Manet and Futurism scholar; first female full-professor in at Yale University. Coffin's parents were Francis Joseph Coffin, an Episcopal minister and Annie Coffin. She studied at Skidmore College, switching to the University of Southern California, marrying Warfield Garson in 1942 and graduating the following year with a BFA in studio art. She and Warfield began a family. After her children were born, she lectured at Wagner College, Staten Island, NY, for the academic year 1949-1950.