At a time when Abstract Expressionism seemed firmly established as the reigning style of American art, Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925 ́2008) helped pave the way for new possibilities, creating a space between painting and sculpture and between performance and the object. Within the artist's impressive oeuvre, the mixed-media Combines (1953 ́64) reinvent collage and stand out as the epitome of Rauschenberg's visionary approach. This publication is a survey of this highly inventive body of work, tracing its development through at least five stages, from the highly personal and poetic early works that incorporate found materials and three-dimensional objects to the later, larger, and more theatrical works that transition to silkscreen painting. Accompanying essays explore issues of autobiography, self-portraiture, and other themes in the Combines. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.