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- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
May 29, 2013
Deceased Name: BELOVED PRESENCE IN CITY'S ART WORLD JANE ZIRINSKY HASKELL NOV, 24, 1923 - MAY 28, 2013
Jane Haskell, an artist whose neon work "River of Light" is installed in the Steel Plaza station of Pittsburgh's 'T' system, died Tuesday at her Oakland home from breast cancer. She was 89.
Ms. Haskell was a beloved presence in the Pittsburgh art world who used her influence and expertise in service of bringing art of quality to the city. She was also a wife and mother of three, an accomplished skier and tennis player, and a traveler with a sense of adventure.
Ms. Haskell, who became a member of the Carnegie Museum of Art board in 1999, "really felt the mission of the museum in a very deep way," museum director Lynn Zelevansky said. She was interested in art that is hard for most people, such as abstraction, Ms. Zelevansky said.
The Edward N. Haskell Family Acquisition Fund had been established by Ms. Haskell and her late husband for the purchase of works for the collection. Before her death, Ms. Zelevansky asked the artist what type of art she would like the funds be directed to, and she answered that her preference was pre-war abstraction and then mid-century abstraction.
Ms. Haskell was born in Cedarhurst, Long Island, N.Y., and earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Skidmore College. In 1949, her family moved to Pittsburgh and she continued her education in the arts, earning a master's degree in art history from the University of Pittsburgh. She was also a student of noted Pittsburgh artist and educator Samuel Rosenberg. Ms. Haskell taught at Duquesne University for a decade before resuming her career as a studio artist.
Ms. Haskell was a painter and sculptor until 1979 when she turned to neon, and the light that had informed her paintings took on another dimension.
"Light is a pervasive element in the world in which I live and work," Ms. Haskell said on her website. "Without life there is no light."
Carol R. Brown, president of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust from 1986 to 2001, was responsible for the commission of Ms. Haskell's large project for the subway station.
The resultant work, "Rivers of Light," was installed in 1984 and in recent years has been in need of conservation. Renee Piechocki, director of the Pittsburgh Office of Public Art, was thrilled to tell Ms. Haskell before her death that the National Endowment for the Arts had approved a $40,000 grant that would be applied to the restoration of her work and another in the light rail system.
Ms. Haskell was preceded in death by her husband, Edward N. Haskell; daughter Anne Haskell Landell; and brother Jerome N. Zirn.
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1923 - 2013 (89 years)
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