© Robert Rauschenberg / Adagp, Paris, 2006
Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925-2008). Hymnal, 1955. Combine painting. Sonnabend Collection, New York
Hymnal combines an old paisley shawl glued to a dimensional canvas, oil paint, a fragment of
the Manhattan telephone directory ca. 1954-55, an FBI handbill, a photograph, wood, a painted sign and a metal bolt.
"One looks forward to a painting finishing itself … because if you have less of the past to carry around, you have more energy for the present. Using, exhibiting, viewing, writing, and talking about it is a positive element in ridding oneself of the picture. And it does justice to the picture that defies this. So that you may not accumulate mass as much as you may accumulate quality." - Robert Rauschenberg in an interview with David Sylvester, 1964.
"One looks forward to a painting finishing itself … because if you have less of the past to carry around, you have more energy for the present. Using, exhibiting, viewing, writing, and talking about it is a positive element in ridding oneself of the picture. And it does justice to the picture that defies this. So that you may not accumulate mass as much as you may accumulate quality." - Robert Rauschenberg in an interview with David Sylvester, 1964.