Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos
{{Short description|American sculptor (1918–1991)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos
| image = Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos.png
| caption = Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos, 1954
| birth_name = Nancy Edith Proskauer
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1918|3|25}}
| birth_place = New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1991|10|13|1918|3|25}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| education = Drew Seminary, Sarah Lawrence College (BA), Columbia University, Art Students League of New York
| occupation = Sculptor
| spouse = {{marriage|Donald Dryfoos|1938}}
| father =
}}
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.{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=Glenn |date=October 15, 1991 |title=Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos Dies; Prize-Winning Sculptor Was 73 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/15/arts/nancy-proskauer-dryfoos-dies-prize-winning-sculptor-was-73.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite book |last=Heller |first=Jules |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYxmAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA162 |title=North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary |last2=Heller |first2=Nancy G. |date=December 19, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-63882-5 |pages=162 |language=en |chapter=Dryfoos, Nancy Proskauer (1918–1991)}}
Life and career
Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos was born as Nancy Edith Proskauer, on March 25, 1918, in New Rochelle, New York. The family was Jewish, her mother was philanthropist Edith Harris Proskauer, and her father was investor Richman Proskauer.{{Cite news |date=September 19, 1975 |title=Edith H. Proskauer, Active in Charities |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/19/archives/edith-h-proskauer-active-in-charities.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |date=November 7, 1967 |title=Richman Proskauer Dies at 77; Broker Active in Civic Affairs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/11/07/archives/richman-proskauer-dies-at-77-broker-active-in-civic-affairs.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} In 1938, she married with Donald Dryfoos, a rare book collector.{{Cite news |date=August 27, 1938 |title=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 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/08/27/archives/nancy-proskauer-larchmont-bride-marriage-to-donald-dryfoos-takes.html |work=The New York Times |pages=16}} They never had any children, and remained married until her death.{{Cite news |date=September 4, 1992 |title=Donald Dryfoos; Rare-Book Collector, 78 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/04/obituaries/donald-dryfoos-rare-book-collector-78.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Dryfoos attended Drew Seminary; Sarah Lawrence College (B.A. 1936), with Kurt Roesch;{{Cite news |date=July 7, 1938 |title=Marriage of Proskauer and Dryfoos |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-marriage-of-proskauer/166790361/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=Mount Vernon Argus |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com}} 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. She also worked under Jose de Creeft.
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.
In the 1950s she chaired the Tercentenary Fine Arts Committee, to mark the anniversary of the American Jewish tercentenary.{{Cite news |date=1954-06-04 |title=To Head Exhibit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-southern-jewish-weekly-to-head-exhib/166790174/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=The Southern Jewish Weekly |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}
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.
Death and legacy
She died of a heart attack on October 13, 1991, in New York City. She had also struggled with lung cancer at the end of life.
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.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/nancy-dryfoos-papers-7600 Nancy Dryfoos papers, 1955-1976], from Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
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Category:20th-century American sculptors
Category:20th-century American women artists
Category:American women sculptors
Category:Artists from New York City
Category:Artists from New Rochelle, New York
Category:Art Students League of New York alumni
Category:Columbia University alumni