Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist born on October 22, 1925 in Port Arthur, Texas. Rauschenberg’s popularity and work started to emerged when he and many other artist were challenging the rise of the Abstract Expressionism movement. 

“I think a picture is more like the real world when it is made out of the real world.” – Robert Rauschenberg

Rauschenberg got his notoriety from his Combines series from 1954 to 1964. Combines was a collection of Rauschenberg’s well-known works that has combined aspects of painting and sculpture from real-world materials and objects combined with abstract painting. At the time, his work made ironic nods to Abstract Expressionism by using self-expressionism to counter the modernist aesthetic as a way of displaying his belief that “painting relates to both art and life.” His works were predominantly mixed media with his main interests being photography and printmaking.

Over the following years of life, Rauschenberg’s work would expand to a variety of other fields beyond art such as choreography, printmaking, engineering, writing, and many other fields where he could collaborate with others. This would help to expand his artistic philosophy of collaboration and commitment to humanitarian causes.

One of Robert Rauschenberg’s most iconic works is that of “Buffalo II” which is a silkscreen painting that ties the world of art and politics together. The work is over 8 feet tall that used a combination of pre-existing pop culture images with the various drips and painterly gestures. Buffalo II served as a bridge between the decline of Abstract Expressionism and the rise of Pop Art movement.