Robert Rauschenberg

Why I saw nothing about this until today, I'll never know. Robert Rauschenberg, one of the great artists of the late 20th century, died (at age 82) nearly a month ago. The Times provides a clear, insightful overview of his career. This, from the Times obit, is perhaps the best characterization of Rauschenberg (based on what I've read) that I've ever seen:

“Screwing things up is a virtue,” he said when he was 74. “Being correct is never the point...Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea.”

Interestingly, he was born in Port Arthur, Texas, the same place that Janis Joplin left on her way to blues rock stardom (and, sadly, in her case, much-too-early death).