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Lot Essay
DECODER II IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF DRAWINGS THAT RAUSCHENBERG DEVELOPED IN THE 1960S AT THE SAME TIME AS HE MADE HIS COMBINE PAINTINGS. THE PAINTINGS LITERALLY COMBINED EXPRESSIVELY PAINTED SURFACES WITH FOUND OBJECTS, OBJECTS WITH DELIBERATE AND DIFFERENT CONNOTATIONS THAN THOSE USUALLY FOUND IN WORKS OF ART. RAUSCHENBERG'S AMBITION TO DEVELOP WORKS "IN THE GAP BETWEEN ART AND LIFE" WAS MANIFEST IN THE DRAMATIC OBJECTS HE CONSTRUCTED THROUGH HIS COMBINATIONS. CRITICS DESCRIBED THE WAYS IN WHICH HE CONSTRUCTED ANAGRAMS OF THE REAL WORLD WITH AN OVERALL DISPERSION OF SUBJECT AND A RELIANCE ON THE VERNACULAR. THIS IS POSSIBLE IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE BUT MORE DIFFICULT WITH WORKS ON PAPER SINCE THE DIVERSITY OF MATERIAL IS CONFINED BY THE FLATNESS OF THE MEDIUM. HE HAD EXPERIMENTED WITH TAKING AND TRANSFERRING IMAGES FROM PRINTED MATERIALS INCLUDING MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS AND THIS DEVELOPMENT ENABLED HIM TO PLACE DIVERSE IMAGES AND FORMS ON A FLAT SHEET AND HEIGHTEN THEM WITH DRAWING AND WATERCOLOR. THE IMAGES HAVE A HAND-CRAFTED QUALITY SINCE THE ILLUSTRATION IS SOAKED IN SOLVENT AND BURNISHED ONTO THE SHEET, LEAVING THE MARKS AND STRIATIONS OF THE BURNISHING TOOL.
RAUSCHENBERG RESISTED HIS OWN IMPROVISATORY GIFTS IN THE COMBINE PAINTINGS, ACCEPTING FOUND OBJECTS IN ALL THEIR FACTICITY. IN BOTH THE TRANSFER DRAWINGS AND THE SILKSCREEN PAINTINGS HE ASSERTED A SOBER SENSE OF THE GIVEN REALITY OF CAMERA-DERIVED IMAGES. IT IS IN THE TRANSFER DRAWINGS THAT RAUSCHENBERG'S INVENTIVENESS IS SEEN UNDISTRACTED, WITH A PLENTITUDE OF IMAGES, LYRICAL IN THEIR MANUAL TRANSCRIPTION AND IN BOTH SOURCE AND FACTURE LITERALLY CLOSE AT HAND. (L. ALLOWAY, ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG DRAWINGS, 1958-1968, NEW YORK, 1986)
ALTHOUGH RAUSCHENBERG HAD DISCOVERED THE PROCESS FOR TRANSFERRING PRINTED IMAGES FROM MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SHEETS OF HIS DRAWINGS IN THE EARLY 1950S, HE BEGAN TO USE IT IN A FULLY DEVELOPED FORM IN 1958 WHEN HE BEGAN THE COMPLEX SERIES OF COLLAGES WHICH ILLUSTRATED DANTE'S INFERNO. THESE THIRTY-FOUR WORKS BOTH FOLLOW THE NARRATIVE OF THE POEM AND CREATE AN ANALOGUE FOR ITS DESCRIPTIONS USING IMAGES FROM THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. RAUSCHENBERG'S VOCABULARY OF CHARACTERS--ATHLETES, POLITICIANS, AFRICAN WARRIORS AND POLICEMEN, WITH RACING CARS AND ROCKETS AS EQUIVALENTS FOR CENTAURS AND HELLFIRE--WAS ELABORATED IN THE 1960S AND EMPLOYED FOR THE MORE THAN 50 PRINTS HE MADE AT THIS TIME.
THE VOCABULARY OF DECODER II IS EXTENDED AND DISPERSED ACROSS THE SHEET. HERE THE INDIVIDUAL PARTS RELATE LESS TO A FORMAL VOCABULARY WITH SPECIFIC MEANINGS THAN TO THE POTENTIAL FOR DECODING A CONTEMPORARY SENSIBILITY. THE IMAGES ARE PARTIAL AND REPEATED, WITH INDIVIDUAL SEGMENTS OVERLAPPING AND INTERRUPTING OTHERS. HERE, FEET WITH SHOES AND SKATES ARE FOUND IN SEVERAL PLACES AND IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, ALONGSIDE CIRCULAR FACES, CLOCKS, ARCHITECTURE AND PEOPLE. THERE ARE ALSO CODED ITEMS SUCH AS PASSES OR CARDS AND A BARCHART DIAGRAM WHICH REFLECT THE TITLE THAT RAUSCHENBERG GAVE TO THE WORK.
RAUSCHENBERG RESISTED HIS OWN IMPROVISATORY GIFTS IN THE COMBINE PAINTINGS, ACCEPTING FOUND OBJECTS IN ALL THEIR FACTICITY. IN BOTH THE TRANSFER DRAWINGS AND THE SILKSCREEN PAINTINGS HE ASSERTED A SOBER SENSE OF THE GIVEN REALITY OF CAMERA-DERIVED IMAGES. IT IS IN THE TRANSFER DRAWINGS THAT RAUSCHENBERG'S INVENTIVENESS IS SEEN UNDISTRACTED, WITH A PLENTITUDE OF IMAGES, LYRICAL IN THEIR MANUAL TRANSCRIPTION AND IN BOTH SOURCE AND FACTURE LITERALLY CLOSE AT HAND. (L. ALLOWAY, ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG DRAWINGS, 1958-1968, NEW YORK, 1986)
ALTHOUGH RAUSCHENBERG HAD DISCOVERED THE PROCESS FOR TRANSFERRING PRINTED IMAGES FROM MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SHEETS OF HIS DRAWINGS IN THE EARLY 1950S, HE BEGAN TO USE IT IN A FULLY DEVELOPED FORM IN 1958 WHEN HE BEGAN THE COMPLEX SERIES OF COLLAGES WHICH ILLUSTRATED DANTE'S INFERNO. THESE THIRTY-FOUR WORKS BOTH FOLLOW THE NARRATIVE OF THE POEM AND CREATE AN ANALOGUE FOR ITS DESCRIPTIONS USING IMAGES FROM THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. RAUSCHENBERG'S VOCABULARY OF CHARACTERS--ATHLETES, POLITICIANS, AFRICAN WARRIORS AND POLICEMEN, WITH RACING CARS AND ROCKETS AS EQUIVALENTS FOR CENTAURS AND HELLFIRE--WAS ELABORATED IN THE 1960S AND EMPLOYED FOR THE MORE THAN 50 PRINTS HE MADE AT THIS TIME.
THE VOCABULARY OF DECODER II IS EXTENDED AND DISPERSED ACROSS THE SHEET. HERE THE INDIVIDUAL PARTS RELATE LESS TO A FORMAL VOCABULARY WITH SPECIFIC MEANINGS THAN TO THE POTENTIAL FOR DECODING A CONTEMPORARY SENSIBILITY. THE IMAGES ARE PARTIAL AND REPEATED, WITH INDIVIDUAL SEGMENTS OVERLAPPING AND INTERRUPTING OTHERS. HERE, FEET WITH SHOES AND SKATES ARE FOUND IN SEVERAL PLACES AND IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, ALONGSIDE CIRCULAR FACES, CLOCKS, ARCHITECTURE AND PEOPLE. THERE ARE ALSO CODED ITEMS SUCH AS PASSES OR CARDS AND A BARCHART DIAGRAM WHICH REFLECT THE TITLE THAT RAUSCHENBERG GAVE TO THE WORK.