biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1917–86)
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| biography:
| Businessman and art collector, born in New York City, New York, USA. His family name was originally Sokolnikoff, but his father's Russian name was shortened by emigration authorities. Robert attended public schools and night classes at the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute, and became a freelance illustrator and then an industrial designer. After his marriage to Ethel Redner, his father-in-law left him a share of a taxi business that he used to establish the Super Operating Corp, a taxi company whose drivers were called Scull's Angels. His ability to gain publicity was evident even then, as seen in his well-publicized hiring of Amy Vanderbilt to teach his drivers courtesy. He and his wife purchased many works by artists in the pop art tradition, and in 1965 they sold part of their collection and established the Robert and Ethel Scull Foundation in order to subsidize and encourage young unknown artists. They held a second auction in 1973, and by that time they were an extravagant personification of the pop art scene. Robert divorced Ethel (1975), remarried, and moved to a farm in Connecticut. In 1978 he established a new foundation in his name and continued to buy contemporary art. |
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