Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos

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]

Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos
Nancy Proskauer Dryfoos, 1954
Born	Nancy Edith Proskauer (1918-03-25)March 25, 1918 New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
Died	October 13, 1991(1991-10-13) (aged 73) New York City, U.S.
Education	Drew Seminary, Sarah Lawrence College (BA), Columbia University, Art Students League of New York
Occupation	Sculptor
Spouse	Donald Dryfoos ​ (m. 1938)​

Life and career

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

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]