The American Robert Rauschenberg (born 1925) is one of the most inventive and influential artists of his era. His work is not only about, but literally made with, contemporary culture. His trademark sculptures, known as 'combines', are just that - objects from everyday life fixed together, often with an application of paint - in unlikely, but thought-provoking combinations. This principle was subsequently brought into play when he began making prints. He was one of the first artists to transfer photographic images onto canvas and paper, which gives images such as Pull a sense of contact with the world of newspapers, advertising and mass media. He extended this contact with reality by incorporating actual objects, such as the paper bag we see floating from the diver's right arm, and using layers of cloth (muslin and taffeta) to give the image both movement and a visual indistinctness that is implicit in the central image of the Olympic diver.