DEAD! at 82Robert Rauschenberg

Retroactive I

Artist: Robert Rauschenberg
(American, 1925 – 2008)
Oil on canvas
1963

The Wadsworth Atheneum
Hartford (Connecticut)

Robert Rauschenberg was one of the first post-war American artists to reintroduce popular imagery into contemporary art. In 1962, Rauschenberg began to apply "found" media images (from Life, National Geographic and other picture magazines) to canvas, using commercially prepared photographic silk screens. Retroactive I is widely considered one of the finest of Rauschenberg's silkscreen paintings, and reflects the artist's ongoing interest in the random connectedness of commonplace scenes and objects. Here, as in much of Rauschenberg's work, seemingly incongruous images are juxtaposed to create a loosely thematic vignette that evokes the complexity and richness of the world around us. Viewed together the familiar images of President John F. Kennedy, Sunkist oranges, and an American astronaut floating in space evoke the prosperity and optimism of 1960s America. Central to the work is an iconic portrayal of the attractive young president, a symbol of progress and promise. Nothing, however, can separate the power of this image from its emblematic reading as the embodiment of a national tragedy.