Richard Serra studied English literature at the University of California and painting at Yale University. After graduating from Yale in 1964 with a degree in Fine Art, Serra travelled to Europe, where he discovered the works of Constantine Brancusi and Alberto Giacometti, two sculptors who influenced him because of their interest in materials and process. He returned to the United States and settled in New York to work as a sculptor. By the 1970s his sculptures had increased to monumental scale.