Robert Rauschenberg's centenary celebrations are starting with old friends Worldwide exhibitions start in Milan and Munich this April . (This link opens in a new tab).
By Benjamin Sutton
Robert Rauschenberg, the tirelessly experimental and collaborative American artist who died in 2008, would have turned 100 this year on 22 October. In honour of his centenary, the New York-based Robert Rauschenberg Foundation is spearheading a globe-spanning programme of exhibitions, publications, performances and more, beginning this spring and continuing well into 2026.
The first major show under the auspices of the programme, opening on 10 April, is Five Friends: John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschen-berg, Cy Twombly, co-organised by Museum Brandhorst in Munich and Museum Ludwig in Cologne. It brings together more than 150 objects including works of art, archival material, costumes, stage props, scores and a performance programme.
John Cage and Merce Cunningham had collaborated before meeting Rauschenberg, “but the three of them together created something totally different than what the two of them had done before,” says Courtney J. Martin, the executive director of the Rauschen-berg Foundation. “And similarly for Rauschenberg, working with Cy Twombly really helped him develop his small-scale sculptures in new ways.” Martin adds: “Rauschenberg is the linchpin with all of them and I think we might come away from this show thinking radically different things about all of them.”
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The centennial celebrations are extending to the commercial sector, too. This month, the Miart fair in Milan is taking inspiration from the “fundamental principles” of Rauschenberg’s work to inform its entire 2025 edition (4-6 April). The fair’s artistic director, Nicola Ricciardi, “told me he wanted the fair to use Rauschenberg as an idea because of collaboration”, Martin says. As a result, Rauschenberg works from the storied Luigi and Peppino Agrati Collection will be on view at the fair and in the Gallerie d’Italia in Piazza della Scala, while the Museo del Novecento will open an exhibition with eight of his works in dialogue with Modern Italian works. Martin adds: “That little kernel of interest on Nicola’s part has now given us another show.”
