Robert Rauschenberg’s Centenary Gets Major Guggenheim Show Opening October 2025
Robert Rauschenberg’s 32-foot-long (~9.7-meter-long) silkscreen painting “Barge” (1962–63) will be among over a dozen works exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan this fall, part of a global celebration of the late American artist’s centennial.
Slated to open October 10 and run through April 5, 2026, the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: Life Can’t Be Stopped will reexamine the artist’s use of visual media and commercial printing techniques through notable works held in the Guggenheim’s collection, alongside loans from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. The show aligns with a string of programming at institutions around the world in commemoration of Rauschenberg’s birth, including the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany; Fundación Juan March in Madrid, Spain; and the Museum of the City of New York in Manhattan.
Originally from Texas, where he was raised with no formal art training, Rauschenberg is considered a pioneering figure of Pop art whose work was defined by his groundbreaking use of materials that challenged established notions of art disciplines — namely painting and sculpture. He is particularly remembered for his Combines series (1954–64), which integrated found objects and real-world images with abstract painting, and his collaborations with dancers, musicians, writers, engineers, and other artists.
In the Guggenheim’s centennial presentation, “Barge” will return to the museum after nearly three decades, following its inclusion in a sweeping 1997–98 retrospective of the artist’s work. An amalgamation of transportation-related imagery and other recognizable visuals pulled from everyday life and Old Master paintings, it is the largest piece in Rauschenberg’s series of 79 silkscreen paintings and was produced largely during a single 24-hour period. Other key artworks that will be exhibited include the crimson mixed-media work “Untitled (Red Painting)” (1953–54) and an untitled silkscreen painting from 1963 centering on choreographer Merce Cunningham, one of the artist’s longtime collaborators.
