Mnuchin Gallery, May 2022

Fantastic visit at the Mnuchin Gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Robert Rauschenberg was featured at the Mnuchin Gallery in May and it was an amazing treat for all of us that walked through the rooms of this amazing gallery. The exhibition called Robert Rauschenberg: Exceptional Works, 1971-1999 assembled pieces of the artist across the years. It included early works such as the White Paintings (1951) and the Combines (1954–64).

Mnuchin Gallery is located in the historic five-story townhouse at 45 East 78th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and is dedicated to presenting museum-quality exhibitions of postwar and contemporary art. Owner and founder Robert Mnuchin, whose passion for the arts developed through his childhood and his longstanding career in the financial sector, began a successful second career as an art dealer in 1992, co-founding C&M Arts in 1992, and the bi-coastal operation, L&M Arts, in 2005. In 2013, the gallery was renamed Mnuchin Gallery under the direction of Robert Mnuchin and Sukanya Rajaratnam. Mnuchin Gallery is recognized for its thoughtfully curated, carefully researched exhibitions, each documented with a scholarly publication.

Robert Rauschenberg was an American painter and graphic artist who, in many ways, ‘anticipated’ the pop art movement. His works are so contemporary, capturing today’s ‘Zeitgeist’ so perfectly, we had to do a double-take on his date of birth. For a person that would have been 102 years old, had he been alive today, his work was definitely ahead of his time.

We were particularly impressed by his Combines group of artworks that incorporated everyday objects as art materials. In ‘Favor-Rites’, pictured below, he uses glass and paint, for example; can you spot me in the picture? Rauschenberg was both a painter and a sculptor, as demonstrated beautifully in the ‘Baclone Glut’ and ‘Castelli|Little Turtle Bowl’ works below. These two works occupied a corner of the room, and at 95x55x16 and 95x145x2, respectively, they really made us feel quite immersed in the experience.

Rauschenberg also worked with photography and printmaking. He drew inspiration from the two places he spent most of his productive years: New York City and Captiva Island in Florida.

As a New Yorker and as a contemporary artist, I am in complete awe of Robert Rauschenberg. Make every attempt to stand in front of one of his fascinating pieces next time his work is exhibited. Sadly, the exhibition at the Mnuchin Gallery was only through June 11.