About the artwork
Earth Day is a mixed-media print by Robert Rauschenberg created in 1970. The composition combines photographic imagery and collage elements related to environmental concerns, overlaid with a striking central image of a bald eagle. The work was produced in connection with the first Earth Day celebrations and reflects the artist's early engagement with ecological and social issues. The monochromatic background brings together images of industrial landscapes, urban development, environmental degradation, and wildlife, while the eagle, an emblem of both nature and American identity, occupies the center of the composition. The work exemplifies Rauschenberg's characteristic approach of combining photography, printmaking, and contemporary imagery to create visually powerful and politically engaged works.
Expert opinion
Earth Day is a particularly significant work within Robert Rauschenberg's oeuvre, as it belongs to the period during which the artist increasingly addressed environmental and social concerns. Produced in 1970, the year of the first Earth Day in the United States, the work reflects the growing ecological consciousness of the era and demonstrates Rauschenberg's ability to merge artistic innovation with political and cultural commentary. The combination of photographic collage and screenprinted imagery is highly characteristic of the artist's practice during this period. The central image of the eagle, surrounded by documentary photographs and environmental references, creates a compelling visual statement that remains remarkably relevant today. Works connected to major historical and social movements occupy an important place within Rauschenberg's production, and Earth Day represents both an artistic and documentary testimony to the emergence of environmental awareness in contemporary art. Its strong iconography and historical context contribute significantly to its artistic and cultural interest.
About the artist
Throughout his six-decade career, Robert Rauschenberg has embraced pop culture, technical experimentation and material eclecticism. Today, he is perhaps best known for his radical, three-dimensional "Combines", which he composed from discarded materials and mundane objects such as sheet metal, newspapers, tires and umbrellas, and for his colorful silkscreens on which he silkscreened, then repainted, collaged photographs from books and magazines. In 1964, Rauschenberg made history by becoming the first American to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale. Since then, Rauschenberg has had solo exhibitions at the Guggenheim, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou and Moderna Museet, among other institutions. His work is held in collections around the world and has sold for tens of millions at auction.
“"I usually work in one direction until I know how to do it, then I stop." - Robert Rauschenberg on his practice”
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