Oral History with Marilyn Aronberg Lavin

Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 27, 1925. She was educated at Mary Institute and Washington University. She shares stories of her life as an art historian, describing how her marriage and work became intertwined. She met her husband, Irving Lavin, when he worked as a lifeguard and later they reconnected at Washington University, where Marilyn studied with Janson and he studied philosophy. Following their marriage in 1952, they started living in Rome for extended periods in 1961, where Irving discovered two Bernini sculptures, leading to his appointment at NYU. Marilyn was granted a Ph.D. on the basis of published material in 1973. She and Irving moved to Princeton in 1974, where Irving became a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and Marilyn introduced new digital methods to the study of art at Princeton University. Marilyn recently completed her memoir and she continues to work on her art historical scholarship.