Daniel E. Feldman ’79

Dan died Nov. 21, 2024, from a rare liver disease while living in Northampton, Mass. He was a visual artist and polymath. 

Dan arrived at Princeton from Great Neck, N.Y. He studied math and majored in economics yet came to the realization that art was his true calling. He studied painting with professor Sean Scully, a close friend and mentor. Dan played squash and performed his own songs on guitar, before shifting his creative focus to painting. Gail Soffer ’80 recalls him as “brilliant, yet gentle.” 

Dan earned a master’s degree in painting from Hunter College, where he met his wife and love of his life, artist Nancy Diessner. He also received an MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art. 

He was an oil painter until mid-career, when he incorporated Photoshop into his artistic process, allowing him to digitally transform photos into new works of art. He exhibited widely in New York City and Boston. Dan also taught art and art history at the New York Academy of Art and Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania. 

The class extends warm condolences to his wife, Nancy.