Oral history interview with Hisachika Takahashi, 2015
Abstract
Takahashi describes meeting Rauschenberg through a dinner party hosted by John de Menil and immediately finding a position as one of Rauschenberg's principle assistants. He recounts anecdotes and describes the joys and professional struggles accompanying his tenure as studio assistant for projects undertaken in New York and Captiva, and a travel companion/assistant on Rauschenberg's work trips to I srael, India, Japan and more. He also provides insight on Rauschenberg's relationships and his struggles with critics, competitors, and friends
Artistic collaboration; Art criticism--20th century; Abstract expressionism--United States; Captiva Island (Fla.); Takahashi, Hisachika, 1940-; Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008; Menil, John de; Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2015
Physical Description
155 pages
Note (Biographical)
Born in Tokyo in 1940, Hisachika Takahashi is an artist whose work deals with memory as well as with the creation of community through collaboration. He specializes in print, collage, and assemblage. Takahashi immigrated to the United States in 1969 f rom Italy. He met Rauschenberg shortly after his arrival and became Rauschenberg's studio assistant as well as the overseer of his New York building and studio where Takahashi resided for over three decades. Among Rauschenberg's longest employed staff, and a friend for over thirty years, Takahashi served as house manager, cook, and art restorer
Note
Interviewed by Sara Sinclair on July 29, July 30, and July 31, 2014; and Sara Sinclair and Christine Frohnert on November 23, 2015
Note (Provenance)
Hisachika Takahashi, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2019