Booster, from the series Booster and Seven Studies
Not on view
Robert Rauschenberg was already a well-known artist, famous for his use of ordinary materials and mechanically produced images in his art, when in 1967 he began his first printed project with Gemini G.E.L.. Founded a year before by Kenneth Taylor, the press was created to introduce innovative lithographic production to cutting-edge artists of the day. For his first lithograph at Gemini, Rauschenberg set out to make the largest print ever made on a hand-operated press--a life-size portrait of his skeleton. For that, at 5-feet, 10 inches, x-rays were taken of Rauschenberg's body in six one-foot segments, from head to toe, including the artist's hobnail boots. He then superimposed on the skeleton a 1967 astronomer's chart that tracked the course of the stars and the planets that year. He also added magazine images of athletes, two power drills, a launching pad, and at the upper left corner in blue, the chair used in a previous artistic project.
Karin Breuer
- Artist
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Assistant Printer
- Robert Bigelow
- Printer
- Kenneth Tyler
- Publisher
- Gemini G.E.L.
- Title
- Booster, from the series Booster and Seven Studies
- Date
- 1967
- Object Type
- Medium
- Color lithograph and screenprint
- Dimensions
- 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
- Credit Line
- Anderson Graphic Arts Collection, gift of the Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson Charitable Foundation
- Accession Number
- 1996.74.401