Since the early 1990s, however, a number of art historians have argued for the importance of homosexuality for understanding their respective achievements. Until fairly recently, scholars and critics generally followed the discretion shown by the artists themselves who (understandably) preferred not to acknowledge their romantic relationship, or their sexual orientation, in print. “We gave,” in Rauschenberg’s words, “each other permission.” The issue that poses a more difficult interpretive challenge is the domestic partnership and sexual intimacy the two men shared during this same period, roughly from 1954 until 1961. Each artist famously influenced and inspired the other during the early, wildly inventive years of their careers in New York. The intensity of the creative dialogue between Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns in the 1950s has long been recognized by scholars, critics, and curators.
