Paul Claude Gardère (Haitian, 1944-2011) was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1944 and immigrated to Queens, NY in 1959 at age fourteen. While attending the Lycée Français de New York, he enrolled at The Art Students League, where one of his first art teachers was Charles Alston. Encouraged by his mother to pursue his artistic ambitions, Paul earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1967, where he studied under and formed close ties with social-realist artist Robert Gwathmey, figurative painter Nicholas Marsicano, and sculptor Reuben Kadish. He completed his formal education with a Master’s of Arts from Hunter College in 1972, under the tutelage of teachers Mark Rothko, Robert Morris, and John McCracken.
