Trivia

He spent two years in the Army, and studied art and art history at Wayne State University (Michigan). He wanted to be an artist, and specialized in woodcuts. In 2010, he donated many of his prints and original woodblocks to the Wayne State University Art Collection.

He did graduate work in philosophy at Columbia University, and studied in Paris on a Fulbright grant. He began teaching at Columbia in 1951, earning his doctorate the following year. He continued to teach at Columbia until his retirement in 1992.

He was the art critic for The Nation magazine from 1984 to 2009.