Robert De Niro, Sr., was born in
Syracuse,
New York, to an
Italian-American father, Henry Martin De Niro (1897–1976), whose parents emigrated from
Ferrazzano, in the province of
Campobasso,
Molise,
[4] and an
Irish American mother, Helen M. (née O'Reilly; 1899–1999). He was the eldest of three children; he and siblings John and Joan were raised in Syracuse, NY. Robert De Niro Sr. studied at the renowned Black Mountain College under Josef Albers from 1939 to 1940. While Albers' highly analytical approach to painting did not appeal to De Niro's more instinctive style, the experience and international perspective of the Bauhaus master nonetheless left a lasting impression. De Niro studied with
Hans Hofmann at his
Provincetown, Massachusetts summer school. Hoffman's teaching, focused on Abstract Expressionism and Cubist formalism, had a strong influence on De Niro's development as a mature artist.