H.R. No. 1055
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Renowned American artist Robert Rauschenberg, who
died on May 12, 2008, is being posthumously honored with a 2009
Texas Medal of Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement on April 7, 2009;
and
WHEREAS, The Texas Medal of Arts Awards, presented by the
Texas Cultural Trust Council, spotlights and celebrates the
creative excellence, exemplary talents, and outstanding
contributions by Texans in selected categories; and
WHEREAS, Born in Port Arthur on October 22, 1925, Robert
Rauschenberg was a pharmacology student at The University of Texas
at Austin before serving as a member of the U.S. Navy during World
War II; after seeing an exhibit of paintings for the first time
while stationed in San Diego, art entered his realm of possibility,
and he went on to attend the Kansas City Art Institute on the G.I.
Bill; he later studied at Academie Julian in Paris, Black Mountain
College in North Carolina, and the Art Students League in New York
City and became friends with such creative forces as musician John
Cage and dancer Merce Cunningham; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Rauschenberg's career took off during the 1950s,
and he soon developed a reputation for experimentation and
mischief; he produced three monochromatic series, Black Paintings,
White Paintings, and Red Paintings, and challenged conceptions of
beauty when he began incorporating found objects into his work;
this idea that junk could be the stuff of art eventually resulted in
what he termed "combines," works that combined aspects of painting
and sculpture, the most famous of which was titled Monogram and
consisted of a stuffed angora goat, a tire, a police barrier, the
heel of a shoe, a tennis ball, and paint; and
WHEREAS, The following decade, Mr. Rauschenberg continued to
obscure the lines between mediums, creating silk-screen prints from
magazine photographs, which he then overlapped with painted
brushstrokes; he also explored choreography, having already
designed sets and costumes for the most innovative dancers of the
day, and in 1964 he toured Europe and Asia with the Merce Cunningham
Dance Company; his status in the art world was sealed that same year
when he became the first American to win the international grand
prize at the Venice Biennale; and
WHEREAS, Drawn to collaboration and forever seeking new
combinations of material, Mr. Rauschenberg was involved in an array
of joint projects through the years; he cofounded Experiments in
Art and Technology to encourage cooperation between artists and
engineers, and he enjoyed productive relationships with several
workshops, most notably Universal Limited Art Editions, where he
created his first lithograph; and
WHEREAS, In 1984, he established the Rauschenberg Overseas
Culture Interchange, or ROCI, to promote world peace and
understanding, and over an eight-year period, he toured 10
countries, working with local artists and artisans and exhibiting
along the way; that massive undertaking ultimately generated more
than 200 works, most of which were part of an exhibition held at the
National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Rauschenberg's famous productivity was on
display again in 1997 in a retrospective put on by the Guggenheim
Museum in New York; consisting of some 400 objects, it was the
largest exhibition in the institution's history, yet it did not
capture the full story of his life's work; he remained, for another
decade, as prolific, experimental, and avid an artist as ever, even
after suffering a stroke in 2002 that left him partially paralyzed;
and
WHEREAS, Working in what he described as "the gap between art
and life," Robert Rauschenberg profoundly shaped 20th century art
with his eclectic, multifaceted, and freewheeling style that
suggested an artist was not bound to one medium and that everyday
finds could be reconceived to exciting effect; although this icon
of American art is certainly missed, he leaves behind a legacy that
continues to resonate with audiences the world over; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life and work of Robert
Rauschenberg on the occasion of the 2009 Texas Medal of Arts.
Deshotel
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 1055 was adopted by the House on April
9, 2009, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House