Robert Rauschenberg, one of my favorite artists, died late Monday night (May 12, 2008) at the age of 82.

     I have a favorite Rauschenberg story to share. He was in the navy during WWII, but was stationed in California. While on a weekend pass, he went to the Huntington Library and saw the famous paintings of Pinky and Blue Boy. He said that seeing those paintings changed his life. Not because they were great paintings, but because (for the first time in his life) he realized that art is a tangible thing made by people. In all his life, he'd only seen mass-produced images, calendars and such. For the first time, he realized there was such a thing as an artist. As soon as his military service was over, he used his GI bill to attend art school. His New York Times obituary is good reading:

www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/arts/design/14rauschenberg.html?_r=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin