R.S. Glassman

When I was attending Cooper Union in the late Fifties, studying art was a heady experience. Not only was New York City the center of the international art world, Abstract Expressionism was in full blossom. Artists such as De Kooning, Kline, and Guston were working right down the street. We were all alive with possibility. The Tenth Street scene had just begun with the establishment of the Tanager Gallery and other independent galleries soon followed. Most importantly, though, was the prevailing ethos of what it meant to be an artist and the tenuous relationship of art and commerce. It was less about the artist as personality and more about the pursuit of an ideal. It was, after all, the best of times.