Reuben Nakian

An American sculptor and teacher, Reuben Nakian was born in College Point, New York. Nakian studied at the Robert Henri School in New York with Homer Boss and A. S. Baylinson and at the Art Students League. He apprenticed with sculptor Paul Manship. His style, derived from Auguste Rodin and Medardo Rosso, features active, energetic surfaces akin to those of abstract expressionist paintings. In the 1930s and '40s he associated with abstract expressionist painters including Arshile Gorky and Willem de Kooning. He also met and befriended Marcel Duchamp. In 1966, poet Frank O'Hara curated an exhibition of Nakian's work at the Museum of Modern Art.