The first German biography of the most expensive painter in America thoroughly illuminates the life and work of this great artist while embedding his journey within the exciting history of post-war America, a time when New York had already replaced Paris as the world capital of art and when Abstract Expressionism was celebrating its first triumphs. This is a literarily narrated biography for both interested laypeople and the academic audience alike. The author has engaged in numerous conversations with contemporaries, companions, family members, and experts in the American art scene, creating a complex portrait of this artist who is so significant to the 20th century.