Drawings for Dante's 700 Birthday, I.B. 1965

Robert Rauschenberg's "Drawings for Dante's 700 Birthday, I.B." from 1965 is a prime example of his signature Combines technique. This piece, created for the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's birth, utilizes a variety of materials including newspaper clippings, photographs, and silkscreen prints. The piece highlights the artist's fascination with the confluence of high and low art, evident in the juxtaposition of culturally significant texts and images alongside more mundane ones like newspaper advertisements and tabloid headlines. This work, like many of Rauschenberg's Combines, explores themes of social commentary, mass media, and the fragmented nature of modern life.