Robert Rauschenberg Mixed Media Print "Support", 1973

Item Details

Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925 – 2008)
Support, 1973
Offset lithograph with serigraph embellishments on paper
Signed to the lower right
Numbered 132/250
Published by the Pan American Development Foundation to Aid Victims of the earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua
Printed by Styria Studio
Blind stamps to the lower left from print studio and publisher

A mixed media print by Robert Rauschenberg titled Support. This work was created to benefit the Pan American Development Foundation that aided victims of a devastating earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua, which occurred two days before Christmas in 1972. The print was issued by Styria Studio, New York, and proceeds from its sale were provided directly to the victims of the disaster. While the print references the event both obliquely and overtly, perhaps its most explicit reference is the tip of the pen in the crossword images that directly points toward a reversed solvent transfter in the New York Times ‘Week in Review’ excerpt, where the most discernible word is ‘HELP’.

The print’s references to its tragic context range from oblique to overt. The composition, awash in an orange-yellow haze, includes images of a bald eagle, a postmarked airmail envelope, and multiple views of an ocean sunset. Featured near the center and top third of the print are multiple hands that gesture in what reads like a secret code. Two shadowy figures holding an assortment of colorful balloons face the left side of the composition, one of them pointing toward two counting hands that hover above and to the right of an image of yet another hand completing a crossword puzzle. In what may be the most explicit reference to the earthquake and the effort to help its victims, the tip of the pen in the crossword image points directly toward a reversed solvent transfer of an excerpt from the New York Times’s “Week in Review,” in which the most discernible word is “HELP.”
Published by the Pan American Development Foundation to Aid Victims of the earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua

Rauschenberg was a “Neo-Dada” Abstract Expressionist who is most well known for his mixed media and found object works. After service in the U.S. Navy, Rauschenberg studied art at the Kansas City Art Institute, the Académie Julian in Paris, and Black Mountain College. In the mid-1950s he began working on his self-coined “Combines”, works which combined both painting and sculpture. Working across a variety of mediums in his career, Rauschenberg would later develop works in serigraphs, textiles, photography, and performance. His early works served as a precursor to the American Pop Art movement. Rauschenberg’s works can be found in a variety of institutions, including The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim, and more.

Condition

- uneven toning to paper; light edge wear; paper curls from rolled storage.

Dimensions

• Please note, this item may be rolled for storage and shipping.

Item #

ITMG565974