ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG (1925-2008)
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG (1925-2008)
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ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG (1925-2008)

Xantone Sedan (Spread)

Details
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG (1925-2008)
Xantone Sedan (Spread)
solvent transfer, acrylic, and fabric on plywood with objects, in two joined parts
74 x 96 in. (188 x 243.8 cm.)
Executed in 1979.
Provenance
Galerie Marwan Hoss, Paris
Private collection, 1986
Anon. sale; Sotheby's, New York, 13 November 2002, lot 281
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Brought to you by

Julian Ehrlich
Julian Ehrlich Associate Vice President, Specialist, Head of Post-War to Present Sale

Lot Essay

A compelling example of the artist’s celebrated Spreads series, Rauschenberg's 1979 Xantone Sedan is an exemplary piece from the period. Vibrantly colored with electric yellows and greens, Rauschenberg artfully collages the world around him into a work bustling with energy. Rauschenberg's artistic practice pioneered a new way to approach the visual world. In his works, as curator Linda L. Cathcart explains, Rauschenberg's imagery is "always 'found' – he never creates it himself. This engenders a specific kind of excitement. As his audience, we are left both to speculate about his imagery and to participate in its completeness." Rauschenberg's imagery is taken from life, making each piece a unique conversation. Like any conversation, these collaged works are full of sudden pauses and graced with elegant phrases. Rauschenberg's Xantone Sedan, like the best of his works, is, in a way, alive. As the work vibrates with repeated shapes and colors, Rauschenberg's ability to extract and combine imagery from his surroundings gives birth to a kind of abstraction through reality.

In the mid-1970s Rauschenberg moved from the bustling New York art scene to Captiva, Florida, after traveling widely through France, Israel, and India. During this period, he continued experimenting with different materials and techniques, including the use of solvent transfer, which became a hallmark of his work. In this new environment, Rauschenberg created the Spreads series, which spanned works created between 1975 and 1982. This period produced a series of large-scale two dimensional works as well was three dimensional sculptural pieces, such as the present subject, as close inspection reveals the artist’s inclusion of a hair comb and a ruler. The period prompted a new era for his solvent-technique, as he began to execute on colorful fabric and upon acrylic covered panels. Xantone Sedan is a testament to his experimentation with solvent transfer upon paneling. When asked about his use of the term "spread", Rauschenberg responded that it meant "as far as I can make it stretch, and land (like a farmer's spread), and also the stuff you put on toastâ," a reference to his native Texan childhood. For Rauschenberg, "Spread" is a term also used when describing vast swaths of land, a term which applied directly to the large scale of the works in the series.

As Rauschenberg's Spread series progressed, a movement in the 1970s and 1980s accelerated as more artists followed Rauschenberg, incorporating non-traditional materials into their works: scraps of cultural imagery and scavenged objects from the city streets became materials for fine art. Rauschenberg pioneered this concept as he sought to create a bridge between art and life. As Rauschenberg proclaimed in 1959: "Painting relates to both art and life. Neither can be made. (I try to act in the gap between the two)." Rauschenberg was intensely aware of the relationship between art and life, and as he stated, his own work attempts to "act in the gap between the two.” Xantone Sedan is a work that epitomizes not only Rauschenberg's pioneering use of non-traditional material but also his intense desire to create objects that bridge this gap between art and the life of those who view it.

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