Barbara Jakobson

Barbara Jakobson Obituary

JAKOBSON--Barbara. Barbara Jakobson died peacefully on August 25, at the age of nearly 93. Visionary art collector, connoisseur of architecture and design, museum powerhouse (trustee of the Museum of Modern Art for fifty-one years; founding trustee of the Studio Museum in Harlem; former chairperson of the Visiting Committee of her alma mater Smith College's Museum of Art). Muse, mentor, and close friend to generations of artists, art dealers, architects, novelists, journalists, intellectuals of all stripes, and photographers (stylish to a fault, she herself was photographed by everyone from Horst to Mapplethorpe). The interiors and exteriors she created and invented for her Upper East Side townhouse and East Hampton home (who but Barbara would have thought to turn an airstream trailer into a pool house) were featured prominently in magazines both national and international. She was the beloved mother of singer/songwriter Jenna Torres, actress Maggie Wheeler (Daniel), and the late John Paul ("Pablo") Jakobson, and the grandmother of Ama Torres, Juno Alexandra Wheeler (Noah Weinberg), and Gemma Remington Wheeler. A celebration of Barbara's inimitable life is being planned for the Fall. *Photo Credit Jeannette Montgomery Barron

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Published by New York Times on Aug. 29, 2025.

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