Lot 12
  • 12

Robert Rauschenberg

Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 USD
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Description

  • Robert Rauschenberg
  • Ash-Gate
  • signed and dated '79
  • solvent transfer, acrylic and  fabric collage on paper
  • 83 1/2 by 36 1/2 in.
  • 212.1 by 92.7 cm

Provenance

Lennart Andersson, Stockholm
Bonnier Gallery, Ltd., New York
Andy Warhol, New York
Sotheby's, New York, The Andy Warhol Collection, May 2, 1988, lot 3403
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

Exhibited

New York, Edward Thorp Gallery, Annual Contemporary Drawing Exhibition, November - December 1981

Condition

This work is in good condition overall. The work has not been examined outside its frame, sheet is totally visible. The sheet is attached to mount in many places around the edges. It is housed in a thin silver frame. The extreme edges of the sheet abut inside the frame and in places it is creased or bent as a result. Plexiglas frame has scratches, chips and losses, particularly at corners.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

The relationship of Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol was long and complex and has itself been the subject of much debate:  Who learned the technique of silkscreen on canvas from whom?  Who introduced collage into Pop?

They met in 1962, introduced by Ileana Sonnabend who was muse and champion to both.  It soon became a close friendship, but of opposites: Rauschenberg, with his strong good looks, was socially charming, the life of the party; whereas Warhol was shy and introverted, coolly observing the scene.  Both held all-night parties, on Lafayette Street and at the Factory.  

Their working lives intersected and overlapped, until Warhol's untimely death in 1987. When Sotheby's auctioned the Estate of Andy Warhol in 1988, Ash-Gate was one of twelve Rauschenbergs in Warhol's collection.

In an insightful article, Charles Finch wrote: "The ebb and flow of influence between Warhol and Rauschenberg was a lifelong phenomenon, beginning in the distant past when studio praxis outstripped prices and branding as the goal of contemporary art. Warhol's last work, full of grocery brands mixed with images of Jesus, embraced Rauschenberg's diffuseness. And Rauschenberg's iconic screens of John and Robert Kennedy would have been impossible without the precedence of Andy's celebrities." (Charlie Finch, "Rauschenberg/Warhol," Artnet Magazine, New York, May 14, 2008, n.p.)