White Painting [two Panel] 1951

Robert Rauschenberg made this white painting, a two-panel piece, with house paint, probably, so not precious! The whiteness is not just about the color, but about surface and the act of painting. It’s opaque, dense, but also alive. He was interested in erasing his own gestures, yet the history of the hand is present in the subtle textures of the paint. In fact, sometimes you can see the ghost of a brushstroke, a slight ripple in the white sea. I’m interested in what he might be getting at here. The canvas becomes a screen, reflecting the light and shadows of the room, the people passing by. It’s less about what the artist puts on the canvas and more about what the world projects onto it. Agnes Martin comes to mind, not only for the reduced palette but for her interest in dematerialisation. This work challenges our assumptions about what a painting can be, opening up a space for endless possibilities and interpretations.