Robert Birmelin (American, b. 1933)
Drawn to the arts from a young age, Birmlein attended the Cooper Union Art School and the Yale School of Art. His education would continue abroad when he received a Fulbright fellowship to study at the University of London, followed by a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. Birmlein would stay in academia following his final year of schooling, teaching at the City University of New York, Queens College.
Birmlein is best known for work that captures the movement and tension of urban crowds, but he also looks at time, memory, personal life, and archival scrolls for inspiration. He has received several awards for his work from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, the National Academy, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation.
