Joseph Hirshhorn's Birthday 1979

Robert Rauschenberg created this collage, "Joseph Hirshhorn's Birthday" with solvent transfer on paper. I can just imagine Rauschenberg in his studio layering these images of nature, portraits, and architectural scenes, maybe thinking about Hirshhorn, his life and loves, what a collage of a life might look like, not quite coalescing. There’s something so tender about these layered images and patterns, alluding to different memories, places, people. The overlay of transparent washes and the repetition of circular forms gives it such a playful feel. It's almost like a meditation on a life, or lives touching. Rauschenberg, like many of us artists, was interested in the exchange of ideas across time. You can see this exchange happening within his practice as a whole, how he borrows, and extends ideas from art history. So this piece connects to the history of collage and printmaking, while feeling totally fresh and forward-looking. It’s like he’s saying, hey, let's not take ourselves too seriously, let’s embrace the unexpected. What can be combined to open up new possibilities of seeing?