Artlyst article: The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg

My latest article for Artlyst is entitled 'The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg' and highlights the explores the religious impulses of modernism in relation to Modern Art and the Life of a Culture by Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness and the author's reflections on the religious impulses of Robert Rauschenberg:

'Rauschenberg famously gave up his dream of becoming a minister because of his love for dancing, which his then minister told him was a sin. The retelling of that story from his childhood is, in some cases, the sole reference made by critics to religion in Rauschenberg’s work. Anderson and Dyrness help us see that, as Elizabeth Richards has stated, ‘rejection of organized religion did not dictate a rejection of spirituality and, in fact, his art often incorporated aspects of ritual and ceremony that recall his religious upbringing.’ Anderson and Dyrness do not explore the range of religious reference found in Rauschenberg’s work, and that of modern art more generally, in order to argue that this somehow makes this work ‘Christian art,’ rather they simply make the case that we cannot fully understand Rauschenberg’s work, as with so much great art, until we genuinely account for and interpret the religious references found so fully within it.'

My other Artlyst articles are:

• The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement;
• Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition;
• Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation;
• The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields; and
• Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Cage - 4'33".