How did Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg help prepare the way for Pop art?

Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg were pivotal figures whose work in the 1950s served as a bridge between the dominance of Abstract Expressionism and the emergence of Pop art. Often associated with the "Neo-Dada" label, they helped prepare the way for the movement by rejecting the highly personal, emotional nature of their predecessors in favor of objective, commonplace subject matter.123

Their contributions included:

• Incorporating Everyday Objects: Rauschenberg created "combine" paintings that integrated found objects like Coca-Cola bottles and commercial packaging, while Johns famously depicted flags, targets, and beer cans. By elevating these items to the status of art, they challenged traditional definitions of the "art object".1234
• Duchampian Influence: Both artists were influenced by Marcel Duchamp, adopting his concept of the "ready-made" to narrow the distance between art and daily life.12
• New Techniques: Rauschenberg utilized collage and image-transfer processes, treating the canvas as a "flatbed" for imagery, which directly anticipated the Pop aesthetic of the late 1950s and 1960s.24

Their work provided the iconographic foundation that later Pop artists would expand upon using more commercial, mass-media techniques.123