Rauschenberg
A native Texan, Robert Rauschenberg served in the U.S. Navy before studying art at the Kansas City Art Institute, Academie Julian in Paris, and Black Mountain College in North Carolina. In 1949 he moved to New York City and challenged the status quo with his Combines. Rauschenberg continued to break the mold throughout his career.
News
Robert Rauschenberg in front of the Apollo 11 launch site, Cape Kennedy, FL, July 1969. Photo credit: James Dean
"When Rauschenberg's Art Took Flight:" National Air and Space Museum Exhibition Featured in "The Financial Times"
On August 15, 2026, The Financial Times featured a review of The Ascent of Rauschenberg: Reinventing the Art of Flight at the newly refurbished Flight and the Arts Center at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., open through July 2027. Read Neville Hawcock's article...
Upcoming Events for "I Don't Think About Being Great: Selected Writings by Robert Rauschenberg"
August 4, 2026: Art Students League of New York, 6:00pm
Discover the central role that writing played in the work of one of America’s most innovative and influential artists with Francine Snyder, Director of Archives at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and editor of I Don’t Think About Being Great...
Robert Rauschenberg, Original artwork for U.N. World Population Conference print and poster (Waterworks), 1993. Inkjet dye transfer on paper, 41 1/2 x 29 1/2 in. (105.4 x 74.9 cm). Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Photo: Ron Amstutz
Rauschenberg's New York Summer
Robert Rauschenberg spent decades exploring the United States and abroad, but New York City remained a constant point of return, an urban laboratory where heat, image, and motion collided. The city’s sensory overload, with its asphalt, glare, and proximity to water, echoes something essential in his...
Artwork
Working in a wide range of materials, techniques, and disciplines, Rauschenberg is celebrated as a forerunner for nearly every art movement since Abstract Expressionism. Become acquainted with Rauschenberg's art and life through highlights from his career and the Foundation's archives.
Artist
The Robert Rauschenberg Oral History Project, undertaken in collaboration with INCITE/Columbia Center for Oral History Research, is a collection of firsthand accounts, as told by the artist's family, friends, and many collaborators. To date, we have released thirty-three oral histories to the public.
Archives
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Archives contain the most comprehensive body of information on the artist’s life and career. This rich resource includes the artist’s personal writings, sketches, correspondence, and audiovisual material, as well as documentary photographs and records from his collaborators.
Programs
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation supports programs for artists, initiatives, and institutions that embody the same innovative, inclusive, and multidisciplinary approach that Rauschenberg exemplified in both his art and philanthropic endeavors.
Residency
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation hosts Research Residencies at the Foundation’s New York headquarters. These residencies, which are by application only, are designed to provide time and space for research in the Foundation's Archives.
Foundation
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation was founded by the artist in 1990, and transitioned to its current mission in 2012 – to foster the artistic and philanthropic legacy of Robert Rauschenberg through scholarship, grants, and a residency program.