Monet and Rauschenberg

1593 Words7 Pages
Artists can be influenced by their experiences of the world and make artworks as a result. This is shown through Rauschenberg’s retroactive, and Monet’s Water-Lily pond. Both works reflect the work their artists live and breathe, along with the stylistic art movements, in addition the subject matter relates exceedingly to the artists environment. Monet practiced impressionism whilst Rauschenberg adopted Pop art and other developing art styles. Robert Rauschenberg was born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1925. As a child he first imagined himself as a minister, and later in life he thought he would enjoy being a pharmacist. However, before Rauschenberg was able to fulfil any of these dreams, he served in the military through much on the 1940’s. It was in the Marines in 1947 that he discovered his talent for drawing and interest in the artistic beauty of people and everyday objects. Everyday objects were often included in Rauschenberg’s art, along with a focus of current events. This interest in everyday object, people and current events is apparent in many pieces, including Retroactive 1. After serving in the military, Rauschenberg used the G.I bill to study in Paris. He quickly realized that he was not very interested in European art and moved to North Carolina to study at Black Mountain College. At Black Mountain College Rauschenberg studies under many artists who helped to make him into the artist he became. Many of these artists had very progressive views about art which greatly reflected in all of Rauschenberg’s pieces. Many of these earlier pieces include various unconventional objects, including many three dimensional objects. In the year surrounding 1964, when Rauschenberg was working on Retroactive, America was changing. These years saw the advancement in television and other technologies, the race to the moon, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. All three
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