In the late 1930s and early 1940s De Niro, Sr. studied with Hans Hofmann in New York and Provincetown and Josef Albers at Black Mountain College, North Carolina. Despite the prevalence of Abstract Expressionism during his career and his teachers’ focus on abstraction, De Niro, Sr. consistently maintained figurative elements in his works, deftly blending representation and abstraction. His paintings feature expressive brushstrokes and bold outlines, and often use interior domestic scenes as subject matter.