Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos
Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos | |
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![]() Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos, 1954 | |
Born | Nancy Edith Proskauer March 25, 1918 New Rochelle, New York, U.S. |
Died | October 13, 1991 New York City, U.S. | (aged 73)
Education | Drew Seminary, Sarah Lawrence College (BA), Columbia University, Art Students League of New York |
Occupation | Sculptor |
Spouse |
Donald Dryfoos (m. 1938) |
Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos (March 25, 1918 – October 13, 1991; née Nancy Edith Proskauer) was an American sculptor. She was known for her works in stone and terra cotta.[1][2]
Life and career
[edit]Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos was born as Nancy Edith Proskauer, on March 25, 1918, in New Rochelle, New York.[1] The family was Jewish, her mother was philanthropist Edith Harris Proskauer, and her father was investor Richman Proskauer.[3][4] In 1938, she married with Donald Dryfoos, a rare book collector.[5] They never had any children, and remained married until her death.[1][6]
Dryfoos attended Drew Seminary; Sarah Lawrence College (B.A. 1936), with Kurt Roesch;[7] the Columbia University's School of Architecture (now Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation) with Oronzio Maldarelli; and at the Art Students League of New York.[1][2] She also worked under Jose de Creeft.[1]
Dryfoos showed her work at annual exhibitions between 1948 until 1972, with the Allied Artists of America, the Brooklyn Museum, the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts (now Everson Museum of Art), the National Academy of Design, and others.[2]
In the 1950s she chaired the Tercentenary Fine Arts Committee, to mark the anniversary of the American Jewish tercentenary.[8]
She won many awards including the Edel Award for Fine Arts, the "Constance K. Livingston Award" from the American Society of Contemporary Artists; the "Gold Medal of Honor" from the Allied Artists of America, and the Naomi Lehman Memorial Award.[1][2]
Death and legacy
[edit]She died of a heart attack on October 13, 1991, in New York City.[1] She had also struggled with lung cancer at the end of life.[1]
Her artwork is in collections at Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida, Brandeis University, Columbia University, New York University, and Kean University in New Jersey.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins, Glenn (October 15, 1991). "Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos Dies; Prize-Winning Sculptor Was 73". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Heller, Jules; Heller, Nancy G. (December 19, 2013). "Dryfoos, Nancy Proskauer (1918–1991)". North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Routledge. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-135-63882-5.
- ^ "Edith H. Proskauer, Active in Charities". The New York Times. September 19, 1975. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ "Richman Proskauer Dies at 77; Broker Active in Civic Affairs". The New York Times. November 7, 1967. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ "Nancy Proskauer Larchmont Bride; Marriage to Donald Dryfoos Takes Place in Garden of Her Parents's Estate Dr. Perilman Officiantes Peggy Westheimer and Anita Stinler Are Attendants--O. E. Dryfoos Best Man Hanger--Briggs". The New York Times. August 27, 1938. p. 16.
- ^ "Donald Dryfoos; Rare-Book Collector, 78". The New York Times. September 4, 1992. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ "Marriage of Proskauer and Dryfoos". Mount Vernon Argus. July 7, 1938. p. 14. Retrieved February 27, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "To Head Exhibit". The Southern Jewish Weekly. June 4, 1954. p. 8. Retrieved February 27, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
[edit]- Nancy Dryfoos papers, 1955-1976, from Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution