The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is currently presenting "Robert Rauschenberg's New York: Pictures from the Real World," a comprehensive retrospective celebrating the 100th anniversary of the legendary artist's birth. This exhibition focuses specifically on Rauschenberg's photographic work, highlighting his complex relationship with New York City and his unique perspective on the real world around him. The show is part of a global celebration honoring the artist's centennial, with similar exhibitions taking place worldwide.

Rauschenberg established himself as one of the leading contemporary artists of postwar New York City, renowned for his boundary-pushing approach to art-making. His innovative ability to explore new techniques and experiment with different materials fundamentally shaped the narrative of modern art in ways that continue to resonate today. The artist possessed an extraordinary gift for transforming everyday items into dynamic works of art, seamlessly intertwining found objects with images and letters cut from magazines and newspapers to create groundbreaking paintings and sculptures. Through his genius and artistic vision, mundane materials became masterpieces.

While Rauschenberg was celebrated for his mixed-media works, he was also a masterful photographer with exceptional creative vision and an ability to capture subjects from fresh perspectives. This MCNY exhibition focuses exclusively on his photographic practice, presenting visitors with an in-depth exploration of how photography influenced his broader artistic output. The show is organized into three distinct sections that collectively examine the artist's photographic journey and its interplay with his painting, sculpture, and assemblage work.

The first section, "Early Photographs," showcases Rauschenberg's earliest images, which consist primarily of intimate portraits that demonstrate his experimentation with photography's fundamental elements. These works reveal the artist's exploration of lighting, framing, and shadow as he developed his unique photographic voice. The second section, "Out City Limits," presents a comprehensive three-year survey that Rauschenberg conducted across the United States from 1979 to 1981. This ambitious project, which he had first conceptualized during his college years, centers on his study of human culture with New York City serving as both a humble and humanizing backdrop. These photographs reflect Rauschenberg's deep awareness of the social landscape and his profound fascination with society and culture.

The third and final section, "Photography in Painting," features a collection of photographs taken between 1963 and 1994 that combine Rauschenberg's New York City-focused images with pictures captured during his travels around the world. This body of work clearly demonstrates the transformation and evolution of his creative process throughout his career, showing how his artistic vision continued to develop and expand over three decades of practice.

The exhibition has been developed in partnership with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, whose Executive Director Courtney J. Martin emphasized the importance of this collaboration. "We are honored to support the Museum of the City of New York's thoughtful and timely exhibition," Martin stated. "New York was not only a backdrop for Rauschenberg's practice, it was also a catalyst for the ways that his objects would take shape for the entirety of his career. This exhibition reminds us how the city's energy, texture, and unpredictability were central to his groundbreaking approach to artmaking."

Rauschenberg's influence as a prolific artist has left an enduring mark on the contemporary art world, and his legacy continues to be celebrated through various initiatives worldwide. The yearlong celebration of his life and work provides an opportunity to reexamine his artistic contributions through a contemporary lens, with particular attention to his often-overlooked photographic practice. This fresh perspective allows visitors to gain new insights into how photography informed and influenced his broader artistic output.

"Robert Rauschenberg's New York: Pictures from the Real World" is currently on view at the Museum of the City of New York and will continue through April 19, 2026. The exhibition runs from September 12, 2025, to April 19, 2026, at the museum located at 1220 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10029. Additional information about the exhibition and related programming can be found at www.mcny.org.