalle Krems is the first Rauschenberg retrospective in Austria and is on view through November 1, 2026

Images: Installation views of “Robert Rauschenberg: Image and Gesture,” Kunsthalle Krems, Krems an der Donau, Austria. On view through Nov. 1, 2026. © Kunstmeile Krems, Photos: Agnes Winkler

This spring, the Rauschenberg Foundation was delighted to host the first cohort of 2026 Archives Research Residents in N...
05/28/2026

This spring, the Rauschenberg Foundation was delighted to host the first cohort of 2026 Archives Research Residents in New York from across the world: Alinka Echeverría (Mexico/UK), Erëmirë Krasniqi (Kosovo), Raf Wollaert (Belgium), Nadja Abt (Austria), and Evan Garza (USA). Collectively, their research covered Rauschenberg’s life and work from the early 1950s through 1990s, focusing on topics such as the Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI), travels through North Africa and Italy with Cy Twombly, AIDS activism, and performance in pursuit of a possible cinematic imaginary.

We can’t wait to see how these intensive archival investigations inform the residents’ future projects, which include planned exhibitions, publications, and artworks.

Image 1: Erëmirë Krasniqi, Raf Wollaert, and Alinka Echeverría at “Robert Rauschenberg: Important Early Works from the Cy Twombly Foundation,” Gagosian Gallery, 2026

Image 2: Evan Garza and Nadja Abt in the kitchen of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2026

In spring 2003, the Central Park Conservancy (CPC) inaugurated a months-long celebration of Central Park’s 150th anniver...
05/27/2026

In spring 2003, the Central Park Conservancy (CPC) inaugurated a months-long celebration of Central Park’s 150th anniversary, filled with musical performances, a film festival, walking tours, educational programming, and other special events. To benefit the Park, the commemorated the anniversary in style by producing their first-ever “artist-designed” T-shirt. The designer? None other than .

Though New York was not Rauschenberg’s primary residence after 1970, he maintained a close emotional and professional connection to the city, and his NoHo townhome was a locus of curatorial, creative, and social activity. Indeed, images of Central Park figure among some of Rauschenberg’s most beloved early 1950s photographs. For the anniversary T-shirt, he sent his friend, photographer Ed Chappell, uptown to take additional photos which he used as source imagery for the design: a black-and-white collage of screenprinted images on the front, back, and long sleeves.

The CPC’s pitch fundamentally aligned with Rauschenberg’s deep commitment to inclusivity: “Central Park represents the most democratic principles we live by, providing beauty and respite, in addition to recreation, to all people, of all ages and backgrounds. Everybody is welcome, the Park belongs to all. … What is more ubiquitous than the Tee shirt?”

Images 1 and 2: Front and back of Central Park T-shirt, design by Robert Rauschenberg, 2003

Image 3: Source material for “Central Park T-shirt” (2003), ca. 2003. Photo: Unattributed

Image 5: Robert Rauschenberg, “Susan—Central Park N.Y.C. (II)”, 1951

Image 6: Stand with T-shirts and other merchandise celebrating the 150th anniversary of Central Park, Bethesda Terrace, New York, 2003. Photo: Unattributed. Courtesy of the Central Park Conservancy

On this Memorial Day, we revisit Rauschenberg’s time in the Navy. After briefly studying pharmacology at the University ...
05/25/2026

On this Memorial Day, we revisit Rauschenberg’s time in the Navy. After briefly studying pharmacology at the University of Texas at Austin, Rauschenberg reported for duty in January 1944 and served through June 1946. During his service, he worked in a tuberculosis ward, on infrastructure projects, and in a medical laboratory and pharmacy. Eventually, he trained to serve as a neuropsychiatric technician in San Diego, treating sailors returning home from battle with PTSD.

Rauschenberg was first inspired to make art by a visit while on leave to the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino, California, and was particularly moved by an encounter with Thomas Gainsborough’s “The Blue Boy” (ca. 1770). Rauschenberg subsequently bought art supplies and created this portrait of Robert Hubler, a sailor with whom he was stationed in San Diego, in the spring of 1946. He later recalled that the work was his first oil painting.

Image 1: Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Hubler, Long Beach, California, 1946. Photo: Courtesy of Hubler Family

Image 2: Rauschenberg, “Robert Hubler,” 1946. Photo: Cameron Wittig

Closing this Sunday, May 24th, “Rauschenberg: ‘Express’ On the Move” at in Madrid highlights this seminal work from the...
05/22/2026

Closing this Sunday, May 24th, “Rauschenberg: ‘Express’ On the Move” at in Madrid highlights this seminal work from the Museum’s collection, an example of the artist’s early experimentation with silkscreen printing. Incorporating source materials for the work and documentary photography of the work’s debut at the ###II International Biennale Art Exhibition, the installation highlights the importance of “Express” in solidifying the artist’s reputation in the global arena.

Image 1: Installation view of Rauschenberg’s “Express” (1963) alongside work by Jasper Johns, ###II International Biennale Art Exhibition, Venice, 1964. Photo by Ugo Mulas.

Image 2: Installation view with Rauschenberg’s “Express” (1963), Museo nacional Thyssen-Bornemizsza, 2026. Photo: Hélène Desplechin / Museo nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

05/21/2026

Last week, caught up with actor and artist to discuss his favorite artwork, Rauschenberg’s “Erased de Kooning Drawing” from 1953. Dillon, whose first solo exhibition is on view at in New York through this Saturday, describes his admiration for the collaborative nature of this work and how it resonates with his own practice, both onscreen and as a visual artist.

Video by for ; Matt Dillon artwork images courtesy of .

NOW OPEN : “Tomashi Jackson and Robert Rauschenberg: The Catch One.”This exhibition presents new mixed-media paintings b...
05/19/2026

NOW OPEN : “Tomashi Jackson and Robert Rauschenberg: The Catch One.”

This exhibition presents new mixed-media paintings by Tomashi Jackson made during her summer 2025 Rauschenberg Residency in Captiva placed in dialogue with two Rauschenberg “Spreads” from the Glass House collection alongside additional works loaned by the Foundation.

Inspired by creative sanctuaries fashioned by white q***r men—Rauschenberg's Captiva home and studio and Johnson's Glass House—the exhibition title and imagery in Jackson's works relate to Jewel’s Catch One, a Black lesbian-owned nightclub in Los Angeles that provided a welcoming space for Black and q***r communities.

The Rauschenberg “Spreads” on view were both made in 1980. “Spread” is a term used to describe a wide expanse of land, as well as a fabric covering; it also refers to the large scale of these particular artworks. Paint and solvent transfer images were applied directly to plywood and often to fabric collage. Rauschenberg also frequently incorporated found materials – “Recital (Spread)” features a functioning electric fan, while “Ringmaster (Spread)” incorporates a novelty handkerchief with a map of Florida.

Image 1: Rauschenberg, “Recital (Spread),” 1980. Photo: Andy Romer

Image 2: Installation view with Tomashi Jackson’s “Sister Outsider (Aver and April in the 90s and the Dance Floor in the 70s),” 2026 and Rauschenberg’s “Recital (Spread),” 1980. Photo: David Heald

Image 3: Installation view with Tomashi Jackson’s “Ms. Fat B***y I (Orange Strobe Light / Happy Black Le****ns Joyously Dancing at The Catch in the 90s),” 2026 and Rauschenberg’s “Ringmaster (Spread),” 1980. Photo: David Heald

Image 4: Rauschenberg, “Ringmaster (Spread)” (detail). Photo: Andy Romer

05/16/2026

In advance of Monday evening’s “Pelican Gala” benefiting , we hear from the dancers involved in reimagining Rauschenberg’s first choreographic work while in residence at his Captiva studio: New York City Ballet soloist Ashley Hod, former Merce Cunningham dancers Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener, and former Trisha Brown dancer Tara Lorenzen.

Don’t miss this special event on Monday evening at Xanadu Roller Arts in Brooklyn! Tickets remain available at trishabrowncompany.org.

Wishing a very happy birthday to Jasper Johns! To commemorate the occasion, we’re sharing “Trophy V (For Jasper Johns),”...
05/15/2026

Wishing a very happy birthday to Jasper Johns! To commemorate the occasion, we’re sharing “Trophy V (For Jasper Johns),” a Combine Rauschenberg made in 1962 when he was 37 and Johns was 32. This “Trophy” is one of a small group of artworks Rauschenberg made between 1959 and 1962 for peers and collaborators. In his own words, these artworks express “UNMENTIONABLE THANKS TO EXTRA EXTRAORDINARIES.”

The two artists met in the mid-1950s and soon found themselves in the same studio building. Their friendship, romantic relationship, and creative exchange continued into the sixties when this snapshot of a celebration of John’s birthday at Castelli Gallery was captured.

To see “Trophy V (For Jasper Johns)” in person, visit ’s exhibition “Past-Forward: Modern and Contemporary Art from HoMA’s Collection,” on view through July 19th.

Image 1: Robert Rauschenberg, “Trophy V (for Jasper Johns),” 1962. Combine: oil, fabric, cardboard box, printed paper, plastic ruler, and metal-frame window on canvas. Honolulu Museum of Art

Image 2: Robert Rauschenberg, Toiny Castelli, and Leo Castelli with Bernard and Marilyn Brodsky at a party for Jasper Johns’s birthday at Leo Castelli’s, New York, ca. 1960s

Don't miss Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac’s presentation of Robert Rauschenberg at Frieze New York this week! On view is Rausch...
05/13/2026

Don't miss Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac’s presentation of Robert Rauschenberg at Frieze New York this week!

On view is Rauschenberg’s drawing “New York Times Announcement”, first published by the on March 25, 1977 to illustrate John Russell’s article “Art That Sings” and, simultaneously, to broadcast the artist’s then-upcoming retrospective at . Rauschenberg combined solvent transfer imagery of New York City landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center, with pastel toned gouache and watercolor.

“Tropic Warranty” similarly features solvent transfer imagery with the additional incorporation of patterned fabric strips. The work is emblematic of Rauschenberg’s “Slide” series (1979), titled in reference to the intentional shifts and “slides” of the textile pieces that interrupt the pictorial elements.

The vibrantly colored steel ground of the painting “Premonition (Ante de Creer) / ROCI CUBA” (1988)—created for the Cuba iteration of the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange project—evokes the iconic pre-1959 American automobiles that populated the streets of Havana. The work even features Rauschenberg’s own black-and-white photography of Havana’s urban landscape as silkscreen imagery.

View these three works at NY, booth A03 , May 13-17, 2026.

Image 1: Robert Rauschenberg, “New York Times Announcement,” 1977

Image 2: Robert Rauschenberg, “Tropic Warranty (Slide),” 1979

Image 3: Robert Rauschenberg, “Premonition (Ante de Creer) / ROCI CUBA,” 1988

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