Benjamin Sutton
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Four artworks by Robert Rauschenberg are headed to Sotheby’s in May to benefit the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Three of the pieces, including a rare Combine from circa 1954 that has been tagged with a $5-7 million estimate, Rauschenberg gifted to the dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor—the two were close friends. The fourth work was created by Rauschenberg for Taylor’s 1962 dance piece Tracer, the last of their nearly ten collaborations. That piece, also titled Tracer, is a kinetic sculpture that includes a bicycle wheel; its pre-sale estimate is $600,000-800,000. The four Rauschenbergs will head to auction in successive sales in New York on May 14 and 15, with proceeds going to the Paul Taylor Dance Company, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
“It is most exciting for Sotheby’s to present four superb Robert Rauschenberg works which translate the movement of dance into works of art to benefit the future and legacy of the Paul Taylor Dance Company,” Sotheby’s expert Hugh Hildesley said in a statement. “The sale in May gives us an opportunity to showcase this bridge between dance and the fine arts while at the same time celebrating Paul Taylor and his groundbreaking choreography.”
—Benjamin Sutton
