Sarasota’s Ringling Museum participating in Rauschenberg Centennial Celebration
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (The Ringling) in Sarasota, FL presents the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: A Centennial Celebration, opening March 1 through June 29. This year marks the Centennial of the artist’s birth.
Considered one of the most influential artists of his time, Robert Rauschenberg’s (American, 1925–2008) oeuvre spanned six decades and was a precursor to the Pop Art movement. His work challenged the gesturalism and expressiveness of abstract painting with a visionary dialogue between everyday subject matter, new techniques, and a plethora of mediums including photography, printmaking, collage construction, and assemblage. This work reshaped and redefined the course of the second half of twentieth-century art.
With support from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Ringling joins an international roster of institutions honoring Rauschenberg’s Centennial with a year of global activities and exhibitions that examine the artist through a contemporary lens, highlighting his enduring influence on generations of artists and advocates for social progress. The Centennial’s activation of the artist’s legacy promotes cross-disciplinary explorations and creates opportunities for critical dialogue.
“We are excited to have the opportunity of this centennial to share a selection of Rauschenberg’s work from our collection,” Steven High, executive director of The Ringling, said. “One of the most innovative artists of the last 50 years, it is an honor to represent his legacy in partnership with the Rauschenberg Foundation.”
Rauschenberg’s strong conviction that engagement with art can nurture people’s sensibilities as individuals, community members, and citizens was key to his ethos. The Centennial celebrations seek to allow audiences familiar with him and those encountering the artist for the first time to form fresh perspectives about his artwork.
The upcoming exhibition will present a selection of works from The Ringling collection including major pieces from several significant series. On view are two major pieces from Rauschenberg’s sculptural Glut series (1986–89;1991–94) and the textile Hoarfrosts (1974–76), significant examples of works on paper—including a lithograph from the Glacial Decoy series (1979–80)—and photographs from the Studies for Chinese Summerhall portfolio (1983).
“Robert Rauschenberg was a major figure in New York’s postwar art scene of the 1950s and 60s before relocating to Florida’s Captiva Island in the 1970s, where he lived and worked for the remainder of his life,” Ola Wlusek, the Keith D. Monda Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Ringling, said.
Rauschenberg left a lasting legacy in Florida. He maintained a longstanding connection to The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers, which, beginning in the 1980s, staged numerous exhibitions of the artist’s work. In 1992, he built a large studio on Captiva Island and four years after his passing, in 2012, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation launched an international artist residency program on the artist’s former property there. He also collaborated with Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida, where he produced some of his most innovative photo-based work.
For more information, visit ringling.org.
About The Ringling
As the State Art Museum of Florida and part of Florida State University, The Ringling is Florida’s center for the arts, history, and learning. Bringing the past and contemporary culture to life through extraordinary visitor experiences, The Ringling is a place of exploration, discovery, and respite.
The Ringling’s campus in Sarasota, Florida—which includes the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum, a historic mansion, an 18th-century theater, a glass arts pavilion, and Bayfront Gardens—is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
About Rauschenberg 100
With support from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Ringling joins an international roster of institutions commemorating the artist’s 100th birthday. Rauschenberg’s conviction that engagement with art can nurture people’s sensibilities as individuals, community members, and citizens was key to his ethos. The Centennial celebrations seek to allow audiences familiar with him and those encountering the artist for the first time to form fresh perspectives about his artwork.
A year of global activities and exhibitions in honor of Rauschenberg’s Centennial reexamines the artist through a contemporary lens, highlighting his enduring influence on generations of artists and advocates for social progress. The Centennial’s activation of the artist’s legacy promotes cross-disciplinary explorations and creates opportunities for critical dialogue. Learn more by visiting rauschenbergfoundation.org.
By Chadd Scott