Join The Collection to save, track, and explore works like this.

Sebastián Naranjo

Spotted

Robert Rauschenberg — SWIM, FROM ROCI USA (WAX FIRE WORKS)
Robert Rauschenberg — SWIM, FROM ROCI USA (WAX FIRE WORKS)
Robert Rauschenberg

SWIM, FROM ROCI USA (WAX FIRE WORKS)

1990

This striking 1990 work from Rauschenberg's celebrated ROCI (Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange) series exemplifies his mastery of photographic transfer and mixed-media techniques, here executed in acrylic and fire wax on stainless steel. The composition juxtaposes a classical Venus figure rendered in warm sienna tones against industrial rigging in deep blue and a curtained structure, creating the artist's signature visual poetry of high culture and everyday life. As part of the ROCI USA (Wax Fire Works) suite—the culminating chapter of Rauschenberg's ambitious decade-long global art exchange project—this piece holds particular historical significance within his oeuvre. The reflective stainless steel support adds a luminous, almost ethereal quality that subtly implicates the viewer in the work's layered narrative.

Medium
acrylic and fire wax in colors on stainless steel
Edition
16 of 22

Est. Current Value

Start the Discussion

Request access to join the discussion

About this work

Robert Rauschenberg, SWIM, FROM ROCI USA (WAX FIRE WORKS), 1990

This striking 1990 work from Rauschenberg's celebrated ROCI (Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange) series exemplifies his mastery of photographic transfer and mixed-media techniques, here executed in acrylic and fire wax on stainless steel. The composition juxtaposes a classical Venus figure rendered in warm sienna tones against industrial rigging in deep blue and a curtained structure, creating the artist's signature visual poetry of high culture and everyday life. As part of the ROCI USA (Wax Fire Works) suite—the culminating chapter of Rauschenberg's ambitious decade-long global art exchange project—this piece holds particular historical significance within his oeuvre. The reflective stainless steel support adds a luminous, almost ethereal quality that subtly implicates the viewer in the work's layered narrative.

Medium
acrylic and fire wax in colors on stainless steel
Year
1990
Edition
of 22

Related themes

Industrial, Steel, Assemblage, 20th Century, Blue Chip, Acrylic, Neo-Dada, Architectural, American, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Classical Imagery, Collage, Abstract Expressionism, Large Format, Limited Edition, Stainless Steel, Photographic Transfer, Nude, Warm Tones, ROCI Series, Figurative, Contemporary

More works by Robert Rauschenberg

Similar artists

Richard Hamilton, James Rosenquist, Sigmar Polke

Collected by

Sebastián In Situ, Sebastián Naranjo, Alex Capecelatro, Art Institute of Chicago, Gigi Rutkowski