Megan Fox Kelly on Medium.com

“A Look at Robert Rauschenberg’s Mark”

MEGAN FOX KELLY was recently quoted in an article written by Henri Neuendorf for Medium.com. The article examines the American artist Robert Rauschenberg’s market while his artistic career enjoys the spotlight with the traveling retrospective exhibition organized by New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Tate Modern.

Below are excerpts from the article. To read the full article click here.

“Rauschenberg’s work is undervalued and the market heavily favors rare early works such as pieces from his “Combine” series (which combined elements of painting and sculpture) and his silkscreen paintings (early experiments combining silkscreen and oil on canvas).Works from Rauschenberg’s “Combine” series are so desirable among collectors that they make up over half (13) of Rauschenberg’s 20 highest-selling lots at auction, yet due to their scarcity only six “Combine” works have come up at auction in the last decade. The remaining seven highest-selling lots are silkscreen paintings. Nevertheless experts say there’s serious growth potential across the entirety of his oeuvre.

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Speaking as the advisor of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, KELLY notes “Theres a lot of work, very important work, that’s held in museum collections,” she explained. “The seminal works from the 50s and early 60s come up with rarity, and I think that’s why we have responses to them like we had [last auction season] for Rigger (1961) which sold at Sotheby’s for $12.3 million… I think that’s a response to people’s understanding that this work is incredibly rare, and rarer still on the secondary market.”

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Aside from the early “Combine” works, KELLY said that Rauschenberg’s “Salvages” series from the 80s also generates significant market interest, aided by a lower price point typically ranging from between $500,000 to $2 million. She noted that the “Salvages” exhibition at the Ropac gallery in Paris last October sold out the day it opened. Similarly, works on metal from the “Urban Bourbon,” “Shiners,” and “Nightshades” series are also highly coveted, the advisor said.