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View of Robert Rauschenberg’s Untitled [glossy black painting] with the second coat of black paint

Related to Untitled [glossy black painting], ca. 1951

View of Robert Rauschenberg’s Untitled [glossy black painting] with the second coat of black paint

Related to Untitled [glossy black painting], ca. 1951

View of Robert Rauschenberg’s Untitled [glossy black painting] (ca. 1951) with the second coat of black paint. Photo courtesy Pace Gallery

Research Material
Archival Image

True to its title, Untitled [glossy black painting] has an extremely lustrous surface. In the 1980s, the artist added a fresh coat of black paint. The new layer, applied primarily to the upper left quarter of the painting, was intended to cover small
drips of white paint that had accidentally fallen on the work while the artist’s studio was being painted. This image offers a clear view of the outlines of drips from the new coat of paint and highlights the dramatic variations in sheen across the overpainted area and the surrounding surface.

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