Robert Mangold

Robert Mangold
Portrait of Robert Mangold
Born	(1937-10-12) October 12, 1937 (age 79) North Tonawanda, New York
Nationality	American
Known for	Painting, Printmaking
Movement	Minimal Art
Spouse(s)	Sylvia Plimack Mangold

Robert Mangold (born October 12, 1937) is an American minimalist artist.

Mangold was born in North Tonawanda, New York. His mother, Blanche, was a department store buyer, and his father, Aloysius Mangold, worked at an organ factory. He first trained at the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1956 to 1959, and then at Yale University, New Haven, (BFA, 1961; MFA, 1963). In 1961 he married Sylvia Plimack, and they moved to New York.

“Robert Mangold’s paintings,” wrote Michael Kimmelman in the New York Times in 1997, “are more complicated to describe than they seem, which is partly what’s good about them: the way they invite intense scrutiny, which, in the nature of good art, is its own reward.” His works are comprised often of simple elements which are put together through complex means. Mangold's work challenges the typical connotations of what a painting is or could be, and his works often appear as objects rather than images. Elements refer often to architectural elements or have the feeling of an architect's hands. He almost always works in extensive series, often carried through both paintings and works on paper.

Mangold’s early work consisted largely of monochromatic free-standing constructions displayed against the wall, such as Grey Window Wall (1964). In 1968 he began employing acrylic instead of oil paint, rolling rather than spraying it on Masonite or plywood grounds. Within the year, he moved from these more industrially oriented supports to canvas. In 1970 he began working with shaped canvases and within the year began brushing rather than spraying paint onto canvas. By the mid-1970s, Mangold moved on to overlapping shapes whose contours are formed by combinations of canvas edges and both drawn and implied lines.A Rectangle and a Circle within a Square from 1975, in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art is an example of these subtle geometric relationships.