AARON SHEON

SHEON AARON
Age 78. Born 1937 Toledo, Ohio, died at his home in Pittsburgh November 8, 2015. He was supported and surrounded by his beloved wife, Jill Sheon and her family, his daughter, Sandrine Sheon and her husband, Dr. Elijah Wald, his son, Dr. Nicolas Sheon and his wife, Susannah, their daughters, Sophie and Saskia, his stepson, Dr. Chris Belasco and his wife, Dr. Jess Ghilani, their daughter, Emilia, his stepson, Phillip, and his Godson, Julian Critchfield. He has been comforted by his beloved brother, Dr. Robert Sheon and wife, Irma Shainberg Sheon, and their families. Aaron grew up in Toledo, and received a BA and MA from the University of Michigan in art history in 1960, and an MFA and PHD in art history from Princeton in 1966. His thesis was concerned with the artistic career of Adolphe Monticelli (died 1886). Monticelli often worked with Cezanne in Provence and developed a style of strong abstract colors that Vincent admired. In 1962 Professor Sheon was awarded a Fulbright Award for Monticelli thesis research in Paris at the Sorbonne. In 1963-66 he worked at the Unesco (United Nations Education and Scientific Office in Paris. He published in the International Council of Museums Bulletin articles on the preservation of tribal and traditional art and architecture and the formation of national museums. In 1966 he began his 47-year career as Professor of Modern art and architecture at the University of Pittsburgh. He was undergraduate advisor for many years and curated several of the first exhibitions in the University Art Gallery. He also lectured at Carnegie Mellon University and at the College Art Association annual meetings, New York University, and the American Association of Psychoanalysis. In 1968 and 1978-9 he was Chair of the Frick Fine Arts Department. In 1984-5 he became the Herodotus Fellow and Research Member at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton. Sheon was the first scholar to suggest that Theo van Gogh's terminal syphilis in 1886-90, was the reason for Vincent's altruistic suicide. Sheon published this theory in "Van Gogh's Understanding of Theories of Degeneration, Neurosis and Neurasthenia in the 1880s," Van Gogh 100, Hofstra University, (Greenwood Press) 1996., and "Theo van Gogh, publisher: the Monticelli Album," The van Gogh Museum Journal, 2000. In 1980, he wrote and published with Donald Miller, Organic Vision: The Architecture of Peter Berndtson, a comprehensive survey of the Pittsburgh architect, who a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, and a proponent of idealism in architecture. In 1987, he wrote the catalog Paul Guigou, 1834-1871 for an exhibition of the painter's work, held at William Beadleston, Inc., Apr. 29-May 30, 1987 and at Columbus Museum of Art, June 6-July 12, 1987. In 1978-9 selected paintings for and wrote the catalogue for the travelling exhibition Monticellli, His Friends and Influence. This show was shown at the Carnegie Museum, Toronto Art Gallery The Corcoran Museum in Washington, and the Rijksmueum Vincent van Gogh in Amsterdam. A second large exhibition was held in 1986. The Museum of Art in Marseille invited him to curate and write the catalogue of the centenary exhibition of Monticelli's career. Sheon's large classes and seminars were awarded numerous teaching and research awards: Wilson Fellowship, Princeton University Graduate School, 1961. Ford Foundation/ International Dimensions Research grant for study of new educational uses of museums in developing countries, 1967. Mellon Educational Foundation Grant, Summer Seminar in France, 1968. Charles E. Merrill Award, given to a junior faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh, 1968. Faculty of Arts and Sciences Research Grants, 1969 and 1973 Center for International Studies Grant, 1971.Chancellor John G. Bowman Faculty Award, 1976. NEH Course Development Grant (University of Pittsburgh), 1979. Honor Award of the Pennsylvania Society of Architects of the American Institute of Architects, in recognition of Organic Vision. Award given at "Forum on the Influence of F. L. Wright" at Fallingwater, October 4, 1982. Invited Participant, Symposium on New Methodology In Art History, in Honor of H. W. Janson, Ossabaw Island, Georgia, 1984. Fellowship, 1986, from Florence Gould Arts Foundation, New York, to research Van Gogh and Monticelli. University of Pittsburgh, President's Distinguished Teaching Award. Finalist in University-wide competition, 1985-1986. Golden Quill Journalism Award, for contemporary art criticism in Pittsburgh weekly newspaper, 1986. Student Government Board, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Faculty Honor Roll and Top Nominee, Faculty Honor Roll, April 2001. CAS Research Award for "An Art History Course for Blind and Vision Impaired Students and Adults in the Pittsburgh region," a Touch Museum related to the course, 2002. Bellet Award for CAS Undergraduate Teaching Excellence, for the class, Vincent van Gogh, 2002. Innovation in Education Awards, 2003, for A Capstone Class in Art and Photography." He became Professor Emeritus in 2003. A memorial gathering for Aaron Sheon will be held Monday, November 9, 2015, 4-8 p.m. at McDERMOTT FUNERAL HOME, INC., 334 Forest Grove Rd. (Kennedy Twp.), Coraopolis, PA 15108. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, November 10, 2015, 11 a.m. at Orchard Hill Church, 2551 Brandt School Road, Wexford, 15090. A memorial celebration is being planned at the Frick Fine Arts Building, University of Pittsburgh, date and time TBA. For further information, please call 781-957-8451 or friend Sandrine Sheon on Facebook. A scholarship fund has been established to enable Pitt students to study art in Paris. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Aaron Sheon Memorial Fund, University of Pittsburgh Office of Institutional Advancement, 128 N. Craig Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.