Justina Hart
The Exponent Telegram., Saturday, May 14, 2011
CLARKSBURG — Mrs. Justina Carskadon Hart, 103, formerly of 355 Lee Ave., Clarksburg, passed peacefully early morning on Friday, May 13, 2011.
She was born July 1, 1907, in Clarksburg, the daughter of the late Justin Milton Carskadon and Bessie Welling Compton.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Hyde Hart; son, John Carskadon Hart; and sister, Genevieve Carskadon Jarvis.
Surviving are her son, and wife, New Castle, PA, and Washington, N.C.; her daughter-in-law, Morgantown; her numerous grandchildren who reside in the following areas, Douglassville, Pa., Rehobeth Beach, Del., Clarksburg, WV.,Charlotte, N.C., Clarksburg, W.V., Virginia, and Littleton, Colo.; numerous great-grandchildren who reside in the following areas, Pittsburgh, Pa., New Castle, Pa., Clarksburg, WV. and Douglassville, Pa.; and many great-great-grandchildren.
Clarksburg Artist
A native Clarksburg artist, Justina began painting at age 4 and attended Randolph-Macon Women’s College and was a graduate of the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts (Parsons School of Design) in New York and Paris.
Hart is represented in the collections of many museums and private collections in the United States. Her work reflects the influence of Hans Hofmann, with whom she studied and under whose tutelage she moved from small objective to large, non-objective painting.
A contemporary of Blanche Lazzell and James Edward Davis, Hart made a pilgrimage to New York after Lazzell, in 1949, suggested Justina needed a dose of Hofmann.
Hart found both Lazzell and Davis to be critical to her development as an abstractionist and she went on to achieve recognition for her inventive collages and paintings. She established both space and movement with pure color planes, and her paintings indicate a feeling for paint and color.
She was an intuitive, but also intellectual painter who conveyed a great vitality in her work. Mrs. Hart has had, in various periods of her life, studios in New York City and Palm Beach, Fla.
She has also had one-man shows in several New York galleries, Nantucket, Mass., Fairmont State University, West Virginia University, the Sunrise Museum, Charleston, and Clarksburg, in addition to participating in many group shows.
Of her show in New York, Artspeak magazine quoted, “Her collages are a landscape of lyrical imagery.” Justina was featured in the book “Early Art and Artists of West Virginia.” She was also one of the founders of the Clarksburg Art Center and served as its first director.
Beyond Art
Mrs. Hart was very spiritual and an Episcopalian by faith. She was an instructor at Salem College (University) and Fairmont State College (University). She was an accomplished pianist and a lifelong member of the Goff Plaza Garden Club and served as a past president.
A family graveside service is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Memorial donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the American Heart Association or your local Garden Club.
