Robert Rauschenberg - the Heckscher Museum of Art

SPECIAL EXHIBITION
RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TEACHERS
Robert Rauschenberg
and His Contemporaries:
Recent Prints from Universal Limited Art Editions
November 14, 2008 - January 4, 2009
Robert Rauschenberg, Lotus I , 2008, Pigmented ink jet with photogravure, 45.75 x 60 inches.
What’s Inside...
Page
Exhibition Summary.............................................1
Artists in the Exhibition........................................1
Exhibition
Summary
Artwork Images.................................................2-8
Vocabulary
Exhibition-related Vocabulary, Books, Websites.......9
PrePost-visit
Activities
Pre-and
and
Post-Visit
Activities................................10
Artwork images
Upcoming
Exhibitions
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Special Exhibition Resource Guides for Teachers.
(see back cover)
2 Prime Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743
631.351.3250 Tel
631.423.2145 Fax
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EXHIBITION SUMMARY
This exhibition features approximately 35 prints by 19 artists, including the late Robert
Rauschenberg, created in recent years at Universal Limited Art Editions in Bay Shore, Long
Island. In most cases, more than one print by an artist is on view. Some prints are part of
series, such as Robert Rauschenberg’s five prints from the Lotus Series, 2008. Printing
methods utilized include the following: lithography, etching, photogravure, silkscreen,
mezzotint, and woodcut. Subject matter and style ranges broadly within the body of prints.
NEW! Download the ILLUSTRATED Checklist
An illustrated checklist for the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg and His Contemporaries:
Recent Prints from Universal Limited Art Editions including full-color thumbnail images of
all works on view and basic identifying information (artist, title, date, media, dimensions)
will be available online as of January 17, 2009 at: (For educational purposes only please.)
“http://www.heckscher.org/downloads/ED08_HSStud_LIBest_RauschenbergChecklist.pdf”
UNIVERSAL LIMITED ART EDITIONS (ULAE)
ARTISTS ON VIEW
Located in Bay Shore, NY, Universal Limited art Editions is a fine art
print publisher established in 1957 by Tatyana Grosman. Initially making
lithographs with artists such as Larry Rivers, Sam Francis, and Robert
Rauschenberg, ULAE sparked a revival of printmaking in America. Today, ULAE continues
to collaborate with artists to publish small edition prints and artists’ books.
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Cecily Brown (1969- )
Enrique Chagoya (1953- )
Chuck Close (1940- )
Carroll Dunham (1949- )
Helen Frankenthaler (1928- )
Ellen Gallagher (1965- )
Orly Genger (1979- )
Jane Hammond (1950- )
Jasper Johns (1930- )
Rosa Loy (1958- )
Susan McClelland (1959-)
Elizabeth Murray (1940- )
Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008)
James Rosenquist (1933- )
James Siena (1957- )
Kiki Smith (1954- )
Richard Tuttle (1941- )
Terry Winters (1949- )
Lisa Yuskavage (1962- )
Visit http://www.ulae.com/artists.aspx for biographies of all these artists.
Chuck Close, Robert, 1998, Photogravure, 25-1/2 x 24 inches.
2
James Rosenquist, Light Catcher, 2005, Lithograph in 10 colors, 37.5 x 37.5 inches.
3
Susan McClelland, Zig Zag, 1998, Intaglio in 5 colors, 28.31 x 31.75 inches.
4
Jane Hammond, Presto, 1991, Lithograph in 10 colors with
silkscreen and collage, 39.38 x 25.63 inches.
5
Jasper Johns, Green Angel #2, 1997, Intaglio in 5 colors, 48 x 24.88 in.
6
Rosa Loy, Afternoon with Laika, 2008, Lithograph in 4 colors, 20.63 x 23 in.
7
Elizabeth Murray, Bedtime, 1996, Mezzotint over a multi-colored monotype,
28.75 x 26.5 in.
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VOCABULARY
print. A work of art created with ink on paper. printmaking - the process of creating a
print.
relief printing. Includes printing methods in which a block of a material (wood, lino-
leum, etc.) is carved. The areas that remain raised are inked and printed onto paper. Ex:
woodcut, linoleum cut.
intaglio printing. Includes printing methods in which grooves are incised (or cut) into
a metal plate. Ink is applied and trapped in these grooves. When printed with a great
amount of pressure, the ink is pushed out of these grooves onto the paper. Ex: etching,
engraving, mezzotint, photogravure.
lithography. A surface printing method in which the artist uses a waxy lithographic
crayon to draw on a stone.
silkscreen. Printing method based on stenciling. Ink is brushed through a fine screen
made of silk and masks are used to produce the design.
limited edition. A set number of prints printed at one time.
BOOKS
Proof Positive: Forty Years of Contemporary American Printmaking at ULAE by Universal Limited Art Editions
Universal Limited Art Editions: A History and Catalogue: The
First Twenty-Five Years by Esther Sparks
The Complete Printmaker by John Ross
The History of Printmaking Scholastic Books, Inc.
WEBSITES
Universal Limited Art Editions official website
History of ULAE, Artists, and New Works
http://www.ulae.com
MoMA’s “What Is a Print?”
Interactive demonstrations, glossary, recommended reading, and more
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2001/whatisaprint/flash.html
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Pre- and Post-visit Activities
Grades 1-5: Poetic Prints
Motivation: View Jane Hammond’s prints from the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg and
His Contemporaries. Discuss: What is a print? What is an edition? Ask students what
they would name/title Hammond’s prints. Explain that Hammond collaborated with a poet
named John Asbury to create prints. Asbury gave Hammond 44 titles and she then created
prints to fit them. Do you think the prints describe the titles well and vice versa? Why?
Procedure:
1. Have students write their own titles or supply them with phrases from a song or poem. (If
desired, connect to studies in English.) Place in a hat and have each student choose one.
2. Create printing plates (scratchfoam, etc.) that illustrate the selected phrases.
3. Have each student print an edition and sign, date, title, and number them
accordingly.
Grades 6-12: Place, Meaning, & Context: Collage Series
Motivation: View Robert Rauschenberg’s Lotus series of prints. Discuss: What is a
series? What makes this group of prints a series? What is similar about them? What is
different? Explain that the images are all from photographs the artist took during a trip to
China. What images do you recognize? Most are everyday objects/scenes.
Procedure:
1. Ask students to create a series of collages based on a place (their community, vacation
destination, connect to studies in history class, etc.). Brainstorm ideas as a class.
2. Have each student create and/or acquire a series of photographs/photographic images
of everyday objects/scenes of the chosen place. (Photograph & print, print off the web, cut
out from magazines, photocopy from books). Make numerous photocopies of each set.
3. Have students carefully look through all the images they have acquired. Discuss
meaning and context. Now that these items and scenes have been removed from their
original “context” (website, book, magazine, etc.), do they have the same meaning? What
new meanings may be created by positioning them alongside one another? Have students
experiment with different compositions and discuss potential meanings/interpretations.
4. Discuss symbolism. What is a symbol? Rauschenberg may have been considering the
symbolism of the lotus when he chose to repeat it in each print. What do lotus flowers
symbolize?
5. Considering meaning and symbolism (as well as composition and positive and negative
space), have each student create a series of atleast three collages using their photocopies.
6. Encourage students to select one image that they feel holds symbolic meaning to repeat
in each collage. Glue to a series of same-sized papers and then use pastels, watercolor, or
colored pencil to add color. Consider how color choice can help to connect each print in
the series and/or individualize them within it.
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Everything you need
www.heckscher.org
SPECIAL EXHIBITION RESOURCE GUIDES for TEACHERS
Prepare your students before their upcoming School Discovery Program! Guides are
developed on a rolling basis and are available free of charge at www.heckscher.org.
Simply click on “Education” and “Educator Resources.” All guides include exhibitionspecific information including:
• artist biographies
• exhibition summaries
• full-color artwork images
• vocabulary words
• pre- and post-visit activities
NEW!
IN THE
“KIDS CORNER”
Each month, the Museum will choose up to
6 lucky young artists to have their artwork
displayed in this new online gallery!
HOW TO ENTER:
Please send a .jpg of your artwork to [email protected].
All entries must include the artist’s FIRST NAME, TITLE of the artwork, and AGE of the artist.
TEACHERS: SHARE LESSONS & STUDENT ARTWORK
Have you taught your students a lesson inspired by an exhibition on view in the Museum?
Share it with us and fellow art teachers at www.heckscher.org!
Please send a description of your lesson along with .jpg files of student work to [email protected].
All submissions must include teacher’s full name, school name, district, and grade level.
FURTHER QUESTIONS?
2 Prime Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743
631.351.3250 Tel
631.423.2145 Fax
www.heckscher.org
Please call the Museum’s Education
Department at 631.351.3214 Monday
through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, or email
[email protected] and we would be
happy to help!