On May 14, 2008, two days after Robert Rauschenberg passed away, my friend Douglas Sandberg emailed a wonderful homage to this great artist. I wrote back to Douglas: "Thanks for sharing your essay. It is a clear demonstration of how Rauschenberg is still with us.... May I have your permission to put this on my web site?" Douglas responded the next day, "Oh yes you certainly may use my little tribute. I could go on and on about my love for him. The ways he's enriched my life and those I have turned on to him. He was a remarkable man in so many ways. To look at his art is to look at life and there is never anything wrong with looking. As you say, "he is everywhere." --Roxane Gilbert, Art2u

Remembering Robert Rauschenberg
by Douglas Sandberg
illustration by John Finger
© 2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Dear Friends,

Many of you know of my deep love and appreciation of the Art and Life of Robert Rauschenberg. His passing has given me pause to meditate on why an artwork or a specific artist resonates for some and not for others. I've often taken it upon myself to help people appreciate Rauschenberg's sometimes difficult subject matter. For over 40 years his work has always spoken to me. Maybe he appealed to me because he reminded me of my own encouraging father. Maybe because I've always enjoyed cultivating the mysterious. Maybe it is the notion that art could possibly bring people together and make them question and look at themselves.

One of Bob's great ambitions called the Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange (ROCI), claimed an attempt at world peace. Some know that my 1985 New York City solo trip to see the ROCI works had a great influence on me. The experience ultimately led to my own inner world peace. But one cannot assume that an all white, black or red painting would generate much empathy. Or a bubbling cauldron of mud (MUD MUSE) would cause one to write poetry. Or that a stuffed goat with tire (MONOGRAM) would be considered one of this centuries great masterpieces."

"Just give me 20 minutes, and I'll bring you around!," I've often been heard to say. Why would I do this, if someone prefers the glorious garden imagery of Cezanne, the elegant color forms of O'Keeffe, or even the incomparable genius of Picasso? BECAUSE OF WONDER AND THE MARVELOUS BACK STORY, I would say. In these days of exploding content, isn't it a joy to not understand something? To have it inspire wonder? And when you read between the lines, colors and forms, isn't it a plus to learn that a man struggled behind the frame and found his own mystery there? This is just one of the many reasons I love Robert Rauschenberg.

Another would be the legion of fans he's created. You have shared my enthusiasm and come back with Rauschenberg discoveries of your own. What a glorious interchange we've enjoyed because of Bob!

Jeffery Scott Lewis is a man who visited Rauschenberg's Short Stories show about seven years ago. His friends were completely embarrassed when he came up to Rauschenberg and told him that he didn't get it. Of course Bob loves this kind of reaction and said that "the work meant whatever he thought it meant." While walking off to visit other guests he turned back around to Jeffery and said, "Don't ever think you've figured it all out.... I'm 76 years old and I still don't know what the hell is going on." Mr. Lewis had the good fortune to revisit Rauschenberg last year at an art auction. He came up to Bob's table and said, "I'm sure you don't remember me, but...." Rauschenberg cut him off with, "Sure I remember you, Jeffery Lewis!!"

Being the recipient of similar encounters with Rauschenberg, I can recount that he leaves a serious impression on you. Like holding a mirror in front of himself so that you can see who you are. Very much like witnessing a Robert Rauschenberg show in person. The sheer wonder and awe of how these objects came to being overwhelms you. There is so much rich material. Some have called it junk. But if Rauschenberg merely displayed junk, it would not be charged with the emotional impact critics have tried to explain for over 50 years. Every Rauschenberg artwork acts as a lens pointed at Earth. Every artwork very carefully orchestrated. Mirrors of life. And as it is with life, it's not all neatly packaged. There is even some free flowing sloppiness.

This is something I've learned to appreciate in Rauschenberg's work. The joy of the materials. The intuitive use of dissimilar objects and ideas that create a synergistic whole. How did Rauschenberg come to create such remarkably innovative work, year after year? Was it his conservative Christian upbringing which eventually caused him to leave Port Arthur Texas, because the church would not allow him to dance? Was it his dyslexia that made him feel that every day he could not learn his lessons? Was it the unworthiness he felt when his Black Mountain professor scolded the young student by saying, "I DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHO DID THIS!!" How did he manage to continue against such odds?

I think it was his sheer determination and love of work that generated his success. The fact that he knew he was an artist because he saw things differently. He was not afraid to fall down. Not afraid to fail. Not afraid of what Joseph Albers or the critics thought. He just stood up and got his hands wet. He blazed his own trail, by throwing in all his faults and influences into a big pot of artistic chili he cooked from scratch. He said of himself that he was "not cursed with talent, which would be a great inhibitor." He simply focused on what he was doing. And when he got the impression that he KNEW what he was doing...he moved on! That kind of determination is what can improve our lives.

I try to tell my students that "what you focus on...expands!" I feel so very fortunate to have focused on Robert Rauschenberg.

His art has given us a greater life!

Douglas Sandberg
May 14th 2008

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published on Art2u on May 25, 2008