Scull, Robert C.

Scull, Robert C. (1917–86) businessman, art collector; born in New York City. His family name was originally "Sokolnikoff," but his father's Russian name was shortened by emigration authorities. Robert attended public schools and attended night school at the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute. He became a free-lance illustrator and then an industrial designer. After his marriage to Ethel Redner, his father-in-law left him a share of a taxi business that he used to establish the Super Operating Corporation, a taxi company whose drivers were called "Scull's Angels." His ability to gain publicity was evident even then, as seen in his well-publicized hiring of Amy Vanderbilt to teach his drivers courtesy. He and his wife purchased many works by artists in the pop art tradition. They sold part of their collection in 1965 and established the Robert and Ethel Scull Foundation in order to subsidize and encourage young unknown artists. They held a second auction in 1973, and by that time they were an extravagant personification of the pop art scene. Robert divorced Ethel Scull (1975), remarried, and moved to a farm in Connecticut. In 1978 he established a new foundation in his name and continued to buy contemporary art.