FRANCESA CONSAGRA

CONSAGRA--Francesca. Curator Emerita at the Blanton Museum of Art, died peacefully in Austin on December 16, 2018 after a valiant battle with ovarian cancer. She was 60. A daughter of Pietro Consagra, one of Italy's most prominent post-war abstract sculptors, and Sophie Chandler Consagra, Director and President of the American Academy in Rome, Francesca embodied the best of both cultures and families in her wonderful blend of sophisticated creativity and down- to-earth pragmatism. A brilliant scholar and curator of Italian Baroque and Northern Renaissance prints and paintings, Francesca brought deep passion and intellectual rigor to all she did. After graduating cum laude from Connecticut College, she received her Ph.D. in Art History from Johns Hopkins University. Following fellowships at the National Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Francesca was appointed the Philip and Lynn Straus Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, where she was also a member of the faculty in the Art Department. From 1999-2008, she served as Curator and Head of the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Saint Louis Art Museum and subsequently became the Senior Curator at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. In 2012, Francesca joined the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was the Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and European Paintings. Her numerous exhibitions and publications reflected Francesca's broad historical and cultural knowledge as well as her gift for communicating complex ideas with grace and eloquence. Francesca's warmth, kindness, intelligence, and love of life were reflected in her fervent engagement with the world around her. Beauty in its many forms filled her soul, from a master drawing or a second-century Buddha, to a 'Sconset sunset or a swim off the beaches of Crete. Francesca was deeply loved by her family and friends, who treasured her generosity of spirit, her commitment to the greater good, her fabulous sense of humor, her resolute honesty, her courage, and her strength. Francesca is survived by her husband William Herndon, the love of her life, and her beloved son John Ray.