Robert Scull

Robert Scull
Born	1917 New York City, US
Died	1985
Occupation	art collector
Spouse(s)	Ethel Redner (divorced, 1975) Stephanie Scull
Children	3

Robert Scull (1917–1985) was an American art collector, best known for his "world-famous collection of Pop and Minimal art". Born in New York to Russian immigrant parents, Scull dropped out of high school and had various jobs until he and his wife inherited a share of a taxi business. When this thrived, the couple started buying abstract art and later pop art.

Robert Scull was born in New York City to Russian immigrant parents who had anglicized their family name from Sokolnikoff. His childhood was spent in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His interest in modern art began when he visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a ten-year-old boy.

Scull dropped out of high school, but studied and took some courses in art, whilst doing miscellaneous jobs. He worked as a "freelance illustrator and industrial designer" until his wife Ethel's father died, leaving them a share in his substantial taxi business. Scull grew his share of the business into his own Super Operating Corporation, which had 400 drivers, and a roster of 130 taxis, and was later known as "Scull's Angels". Scull even recruited Amy Vanderbilt, an expert in etiquette, to teach his drivers customer courtesy.

He and his wife started buying the works of abstract expressionist artists including Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline. In 1965, they auctioned 25 works, as they were moving on to collecting pop art, including Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and James Rosenquist, with help from the dealer Leo Castelli.

From 1960 to 1965, he provided financial backing to the art dealer Richard Bellamy, and his "innovative" Green Gallery in New York.

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