Acclaimed American artist Robert Rauschenberg dies at his home in Florida.-

REUTERS -Acclaimed American artist Robert Rauschenberg died at his home on
Captiva Island, Florida on Monday night (May 12) at the age of 82, his gallery
said on Tuesday (May 13).
    Rauschenberg, labeled a "Titan" of American art by the New
York Times, had been ill for a while, Jennifer Joy of the Pace Wildenstein
gallery in New York said.
    Rauschenberg, who was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1925, spearheaded
a style in the 1950s he came to call the "Combines," which
incorporated aspects of painting and sculpture and eventually included objects
such as a stuffed eagle or goat and street signs.
    He became one of the most influential artists reacting against Abstract
Expressionism, according to a biography on the Web site of the Guggenheim
Museum.
    In the 1960s, he began silk-screen paintings and then embarked on a
period of more collaborative projects that included performance art,
choreography, set design and art-and-technology combinations.
    In 1970 Rauschenberg established a permanent studio on Captiva island,
off Florida's Gulf coast, where he made his home.