SFMOMA Rauschenberg Research Project

OVERVIEW

Robert Rauschenberg, Collection (formerly Untitled), 1954-1955; painting; oil, paper, fabric, wood, and metal on canvas, Collection SFMOMA, Gift of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson; © Estate of Robert Rauschenberg / Licensed by VAGA, New York
Robert Rauschenberg, Collection, 1954-1955; oil, paper, fabric, wood, and metal on canvas; Collection SFMOMA, Gift of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson; © Estate of Robert Rauschenberg / Licensed by VAGA, New York

SFMOMA has received two grants from the Getty Foundation's Online Scholarly Catalogue Initiative to catalogue all the works by Robert Rauschenberg in the permanent collection. This represents a total of eighty-eight individual Combines, sculptures, paintings, photographs, and prints and other works on paper. The four-year research effort, led by SFMOMA Associate Curator of Collections and Research Sarah Roberts, will result in the museum's first online scholarly publication, projected to launch in summer 2013. SFMOMA holds one of the world's foremost collections of Rauschenberg's art, including breakthrough works from early in his career, such as Automobile Tire Print (1953) and Erased de Kooning Drawing (1953), the latter a singular milestone of twentieth-century art. The Rauschenberg Research Project will introduce a worldwide audience to a wealth of knowledge about these and other iconic works.

The catalogue will consist of three layers for each individual work: an artwork overview; an essay page featuring newly commissioned writing and designed for reading and contemplation; and a research materials page that will serve as a clearing house for images, conservation research, artist interviews, previous publications, and links to related resources. Ultimately, the catalogue promises to be the largest and most in-depth repository of Rauschenberg research available online. It will serve both as a vital resource for the study of postwar art and as a new model for digital museum publishing.

Information about the initiative may be found at the Getty Foundation's Online Scholarly Catalogue Initiative page.