Carolyn Wilson Newmark

On May 24, 2020, Carolyn Newmark (Carolyn C. Wilson) entered into rest in Houston, Texas after a courageous battle with cancer. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, the second child of Ruth Spurlock Wilson and Dr. Robert N. Wilson, Jr., Carolyn excelled academically and graduated at the top of her class from The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr. She continued her studies at Wellesley College where she graduated with High Honors as a Durant Scholar.  She earned an MA and PhD in Art History from The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.  It was in New York City that her dear friend and Wellesley roommate, Sarah Singal, set her up on a blind date with Dr. Michael E. Newmark, who became her loving husband in 1976. 

Carolyn dedicated her professional life to art of the Italian Renaissance, publishing numerous articles and books, including Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts while working as the Assistant Curator of Sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Italian Paintings, XIV-XVI Centuries in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston while serving as Research Curator for Renaissance Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and St. Joseph in Italian Renaissance Society and Art: New Directions and Interpretations while working independently on her favorite topic, the Italian Renaissance veneration of St. Joseph.  She received numerous book awards including the Roland H. Bainton Book Prize, the Vasari Award, and was an Alfred H. Barr, Jr. award finalist. In addition to her museum work, Carolyn taught renaissance art history at the University of Maryland, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Houston.  Carolyn spoke and read several languages, and professional trips took her all over North America and Europe where she found countless friends in foreign museums, universities, and libraries. 

At home, Carolyn dedicated her time to the care of her three daughters as an active parent at St. John’s School for 18 years.  She was a ballet and Suzuki mom in addition to making healthy dinners and sewing numerous Halloween costumes. She loved dance, theater, music, and opera, and enjoyed countless live performances. On vacation, she took her children to visit their grandparents in San Antonio and Bermuda and to Europe to see great palaces and wonderful museums. In recent years, she became a devoted grandmother to seven grandchildren, whom she lavished with love and attention as well as books and nursery rhymes. 

Carolyn is survived by her loving husband, Michael E. Newmark; her three daughters, Georgina Newmark Armstrong, Serena Newmark Mout, and Diana Newmark; her sons-in-law, Thad Armstrong, Edward Mout IV, and Shalev Roisman; her grandchildren, Benjamin, Matthew, and Caroline Armstrong, Madeline and Beatrice Mout, and Noa and Esther Roisman; her siblings, Stephen W. Wilson and Marybelle Macdonald; and her sisters-in-law, Marjorie Wilson and June Newmark, and her many nieces and nephews. 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a memorial service will be planned at a future date.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Renaissance Society of America, Wellesley College, or the charity of one’s choice.