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Robert Rauschenberg — Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs Signed Poster
Robert Rauschenberg — Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs Signed Poster
Robert Rauschenberg — Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs Signed Poster
Robert Rauschenberg — Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs Signed Poster
Robert Rauschenberg — Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs Signed Poster
Robert Rauschenberg

Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs Signed Poster

This 1972 offset lithograph captures Rauschenberg's fascination with language as both visual and conceptual material, translating the dream logic of William Burroughs into a composition where words become abstract forms competing for the viewer's attention. The poster format, created in an edition of 150 with this being number 145, democratizes the image while maintaining the artist's characteristic layering of text, imagery, and chance operations. Rauschenberg's approach here reflects his broader practice of collapsing distinctions between high and low culture, where a literary figure's unconscious imaginings are rendered through the accessible medium of poster production, signed to authenticate the work while embracing its reproducibility. The convergence of two major countercultural figures, Rauschenberg and Burroughs, speaks to a shared interest in disrupting conventional meaning-making through visual and textual fragmentation. The work operates as both a tribute to Burroughs' innovative cut-up technique and a demonstration of Rauschenberg's own methodology, wherein meaning emerges not from linear narrative but from the dynamic interactions between disparate elements. At this price point, the piece represents an important opportunity to acquire a significant work from the artist's mature period, when his engagement with printmaking had become a central vehicle for his artistic investigations into communication, memory, and the spaces between intention and accident.

Medium
Robert Rauschenberg, Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs, 1972, Signed, Poster (offset lithograph), Edition 145/150, 34" x 24" Sheet Size, 34" x 24" Image Size

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Robert Rauschenberg, Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs Signed Poster

This 1972 offset lithograph captures Rauschenberg's fascination with language as both visual and conceptual material, translating the dream logic of William Burroughs into a composition where words become abstract forms competing for the viewer's attention. The poster format, created in an edition of 150 with this being number 145, democratizes the image while maintaining the artist's characteristic layering of text, imagery, and chance operations. Rauschenberg's approach here reflects his broader practice of collapsing distinctions between high and low culture, where a literary figure's unconscious imaginings are rendered through the accessible medium of poster production, signed to authenticate the work while embracing its reproducibility. The convergence of two major countercultural figures, Rauschenberg and Burroughs, speaks to a shared interest in disrupting conventional meaning-making through visual and textual fragmentation. The work operates as both a tribute to Burroughs' innovative cut-up technique and a demonstration of Rauschenberg's own methodology, wherein meaning emerges not from linear narrative but from the dynamic interactions between disparate elements. At this price point, the piece represents an important opportunity to acquire a significant work from the artist's mature period, when his engagement with printmaking had become a central vehicle for his artistic investigations into communication, memory, and the spaces between intention and accident.

Medium
Robert Rauschenberg, Words Appearing in a Dream of William Burroughs, 1972, Signed, Poster (offset lithograph), Edition 145/150, 34" x 24" Sheet Size, 34" x 24" Image Size
Seen at
Georgetown Frame Shoppe, Washington, D.C., United States

Related themes

Edition, Assemblage, Living Artist, 20th Century, Blue Chip, Poster, Neo-Dada, Conceptual, Offset Lithograph, American, Text-Based, Mixed Media, Mixed Media Collage, Postmodern, Collage, Literary, Countercultural, LGBTQ+ Artist, American Artist, Typography, Pop Art, Colorful, Found Objects

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Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, Brion Gysin

Collected by

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