Although he has worked in a variety of media from pencil drawings, silk screen prints to large works on panels and canvas he is now concentrating on works on paper.

Robert Schmid was born in Huntington, New York and graduated from Syracuse University where he majored in chemistry. It was with Syracuse University that he first went to Florence where he spent the next four years teaching himself to draw by copying Renaissance masters - particularly Leonardo - in the Ufizzi. He supported himself by selling his drawings on the Ponte Vecchio .

In the late sixties, in collaboration with the more overtly political Barry Byant, he was involved with street paintings like “XNIXONX” at the information show at MOMA and painting Bigelow Street in Boston Fluorescent pink . The street was repainted black by court order.

In the early 70’s Robert Schmid was living between New York, London and Florence experimenting with painting on multiple layers of plastic and working in video. He was showing his artwork at Zella 9 in London and at the Blackheath Gallery where his clients included Glenda Jackson and Michael Frayn . In 1976 The Whitechapel Gallery included his “Red Men” now in the collection of John and Barbara Pratt.

Because London’s weather was depressing and wanting a change of light, Schmid and his wife the writer Elizabeth Wix spent a year and a half in Los Angeles where he experimented with video and showed paintings through “Artworks” on La Cienega. At the inaugural show in 1977 they sold a large drawing of lips to Roman Polanski. Robert Schmid’s son was born in London in 1978.

In collaboration with Bernard Pratt of the Retigraphic society in Kent, England Schmid produced a series of limited edition screen prints .

In 1979 he returned to New York and continued working in silk screen but also painting large airbrush pictures often with images drawn from popular culture TV . A painting of Lucille Ball won the painting award at Hecksher Museum on Long Island .

In the 80’s and early 90’s while showing with Jayne Baum and Sandra Gehring, Schmid painted wild, curious and funky paintings like “Deer Park Landlord” and “Parking Lot Aliens” . Following a serious motorcycle accident in 1995 he returned to figure drawing. His last work on Long Island were a series of heroes including Chief Joseph and the Dalai Lama as part of a public art project.

Schmid returned to Manhattan in 1998 and has been represented by Sears-Peyton since 1999. His current complex, multi-imaged paintings are a synthesis of the ideas and influences which have colored his career.