Ruth Tuck
Ruth Edith Tuck OAM (22 July 1914 – 10 October 2008) was a modernist painter of South Australia, noted for joint exhibitions with her husband Mervyn Ashmore Smith (11 December 1904 – 18 March 1994), and her influence as a teacher of painting. She was related to the better-known Marie Tuck.
Ruth Tuck | |
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"The Triple Mirror" self-portrait of Ruth Tuck | |
Born | Ruth Edith Tuck 22 July 1914 Cowell, South Australia |
Died | 8 October 2008 94) | (aged
Nationality | Australian |
Known for | Painting |
Spouse(s) | Mervyn Ashmore Smith ( m. 1943) |
History
Ruth Tuck was born at Cowell, South Australia, a daughter of Arthur Edward Tuck (1855 – 8 April 1925) and his wife Minnie née Wallis.
She studied painting under Dorrit Black and exhibited regularly with the Royal South Australian Society of Arts and was a foundation member of the Contemporary Art Society.[1]
She met Mervyn Smith in 1943 and married him on 15 October the same year;[2] they lived in Adelaide, then Mervyn moved to Newcastle, New South Wales in 1949, where he was employed as a County Council planning officer; she joined him few years later.[3] In 1953 they returned to Adelaide, where they remained and held numerous joint exhibitions of their watercolors, both modernist in outlook with Mervyn's work being generally characterised as the more ambitious.[4]
Her written work includes biographies of Mary Packer Harris and Marie Anne Tuck for the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Ruth established the Ruth Tuck Art School in 1955; it continues to this day in Burnside, South Australia. She was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 1981 for services to art.
Family
Ruth was a granddaughter of noted Baptist minister Rev. Henry Lewer Tuck (11 September 1820 – 26 August 1880), an early immigrant to South Australia, whose brother Edward Starkey Tuck (13 March 1827 – 9 August 1898) was the father of Marie Tuck (5 September 1866 – 3 September 1947). See her article for more details of the Tuck family in South Australia.
Ruth had a son Mark in 1945[5] and twin daughters Michele and Angela in 1953.[6]
For further information on the family see Tuck family.
References
- "Art Show By Husband And Wife". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 24 July 1947. p. 10. Retrieved 10 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- Smith, Mervyn; Tuck, Ruth, 1914–2008; Brown, Ron (1980), Interview with Mervyn Ashmore Smith, retrieved 10 December 2015CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- "Art Show By Husband And Wife". The Newcastle Sun. NSW. 27 June 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 9 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Artistic Partnership Has Same Outlook". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 24 August 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 10 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Today's Social News for Women". The News. Adelaide. 22 April 1949. p. 13. Retrieved 10 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- "South Australian water colour artist and teacher Ruth Tuck dies at 94". The Advertiser. Retrieved 10 December 2012.