The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation has announced that it will partner with seven institutions across the world, including the Menil Collection in Houston, for its Centennial Anniversary.
In 2025 and through 2026, the foundation will commemorate Mr. Rauschenberg’s 100th birthday with an international celebration marked by major exhibitions, grants, and publications. Partnering institutions include the Museum Brandhorst in Munich, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Fundación Juan March in Madrid, M+ in Hong Kong, Kunsthalle Krems in Austria, the Museum of the City in New York, and the Menil Collection. Each exhibition will be accompanied by a new catalog.
The inclusion of a Texas institution speaks to Mr. Rauschenberg’s history in the state. Born in Port Arthur in 1925, the artist first studied pharmacology at the University of Texas in Austin before he was drafted during World War II. Later, he studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, the Académie Julian in Paris, and the Black Mountain College in North Carolina. His work is held in Texas museums including the Menil, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Blanton Museum of Art.
Robert Rauschenberg, “Sant’Agnese (Venetian),” 1973, mosquito net, wood chairs, shoelaces, and corked glass jugs, 32 1/4 × 105 3/4 × 22 1/8 inches. © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Photo: Ron Amstutz
From September 19, 2025, through March 1, 2026, the Menil will present Robert Rauschenberg: Fabric Works of the 1970s, the first museum survey to highlight the artist’s use of cloth in his assemblages. According to the foundation’s website, during the 1970s Mr. Rauschenberg “experimented extensively with the ways in which woven materials hold printed images, move in the air, respond to gravity, and capture color and light.”
Additionally, the Menil is one of 23 institutions that have received Centennial Grants from the Rauschenberg Foundation. These grants support exhibitions, research, restoration, performances, educational programs, and more. View the full list of recipients via the Rauschenberg Foundation’s Centennial Anniversary website.
Along with the exhibition catalogs associated with the Centennial shows, in October 2025, Yale University Press will publish I Don’t Think About Being Great: Select Statements and Writings. The new monograph will present 100 passages from Mr. Rauschenberg’s written works such as correspondence, artist notes, speeches, and more.
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