Robert Rauschenberg, one of the American artists who made significant changes in art during the 1950 transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art, died on Monday night at his home on Captiva Island, Fla., at the age of 82.

According to his New York gallery, PaceWildenstein, the cause of his death was heart failure.

A painter, printmaker, choreographer, sculptor, photographer, onstage performer, set designer and even composer, Mr. Rauschenberg encouraged the idea that an artist should not only stick to one environment or style. If one has a mind as creative as Rauschenberg’s, he cannot be confined to only one domain.

With Rauschenberg, the lines between painting, sculpture, technology, printmaking, dancing and photography become really thin, almost invisible.

“I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly,” Rauschenberg once said, “because they’re surrounded by things like that all day long, and it must make them miserable.”