Jane Piper's contribution to American coloristic modernism stemmed from her time studying with Philadelphia's avant-garde artists, such as Grace Gemberling and Arthur B. Carles. Then, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation, Piper explored American art, as well as French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. The latter movements introduced her to two of the most important influences on her style, Cézanne and Matisse. In the mid-1950's she began teaching and passed on the legacy of Philadelphia abstraction. During her career, she was frequently exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Woodmere Art Gallery, and the Pennsylvania Museum of Art. Piper's work is in the permanent collections of Brooklyn Museum, National Academy of Design, Carnegie Museum of Art, Phillips Collection, Provincetown Art Museum, and others. The artist passed just before her 75th birthday in 1991.