These conservation images of Untitled [glossy black painting] show the same area of the work under different lighting conditions: raking light on the left, and natural light on the right. The comparison reveals the complexity of the layering and dripped paint on the work’s surface as well as variations in sheen caused by the artist’s use of more than one type of black paint.
Details of Robert Rauschenberg’s Untitled [glossy black painting] in raking and natural light
Part of the Rauschenberg Research Project
Related to Untitled [glossy black painting], ca. 1951
Details of Robert Rauschenberg’s Untitled [glossy black painting] in raking and natural light
Related to Untitled [glossy black painting], ca. 1951
Part of the Rauschenberg Research Project

Composite of two detail views from Rauschenberg’s Untitled [glossy black painting] (ca. 1951), showing the same area of the work in raking and natural light