Cy + Roman Steps (V)

This is the last in a series of photographs by Robert Rauschenberg housed at the San Francisco MOMA. I had heard of Rauschenberg before. He’s one of Julia’s favorites, which pretty much automatically legitimized him for me, but I wasn’t familiar with any of his work.

When I finally got a chance to see some of his work, these photos, taken in 1952 of fellow artist Cy Twobly, immediately captured my attention. I don’t think I could articulate exactly what it is about this series of photos that drew me in, but there’s something about them that resonates with me.

There’s nothing particularly glamorous about them. What sets them apart for me is that they are real. Rauschenberg used who/what he had around him and by so doing created a feeling of tangibility. Something the everyman could understand and appreciate. He brought out the beauty in the ordinary.

After all, aren’t we all a piece of work.