PAMELA Z. BLUM

1923 - 2015

BLUM, PAMELA Z. Pamela Z. Blum, an historian of medieval art, died on August 6, 2015 in North Branford, CT. She was 92. The cause of death was a sudden cardiovascular event. Ms. Blum became an art historian relatively late in life. She enrolled in Yale University Graduate School in 1968 at the age of 45, obtained M.A. and M.Phil., and was awarded a Ph.D. in History of Art in 1978. She established her reputation at The Royal Abbey Church of Saint-Denis in France for her innovative iconographical and archeological work distinguishing original from restored sculpture. She was also noted for co-directing studies, sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, of the provenance of limestone used in medieval sculpture. She edited and contributed to the book The Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis: From Its Beginning to the Death of Suger, 475 – 1115, authored Early Gothic Saint-Denis: Restorations and Survivals, and authored or co-authored numerous articles for Gesta: The Art Journal of the College Art Association of America, as well. Ms. Blum taught at many institutions throughout her career, among them Columbia University, the International Center for Medieval Art at the Cloisters, Wesleyan University, and Yale University. Other positions included Miriam Sacher Visiting Fellow at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, England. Throughout her life Ms. Blum supported significant numbers of environmental and humanitarian causes. Pamela Z. Blum was born in 1923 in Jersey City, NJ, to William A. Zink and the former Marjorie Powell. She attended Kent Place School in Summit, NJ and graduated cum laude from Smith College in 1943. She married John M. Blum in 1944. They were married for 67 years when Mr. Blum died in 2011. She is survived by three children, Ann (of Arlington, MA), Pamela (of Kingston, NY), and Thomas (of Dobbs Ferry, NY), and three grandchildren. The family will hold a private celebration of her life.