The Easel

The First of the New

Rauschenberg felt the abstract expressionists were too much into their own dramas. He wanted to show the beauty of everyday objects, a focus that anticipated soon-to-arrive Pop art. Warhol has since overshadowed Rauschenberg, but that might change with a forthcoming major retrospective. It will aim to show that “all the values, aesthetics and processes of contemporary art are there in Rauschenberg’s earliest work”.