Murray Ave School

Art Appreciation Presentation: Robert Rauschenberg

Lesson Plan Biography:

(show picture 1, photo of him in his studio)

Considered by many to be one of the most influential American artists due to his

radical blending of materials and methods, Robert Rauschenberg was one of the

key Neo-Dada movement artists in the 1950s and 60s. He would pick up trash he

found on the street, use pages ripped from the phone book, photographs, and even

3 dimensional objects like spoons. He would then affix these objects to his canvas,

and paint over them to create a layered effect. He was quoted as saying

"I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or

Coke bottles are ugly because they're surrounded by things like that all day

long, and it must make them miserable.”

Robert Rauschenberg was born in the small town of Port Arthur, Texas. His father,

was a strict and serious man and his mother was a very frugal woman. She made

the family's clothes from scraps. That embarrassed little Robert, but possibly

influenced his artwork later in life with his collages. He asked for a store-bought

shirt for his high school graduation present, the very first in his young life!!

During WWII, Robert was drafted into the Navy. While stationed in San Diego, he

was assigned the job as a medical technician to care for wounded soldiers. On a

break one day, he walked into an art gallery and saw oil paintings in person for the

first time, and became instantly fascinated by art. He decided then and there that he

wanted to be an artist.

(Show Picture 2 Small Rebus, 1956)

After the war ended, Rauschenberg took art classes at Black Mountain College in

North Carolina, the Art Students League in New York and even travelled to Paris

to study at the famed Academie Julian.

(Show Picture 3)

Robert was VERY Influenced by the DADA movement. What IS Dada you ask???

The Dadaists meant to turn our world upside down with their art, to make it seem

crazy and absurd. They meant for us to rethink the items that surround us so that

we might rethink our world!! Some examples of what influenced him are The

Fountain and Bicycle Wheel READYMADES by famous Dadist Marcel Duchamp.

Rauschenberg travelled all around the world to get ideas and study art. While

travelling, he discovered the idea of collecting things he saw along the way and

making them into complete pieces of art called COMBINES.

(A combine is an artwork that incorporates various objects into a flat surface.

Items might include photographs, clothing, newspaper clippings, and any

number of three-dimensional objects . Think of it like you would a bulletin board

you have at home, with things stuck to it at random.)

(Show Picture 4 Goat Head)

For the combine Monogram, Rauschenberg saw stuffed Angora goat in the

window of a furniture store New York and knew he had to have it. He stuck it into

a tire, and put it on a canvas along with a shoe heel, a tennis ball and placed the

whole thing on wheels and put it on the floor!!

(show picture 5 )

In the TOWER, he combined paper, fabric, and wood with broom, umbrella,

spherical objects, tin cans, and electric lights on wood structure.

(show picture 6 with chair)

Rauschenberg began to include objects in the surface of his paintings, from

parasols to parts of a man's undershirt. Pilgrim, the next combine- was an oil

painting with a chair attached to it!

(pictures 7 and 8 together close ups of brick and baseball)

Interview, 1955

Interview was a large scale combine. Here we have 2 small details from the piece-

one is of a baseball with wood, paint and wire; the other is a brick attached with a

string, hanging in front of an oil painting of Hawaii that he found!

He was quoted as saying: “I consider the text of a newspaper, the detail of

photograph, the stitch in a baseball, and the filament in a light bulb as

fundamental to the painting as brush stroke or enamel drip of paint.”

He and his fellow NYC based artists appreciated the unplanned beauty in everyday

life in New York City.

( (show pictures 9 and 10)

( show picture 11)

Black Market, 1961- made of various things such as watercolor and oil paint,

newspaper, wood, metal , fabric and tin, also had a wood suitcase attached with a

rope. The suitcase was filled with various objects the viewer could add to or take

out. They had the opportunity to interact with the art itself. Which was very rare

for the time.

Preferring to leave the interpretation of the works to his viewers, Rauschenberg

allowed chance to determine the placement and combination of the different found

images and objects in his artwork

( show picture 12)

Estate, 1963, photographs and images of cityscapes tied together with splashes of

paint at random.

(show picture 13)

The two clocks in his piece RESERVOIR show the time he started his painting and

the time he finished! It consists of newspaper, clocks, oil paint, wire, fabric and

wood!

(show picture 14)

Gift for Apollo, 1959

This piece has a metal bucket, chains, a necktie, doorknob and he put the whole

thing on wheels!

Rauschenberg was rapidly becoming an established figure within the art world. He

earned an early retrospective in 1963 at the Jewish Museum in New York, At the

peak of his career, he was awarded the Venice Biennale's first prize for painting in

1964, marking the first year this prize was awarded to an American.

(Show picture 15)

Bed- in NYC at Moma

Here , in one of his most famous works, he framed a well-worn pillow, sheet, and

quilt, scribbled on them with pencil, and splashed them with paint in a style

reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism. These bedclothes, legend has it, were

Rauschenberg’s own, and the work is thus as personal as a self-portrait!!

(show picture 16)

Rauschenberg bought a house on Captiva Island in Florida in 1969. He worked on

his art until he died in 2008 (heart failure) Till this day this is where the Robert

Rauschenberg foundation is located. His Foundation focuses on the ways in which

art, culture, and creativity might intersect with important social issues such as

education and climate change. They helped more than 350 artists who were

impacted by Hurricane Sandy; they even helped by removing floating plastic from

our oceans’ gyres and recycling it as a new medium for sculpture.

The Rauschenberg Foundation’s support projects and people who exemplify the

values that define Rauschenberg’s legacy: risk-taking, aspiring to innovate,

experimentation, creative problem-solving, and collaboration.

CLASS DISCUSSION:

1. Was there something from his childhood that helped influence his art?

Yes, his mom made all his clothes from scraps.

2. Did Rauschenberg plan out his combines?

No- He left it all up to chance, wherever things fell on the canvas is where

they belonged.

3. How is Rauschenberg different from other artists?

He believed you can make something beautiful out of anything you

saw, and used that in his art.

THE ART PROJECT!!

We are going to make collages or COMBINES in the style of Robert

Rauschenberg!

Some theme ideas to use are YOUR FAVORITE SEASON, or BIRTHDAY

MONTH. Or for those who like to think outside of the box just see where the

materials take you and have fun! Rauschenberg often used the materials as his sole

inspiration.

While Rauschenberg worked off of a canvas as his base, we will be using thick

paper as our base.

The Rauschenberg Lesson Plan:

Class discussion: 10-15 minutes (need 2 people. 1 to read and 1 to hold up

pictures)

Art Project: approx. 30 Minutes

-students should sit on the floor if they can/older students at desks if not space.

-1 person reads biography and 1 person holds up pictures while the other

volunteers put art supplies on tables. (we will have 5 sets of supplies per class)

THE ART PROJECT

the Bin should contain everything you

need for the project.

-Laminated biography

-Laminated pictures numbered

-Paper- each child should get 1 sheet

plus extra just incase

-markers

-stickers

-magazine clippings -tray

-various objects -glue

-fabric scraps

HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EACH BIN WILL INLUDE:

LAMINATED LESSON in order

LAMINATED, NUMBERED PICTURES in order

HEAVY STOCK PAPER FOR EACH CHILD

BAG OF FABRIC (1 per bin- to be spread out amongst all tables)

ZIPLOC BAGS OF MAGAZINE CLIPPINGS (to be spread out

amongst all tables)

ZIPLOC BAGS OF STICKERS/FEATHERS/WIRE/OTHER

OBJECTS (to be spread out amongst all tables)

BINS OF MARKERS (1 per table)

GLUE

LARGE TRAY FOR ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON TABLE (3 per

table)

The idea is to let the kids mix and search for their inspiration in the

items given.

Clean up:

Place paper clippings in one container

Place 3d objects and stickers in one container

Place fabric in one container

***BEFORE YOUR PRESENTATION, PLEASE REPLENISH STOCK OF VARIOUS

OBJECTS/FABRIC/CLIPPINGS FROM THE CLOSET SO YOU WILL HAVE ENOUGH FOR

PRESENTATION! EXTRA WILL ALWAYS BE IN THE CLOSET AT THE READY!