Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 - May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations. Rauschenberg was both a painter and a sculptor and the Combines are a combination of both, but he also worked with photography, printmaking, papermaking, and performance.
In 1951 Rauschenberg had his first one-man show at the Betty Parsons Gallery and in 1954 had a second one-man show at the Charles Egan Gallery. In 1955, at the Charles Egan Gallery, Rauschenberg showed Bed (1955), one of his first and certainly most famous Combines. Rauschenberg had his first career retrospective, organized by the Jewish Museum, New York, in 1963, and in 1964 he was the first American artist to win the Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale (Mark Tobey and James Whistler had previously won the Painting Prize). After that time, he enjoyed a rare degree of institutional support. A retrospective organized by the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, D.C., traveled throughout the United States in 1976 and 1978. A retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1997), traveled to Houston, Cologne, and Bilbao (through 1999). Recent exhibitions were presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2005; traveled to Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm, through 2007); at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (2009; traveled to the Tinguely Museum, Basel, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and Villa e Collezione Panza, Varese, through 2010); and Botanical Vaudeville at Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (2011). A memorial exhibition of Rauschenberg's photographs opened October 22, 2008, (on the occasion of what would have been his 83rd birthday) at the Guggenheim Museum. Further exhibitions include: 5 Decades of Printmaking, Leslie Sacks Contemporary (2012); Robert Rauschenberg: Jammers, Gagosian Gallery, London (2013); Robert Rauschenberg: Hoarfrost Editions, Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl (2014); Robert Rauschenberg: The Fulton Street Studio, 1953-54, Craig F. Starr Associates (2014); Collecting and Connecting, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (2014); A Visual Lexicon, Leo Castelli Gallery (2014); Robert Rauschenberg: Works on Metal, Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills (2014).; Robert Rauschenberg, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong (2016), and Museum of Modern Art retrospective (2017). On June 4, 2004 the Gallery of Fine Art at Florida SouthWestern State College was renamed the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, celebrating a long-time friendship with the artist. The gallery has been host to many of Rauschenberg's exhibitions since 1980.

Q: Where was he born?
A: unknown

Q: When was his first art recognized?
A: his first career retrospective, organized by the Jewish Museum, New York, in 1963,

Q: What piece of art made him famous?
A: Rauschenberg showed Bed (1955), one of his first and certainly most famous Combines.

Q: Where was his first show?
A: had his first one-man show at the Betty Parsons Gallery

Q: Any other important information reguarding his first show?
A: A memorial exhibition of Rauschenberg's photographs opened October 22, 2008, (on the occasion of what would have been his 83rd birthday) at the Guggenheim Museum.
Any other shows that are pertinant?
1954 had a second one-man show at the Charles Egan Gallery. In 1955, at the Charles Egan Gallery, in 1964 he was the first American artist to win the Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale A memorial exhibition of Rauschenberg's photographs opened October 22, 2008, A memorial exhibition of Rauschenberg's photographs opened October 22, 2008, A retrospective organized by the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, D.C., traveled throughout the United States in 1976 and 1978.
A retrospective organized by the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, D.C., traveled throughout the United States in 1976 and 1978.