The following biographical note was supplied by Alise Loebelsohn and Lori Loebelsohn:

Carol Loebelsohn (1929-2002)

Carol Loebelsohn (née Naroff) was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 25, 1929. Her parents divorced when she was eleven. She helped to raise her younger sister in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, while her mother worked as a seamstress. From an early age, Carol loved to create things like paper dolls dressed in beautiful outfits. Although her family struggled financially, her mother shared with her a love of beauty and high fashion. Throughout her life, Carol was passionate about both fashion and art.

Carol studied at Washington Irving High School in New York City, where she excelled in fashion illustration. In 1949, she received a full scholarship to attend Parsons School of Design and graduated with an Associates Degree. In 1950, she attended Pratt Institute and from 1952-1954, she attended the Art Students League in New York City. She had a life-long love of learning, and continued to take classes at art schools throughout her life.

Carol began her career as a staff artist for Porters Department Store, Milgram’s and other fashion houses. She primarily created illustrations of high fashion for women, but she also illustrated men’s and children’s fashion for other magazines. As she became more successful, she did freelance work for large, prestigious department stores, including Bergdorf Goodmans, Bonwit Teller and Macy’s. Her beautiful fashion illustrations were shown in the New York Times, Women’s Wear Daily, New York Magazine and numerous other high-end fashion magazines.

In addition to creating beautiful fashion illustrations for her clients, Carol had a long career teaching fashion illustration. She was a vivacious, charismatic woman whose presence lit up the room. She immediately connected with her students and went above and beyond to help them personally and professionally and in return, they loved learning from her. For many years, she taught fashion illustration and draping as an adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design. She also headed for many years the fashion illustration department at Traphaghen School of Design in New York City, and was an adjunct professor at Newark School for Industrial and Fine Art.

In 1960, Carol gave birth to twin girls, Lori and Alise. Carol exposed them to to art, high fashion and her love of beauty from a young age. Carol’s wonderful example strongly influenced her daughters, who are both professional visual artists.

The introduction of fashion photography had a devastating affect on the world of fashion illustration. The glamour and suggestion of high fashion illustration were replaced by a literal image of the garment. Although she continued to create illustrations for a handful of loyal clients, Carol would never stop creating art. In the 1980’s, in her 50’s, Carol discovered watercolor. She painted grand watercolor florals, still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. Her line quality and finesse with the brush enabled her to transition easily from the world of fashion illustration into the world of fine art. She was a member of the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society. She exhibited her work often and won numerous prizes.

Carol was extremely meticulous about preserving her fashion illustrations and other artwork. When she passed away in 2002, her daughters continued to protect this treasure trove from a bygone era. Her fashion illustrations serve as a reminder of the changing styles in the days of high fashion from the 1930’s to the 1980’s. Her daughters are very pleased and excited to leave this legacy to Parsons, a school that she loved, where she studied and where she taught, so that future generations can both learn from and appreciate her beautiful art.