Born 1937 in North Tonawanda, New York, Robert Mangold attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, Ohio, and obtained both his BFA and MFA at the Yale University School of Art and Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut.

Mangold is known for his contribution to minimalism, combining the classic elements of composition—shape, line, and color—to create abstract works of architectural scale, drawing by hand thick and thin graphite lines on subtly modulated planes of color. His shaped panel paintings use subtle modulations of color and precise graphite lines to confront the viewer with a difficult, yet meditative experience. “Robert Mangold’s paintings,” wrote the New York Times, “are more complicated to describe than they seem, which is partly what’s good about them: the way they invite intense scrutiny, which, in the nature of good art, is its own reward.” Mangold's work challenges the typical connotations of what a painting is or could be, and his works often appear as objects rather than images. 

Mangold’s work has been the subject of numerous single-person exhibitions and retrospectives at institutions including the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Akron Art Museum, the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, the Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo.

He lives and works in Washingtonville, New York.