Robert De Niro, Sr.

Robert De Niro Sr.
Robert De Niro Sr.
Born	Robert Henry De Niro (1922-05-03)May 3, 1922 Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Died	May 3, 1993(1993-05-03) (aged 71) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Cause of death	Complications of cancer
Resting place	Kensico Cemetery
Nationality	American
Known for	Painter, School of Paris
Spouse(s)	Virginia Admiral (m. 1942; div. 1945)
Children	Robert De Niro Jr.

Robert Henry De Niro, better known as Robert De Niro Sr. (May 3, 1922 – May 3, 1993), was an American abstract expressionist painter and the father of actor Robert De Niro.

Robert De Niro Sr. was born in Syracuse, New York, to an Italian American father, Henry Martin De Niro (1897–1976), whose parents emigrated from Ferrazzano, in the province of Campobasso, Molise, and an Irish American mother, Helen M. (née O'Reilly; 1899–1999). He was the eldest of three children; he and siblings John and Joan were raised in Syracuse, New York. De Niro studied at the renowned Black Mountain College under Josef Albers from 1939 to 1940. While Albers' highly analytical approach to painting did not appeal to De Niro's more instinctive style, the experience and international perspective of the Bauhaus master nonetheless left a lasting impression. De Niro studied with Hans Hofmann at his Provincetown, Massachusetts summer school. Hofmann's teaching, focused on Abstract Expressionism and Cubist formalism, had a strong influence on De Niro's development as a mature artist.

In 1944, De Niro had a relationship with the poet Robert Duncan.

At Hofmann's summer school, he met fellow student Virginia Admiral, whom he married in 1942. The couple moved into a large, airy loft in New York's Greenwich Village, where they were able to paint. They surrounded themselves with an illustrious circle of friends, including writers Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller, playwright Tennessee Williams, and the actress and famous Berlin dancer Valeska Gert. Admiral and De Niro separated shortly after their son Robert De Niro Jr. was born in August 1943.