MORTON ROBERTS: A Brief Life at Yale

Morton Roberts was one of the rising stars in the late 50's and early 60's.

Abe Echevarria

We begin at the end.

A few weeks after his death, there appeared in the pages of The Art Times an anonymous eulogy written in his memory:

He was our friend. He was an artist. He was young. He was not given the years which were necessary to advance a prodigious talent into that last finish which accompanies the disciplines and realizations of age. He left us in the month which is the early promise of the year, just as his youth was the early promise of an already accomplished life. We regret the loss of this enthusiastic and exuberant man. His life exemplified an additive form of vitality such as we cannot ever spare, and must always be regretful of losing.

Morton Roberts

It is with this poignant sentiment that we take a look back to the early promise of, what was, an already accomplished life.

Morton Roberts’ history of art bibliography from his time at Yale

It starts with Morton’s parents nurturing the fire in Morton’s adolescent desire to become a great artist. They made sure he was well supplied with art materials during his early interest as an aspiring artist. That early support proved essential in the development of what would become a child prodigy enrolled in the Boston Museum School.

Upon completing a distinguished tour in the Navy, serving as a combat artist aboard Admiral Nimitz command ship, he uses a VA grant to apply to Yale.

Morton Schwartz was accepted into the esteemed art program at Yale University’s prestigious School of Fine Arts. He completed the traditional BFA four-year curriculum in only three, graduating with honors in 1950. Among one of the honors was the Edwin Austin Abbey Fellowship for figurative painting encouraged by the distinguished artist Robert Vickery.

In seeking to find clues for that success we are fortunate to discover a history of art bibliography created by Morton during his student tenure. The bibliography gives us evidence of Morton’s brilliant observations on the master painters in the history of art. A tome that will prove to be a vital resource throughout Morton’s painting career. This amassed gathering of thoughts and written opinions attest to Morton’s acute evaluation on the lives of history’s master realist painters.