I Don’t Think about Being Great Selected Writings

This collection of 100 writings by Robert Rauschenberg reveals the artist’s gift for prose and the importance of his relationship to language

The American artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) won acclaim and awards for his diverse oeuvre that spanned six decades and included paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, and performance. Less well known is the role that writing played in his creative process. Rauschenberg self-identified as dyslexic and did not publish extensively, leading to the widely held assumption that he was not an artist who wrote. This book corrects the record, showcasing 100 passages, many published here for the first time, from Rauschenberg’s robust body of written work.

Comprising correspondence, artist notes, testimony, speeches, and more, this collection brings to light the artist’s love of language and reveals that writing was, in fact, central to Rauschenberg’s practice. The writings, illustrated with reproductions in the artist’s distinctive hand, are infused with visual and intellectual lyricism, humor, and insight, and span topics from the freedom of artistic expression to environmental concerns. This beautiful volume, which also features an essay by artist Martha Tuttle (b. 1989) about why artists’ writings matter, adds new depth to our understanding of Rauschenberg’s life and work.

Published in association with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation