First Landing Jump 1961

"First Landing Jump" (1961) by Robert Rauschenberg is a prime example of his signature Combines style, utilizing found objects to create a mixed-media artwork. The piece incorporates a variety of materials, including fabric, wood, metal, a tire, and a working light bulb, all assembled on a canvas background. Rauschenberg's Combines challenged traditional notions of artmaking and often explored themes of mass media, consumerism, and the everyday. The inclusion of the tire, an object associated with transportation and movement, may reference the recent accomplishment of the first successful human spaceflight, reflecting the cultural zeitgeist of the early 1960s.