Mint (Hoarfrost)

1973

The Scull auction and the fight for artists' royalties

In 1973 the taxi baron Robert Scull sold Rauschenberg's paintings “Thaw” and “Double Feature”, bought for $900 and $2,500, for $85,000 and $90,000 at Sotheby Parke Bernet. The artist took up the fight for resale royalties for artists (droit de suite), lobbying the US Congress for a law.

1976

California passes the artists' resale royalty law

Rauschenberg's lobbying was rewarded when the California governor Jerry Brown signed the California Resale Royalty Act of 1976. The artist went on to press for nationwide resale-royalty legislation.

1976–1978

Retrospective in Washington and a US tour

A mid-career retrospective was organised by the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum) in Washington and toured the United States in 1976–1978. Other accounts date its opening to 1977; the artist showed his best-known works there.