“He was one of those people–quick as a comedian, deft and knowing–who seem to be effortlessly inventive, spinning off ideas and techniques like droplets of water from a lawn sprinkler, and there is hardly an artist working today who doesn’t owe him something. To Rauschenberg, almost anything could be art, and art could be almost anything.”
Tag: 05.14.08
Library Of Congress Adds Thriller, 24 Other Recordings To Archive
Twenty-five selections were added to the National Recording Registry on Wednesday, part of the library’s attempt to save America’s aural history by archiving recordings deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
What Rauschenberg Meant To American Art
“Rauschenberg’s art was instrumental in reintroducing representational imagery into common usage. Until then, avant-garde art on both sides of the Atlantic was most closely identified with pure abstraction, which the general public regarded with skepticism.”
A Post-Katrina Cultural Renaissance
The small town of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has embraced the arts as part of the rebuilding process after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. “Arts mavens and tourists are returning, and homes and businesses are being rebuilt, helping to resurrect the economy and sharpen the community’s identity as a cultural hub.”
Hollywood Playing Second Fiddle At Cannes?
“Each year, headlines out of Cannes treat the event as an improbable David and Goliath showdown between art cinema and Hollywood, but increasingly the festival is bridging the gap… From the Hollywood perspective, this year’s Cannes story is somewhat light on the mainstream goods.”
Tonys Turn On Harvey
Among the notable snubs in this year’s Tony nominations (Mel Brooks, Disney, etc.) is Broadway veteran Harvey Fierstein. “The nominators appeared to go out of their way to ignore Fierstein’s A Catered Affair, about a working-class couple struggling to make ends meet while planning a fancy wedding for their daughter.”
Why Rauschenberg Matters
“Beginning in the early to mid-1950s, Mr. Rauschenberg extended the vocabulary of painting, which had been more or less fixed since the Middle Ages, by combining pigment with real objects such as stuffed birds, fabrics and household appliances, and photographs reproduced from newspapers… He’ll be remembered as a genuine trailblazer, someone who opened up several pathways beyond abstract expressionism that many artists continue to follow.”
NEA Launches Opera Honors
“Yesterday the National Endowment for the Arts announced the four winners of the first annual NEA Opera Honors, the first new program of national arts awards since the Jazz Masters awards were established in 1982. The first opera honorees are the great soprano Leontyne Price, conductor James Levine… composer Carlisle Floyd and administrator Richard Gaddes.”
A Rauschenberg Appreciation
Robert Rauschenberg was far more than just the creator of his famous Combines. “The truly great Rauschenbergs that really get me excited, and that may have the most leverage on our cutting edge, were made before the Combines came to be.”
Even Real Estate Bringing Top Dollar At Christie’s
“In an overflowing salesroom at Christie’s, bidders from all parts of the globe were happy to pay top dollar Tuesday night for everything from an abstract canvas by Mark Rothko to a painting of a monumentally fat woman by Lucian Freud. The auction also included a five-bedroom Modernist house, which was snapped up for a record price.”