Morris Kantor brings love to his students

There's a bit of a debate on when exactly Kantor immigrated to the United States, some say 1906 and others list 1911, but either way he was very young. Little word on if he was alone or with relatives, but he managed to support himself and eventually earned enough money to enroll in art school at twenty. He would eventually go on to teach and his students include Susan Weil and her husband Robert Rauschenberg, and Knox Martin. The romantic in me would like to think that Kantor saw how much Robert liked Susan and had no idea how to approach her, so Kantor set up group projects in class and would partner them together. They’re all dead now so none of them can argue and I'm not even going to fact check their years at school to keep this fantasy of mine alive. Yay love!

In the 1920s he moved to Paris and made friends with Isamu Noguchi before returning to the States. 

His wife, Martha Ryther, was a fellow painter and made herself known with her delicate glass paintings.

At one point Kantor is quoted as saying "From the start I painted with a great freedom, working without hesitation or fear and entirely free from all influence of the masters, old and new." Seems pretty douchey to me ... Every artist is influenced in some way by their predecessors whether they want to or not. Accept your influences, man!

Photo: Consuelo Kanaga (American, 1894-1978). Morris Kantor, 1938. Toned gelatin silver photograph, 9 3/8 x 7 1/2 in. (23.8 x 19.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Wallace B. Putnam from the estate of Consuelo Kanaga, 82.65.384