Robert De Niro, Sr. studied painting at Black Mountian in 1939 and 1940. He went on to have a long career as an abstract expressionist painter in New York City and his work was often displayed alongside luminaries of the movement, such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Today he is more well known as the father of actor Robert Deniro and for the annual $25,ooo arts prize that bears his name.