In 1969, at the height of his fame, Robert Rauschenberg left New York and bought a house on the island of Captiva, a four-mile strip of white sand off Florida’s Gulf Coast. By the early ’70s, the remote sanctuary had become his primary residence. Today, the late artist’s 20-acre compound on Captiva is the site of a new residency program, thanks to the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s $350 million endowment, projected over the next decade and a half. “This place is a departure from the world,” says Christy MacLear, the foundation’s executive director. For a painter known for the all-inclusive chaos of his canvases, Rauschenberg had a design for living that was simple. When he moved to Captiva, the only way to reach it was by ferry (now there’s a causeway), and a lone policeman could patrol the island.
The artist on the island, 1979.
