Robert Beauchamp was born in
Denver, Colorado in 1923. He had three brothers and three sisters; the children were orphaned by the time Beauchamp was three. The family grew up impoverished due to the
Great Depression, living in a
community house with other families. As a child he dabbled in art but it wasn't until high school that he began taking art classes. When not creating art he also played sports;
football and basketball, and enjoyed chemistry and geology. He was told he was good at drawing, and replaced
study hall classes with art classes, receiving instruction and inspiration from a Welsh teacher named R. Idris Thomas. While in high school Beauchamp would go, every Monday, to the public library and a local museum where he would read books about art; specifically
French painting, as assigned by Thomas. Beauchamp would spend upwards of four hours a day in the art room and eventually won the Carter Memorial Prize, which provided a scholarship to the
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. At Colorado Springs he studied under
Boardman Robinson, painting landscapes in nature. Beauchamp eventually joined the
Navy and then returned to Colorado Springs to continue his studies. Traveling the world as an
Armed Guard, he spent a year and a half at sea and the rest of the three years in San Francisco. Seeking to make money, and to follow his love for a girl, Beauchamp decided to attend
Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1947–1948. There he studied pottery, believing one could "make more money selling pots than you could selling paintings." He described his experience at Cranbrook as intimidating and
claustrophobic, and eventually switched to sculpture before switching to painting. ==Career and personal life==