RAUSCHENBERG, ROBERT - VIDEO -

A key figure in the development of the Pop art movement, Robert Rauschenberg is considered by many to be one of the most original of America's living artist. His major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 1997, which included his huge autobiographical piece, "The 1/4 mile or 2 Furlong Piece", provides a focal point for this film. Interviewed at home and in his large and airy studio on Captiva Island, Florida, he talks about his life, his upbringing in the "smelly refinery town" of Port Arthur, Texas, and the moment of recognition that occurred when he first saw art and "felt bonded". After studying at the progressive Black Mountain College under Josef Albers, Rauschenberg arrived in New York in the heyday of abstract expressionism and swiftly formed a counter-movement with his great friend, Jasper Johns. He explains the evolution of several of his most famous works, including "Erased De Kooning Drawing" (1976-8), "Bed" (1955, "Mongram" 1955-9) and introduces examples of his costume and stage design work. Archive footage and the testimony of critics (including Calvin Tompkins and Barbara Rose), dealers (Ileana Sonnabend and Leo Castelli) and friends such as Merce Cunningham and Rachel Rosenthal help to build up the picture of the man of whom John Cage said, "he opens the window and the work flies in".