Janet Kaplan, 69, art professor

Janet Kaplan, 69, of Rittenhouse Square, an art history professor and international curator and critic, died Friday, Dec. 12, of cardiac arrest at Hahnemann University Hospital.

Dr. Kaplan taught at Moore College of Art and Design, where she was also the director of curatorial studies. In 2006, she helped launch the curatorial studies major, which the college calls the first program of its kind for undergraduates in the country.

She was a program consultant to the Rosenbach Museum and Library, and was on the arts advisory board of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority.

Dr. Kaplan has been published in national and international art journals. Her book, Unexpected Journeys: The Art and Life of Remedios Varo, was published in 1988 in New York and, soon after, in London, Madrid, Mexico City, and Tokyo.

In 2012, she curated an exhibition and participated in a symposium in Turkey called "Wisdom of Shadow: Art in the Era of Corrupted Information."

Dr. Kaplan began teaching at Moore College of Art and Design, a women's college in Center City, in 1980.

"As I reinforce in my classes, our students develop a well-grounded sense that women can contribute to the world in limitless ways," Dr. Kaplan wrote on her faculty Web page. "I always find it exciting to see the light in a student's eyes as a new idea and new possibility for understanding about the creative enterprise clicks in."

She also taught at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University as a visiting professor, the University of New Hampshire, and the Vermont College of Fine Arts as a graduate faculty member.

"She was a formidable thinker, a generous teacher, and someone whose deep commitments to feminism and social justice informed her role as an educator and critical thinker," the Vermont College of Fine Arts said in an online statement.

Dr. Kaplan was a member of the College Art Association in New York City and served as the executive editor of the association's Art Journal from 1995 to 2002.

Dr. Kaplan was born in Chicago. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Brandeis University and her master's and doctor of philosophy degrees from Columbia University.

She is survived by her daughter, Dana Kaplan-Angle; a brother; and two nephews. Her former husband, Warren Angle, died in 2011.

A memorial service was held Monday, Dec. 15. There will be a memorial for Dr. Kaplan at Moore at a date to be announced during the spring semester.

The Vermont College of Fine Arts is creating an endowed memorial scholarship in her honor. The family has asked that contributions be made to Sabrina Fadial, Director of Alumni Relations, 36 College St., Montpelier, Vt. 05602.

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@MichaelleBond