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18 C-print color photographs
From Suite of Studies for Chinese Summerhall (large)
From his earliest days as an artist, when he stated he wanted to “photograph the country inch by inch,” Rauschenberg used photography to record, compose, confront and reflect the tumult of life around him. In his hands, photography is a tool for seeing the world and evolving his vision. Studies for Chinese Summerhall form a series of twenty-eight photographs taken by Rauschenberg in China and published as individual C-print color photographs by Graphicstudio. Rauschenberg travelled to China in 1982, and while there, made hundreds of photographs. The photographs approach the everyday life of China, with its elements of tradition, aesthetics, politics, history and religion. Rauschenberg photographed store windows, street scenes, wall paintings, monuments and markets. Each image witnesses his remarkable eye and his generous vision of life. The connoisseur of Rauschenberg’s work will enjoy the continuity of form and invention through this medium. Upon his return to the United States, the artist, in collaboration with Graphicstudio, collaged fifty-two of the images into the 100-foot-long photograph Chinese Summerhall. Before the negatives were trimmed and collaged into this photograph, Rauschenberg decided to make editions of a number of individual photographs. Studies for Chinese Summerhall form two series: one series of eighteen, size 30 x 40 inches; and a second series of ten, size 24 x 30 inches.
