Rauschenberg reinforced the twenty glued sheets of paper that support Automobile Tire Print by affixing them to a long strip of linen. In this view of the last sheet of paper in the sequence, the mark left by the painted tire is fainter, and the linen backing is visible. Notably, the tire impression doubles up here, becoming wider than elsewhere in the work, an effect likely created as the car rolled back, then forward again, leaving a second, overlapping imprint.
Detail of Robert Rauschenberg’s Automobile Tire Print showing doubling back of tire
Part of the Rauschenberg Research Project
Related to Automobile Tire Print, 1953
Detail of Robert Rauschenberg’s Automobile Tire Print showing doubling back of tire
Related to Automobile Tire Print, 1953
Part of the Rauschenberg Research Project

Robert Rauschenberg, Automobile Tire Print, 1953 (detail, final sheet)