Left: Lapis lazuli figure of a woman, 3325-2575BC. Right: Cartonnage mummy-case of a priest called Nakhtefmut, 924-889BC Lapis lazuli figure: Photo: Ashmolean Museum/Bridgeman Images. Cartonnage mummy ...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg's media knew few bounds. One of his most famous works or "combines" was "Bed," created when he woke in the mood to paint but had no money for a canvas.

In almost half a century of serious writing on the works of prolific Port Arthur-born artist Robert Rauschenberg, the notion of its populist appeal is a common tenet: an understanding that his ...