Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg died yesterday at age 82.

In memory of him and his work, I present you with one of his most famous pieces Bed. The story goes that he woke up one morning ready to paint but had no money to buy a canvas so he grabbed the quilt from his bed and some paint, nail polish, and toothpaste. And BOOM, it was a masterpiece!

Rauschenberg never achieved the same level of fame that Warhol did but his work was dealing with a lot of the same blurring of art and the everyday. Similar to Duchamp’s coining of the term “readymades”, i believe Rauschenberg coined the term “combines” in describing his painting/sculptures.

I also came across a fascinating video of one of his most controversial works, in which he erases a Willem de Kooning drawing. It is really interesting to see his obvious respect for de Kooning’s work and, at the same time, his sense of humor and brilliantly mischievous thought process. Gotta love controversy, especially in the art world!

Take a look at the video after the jump.