Robert Rauschenberg moved to New York in 1949, at a time when the avant-garde art scene was dominated by Abstract Expressionism. Right from the beginning, Rauschenberg worked beyond the restrictions imposed by media, style and convention, and adopted a unique experimental methodology that combined gestural mark-making with its antithesis – mechanically reproduced imagery.

His work has been of central influence in many of the significant developments of post-war American art and has provided countless blueprints for artistic innovation by younger generations. [Gallery news, 2007].