Mort Künstler by M. Stephen Doherty - 3

The earliest evidence of Künstler’s interest in art is recalled
by his sister, Rhoda Gayle, who remembers her two-and-ahalf-
year-old brother copying on a blackboard the drawings
she brought home from kindergarten. That practice continued
until Mort entered PS 2I5 elementary school in Brooklyn.
Künstler’s mother, Rebecca, who was a schoolteacher,
taught him to read before he ever stepped into a classroom.
By the time he entered kindergarten he was ahead of most
children his age, so he was skipped into the first grade. “I
became something of a troublemaker,” remembers Künstler.
“I already knew what the other kids were being taught, so my
mind would wander to other things. To keep me occupied,
the teacher gave me some art supplies. By the time I reached
second grade, I was painting pictures better than anyone in
the school, including the sixth graders.”