Renowned abstract printmaker Vincent Longo is a significant innovator for his personal, systematic approach to portraying his ideas and style through etching. His achievements broadened the power of etching to capture more emotion and personality because of his simplistic and rationalized technique. Longo mastered his skill and process to free himself from the traditionally perfectionist confinements and norms associated with printmaking. Vincent Longo was born in Manhattan in 1923 and attended Textile High School in Manhattan and Brooklyn Museum of Art School where he studied under printmakers Louis Schanker and Max Beckmann. Longo spent his professional early years in the company of many of the 1950s Abstract Expressionists at the Eighth Street Club and the Cedar Tavern with links to de Kooning, Rothko, and Pollock. Longo credits Piet Mondrian as the most significant influence upon himself and his work. Longo later joined the staff of the legendary art department at Bennington College in 1957 where he is credited as the driving force behind developing the serious and respected reputation of printmaking. In 1967 Longo returned to New York City to begin his 30 year teaching career at Hunter College where he would continue to refine his technique and style while regularly exhibiting his work. (http://www.irwinfelddesign.com/index.cfm/product/1347_14/contrast-by-vincent-longo.cfm?CFID=27186364&CFTOKEN=f0b3cb03ce05bd99-B749283A-C265-9A41-6501D1660391DF7A&jsessionid=2E6A9C3C7C04C108F6F4FEFA1B2CC07A.two)