Dear Art Library Community,

 

I write to inform you of the passing of Irene Avens, at age 96 on January 21, 2024. She was the head of reference at the Frick Art Reference Library for many years, and I was blessed to have worked with her from 2001 to 2004 when beginning my own career as an art librarian. While I was a cataloguer, I filled in at lunch times in reference, where I learned from Irene so much, and any grace I may have in public service. Irene was a true intellectual, an elegant woman, and one of my role-models as a librarian. I and a number of her Frick colleagues attended her memorial with family and friends at the Latvian Lutheran Church in Yonkers, New York last Saturday. She will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to have known her.

 

With fond memories,

 

Eric