Looking back over 60 years, it does not surprise that in 1964 Robert Rauschenberg became the first American to win the Grand Prize of the Venice Biennale of Art. The Jewish Museum in New York had organized the artist’s first retrospective the year before, and he went on to be one of the most important American artists of the 20th century.
But there is more to that story, and the film “Taking Venice,” a 2023 documentary produced and directed by Amei Wallach, looks at how that triumph came about. It will be shown at Guild Hall on Saturday at 7 p.m.
It has long been known that at the height of the Cold War the American government sought to fight Communism with culture. The film establishes that Alice Denney, a friend of the Kennedys, recommended Alan Solomon, an ambitious curator, to organize the U.S. entry. Solomon then joined forces with Leo Castelli, a powerful art dealer, to embark on a plan to make Rauschenberg the Grand Prize winner.
Was it a conspiracy to rig the prize for an American artist? In her New York Times review, Alissa Wilkinson says, “Taking Venice’ does not exactly answer that question,” but goes on to say what makes it interesting is how the Americans crashed “what had been a European party in a moment when American optimism was at its height. Artists like Rauschenberg, Jim Dine, Frank Stella, John Chamberlain, and Jasper Johns were making work that exploded ideas about what a painting should be and do.”
Ms. Wallach is uniquely qualified to tell the story. As an art writer, she watched Rauschenberg make prints in New York and paintings in Captiva, Fla., and her articles have appeared in Art in America, ARTNews, and The New York Times Magazine, among others. She has also directed films about Louise Bourgeois and Ilya and Emilia Kabakov.
“Taking Venice” is being shown in conjunction with Guild Hall’s “Student Art Festival: Rauschenberg 100” and a smaller exhibition of works by the artist. Tickets are $20, $18 for members.
