Retroactive I

The Museum of Modern Art, New York (the USA).

Oil on canvas, silk-screen printing.

The figure of John F. Kennedy often appears in the works of Robert Rauschenberg related to the 1960s. The artist was a big fan of this politician, and the murder of the president shocked him very much, forcing him to return to this image again and again. In “Retroactive I”, John F. Kennedy occupies the central part of the composition, pointing a finger from the depths of the picture. Rauschenberg took this photo from the president’s speech during the Caribbean crisis, when the fate of the whole country, and maybe the entire world, depended on his decision. Initially, the artist was not sure that he should use the image of Kennedy after the murder, but he decided to do this in memory of this great man.