Ruth Tuck
"The Triple Mirror" self-portrait of Ruth Tuck
Born
Ruth Edith Tuck

(1914-07-22)22 July 1914
Cowell, South Australia
Died8 October 2008(2008-10-08) (aged 94)
NationalityAustralian
Known forPainting
Spouse
Mervyn Ashmore Smith
​
​
(m. 1943)​

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.[1]

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.[2]

She met Mervyn Smith in 1943 and married him on 15 October the same year;[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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;[6] it continues to this day in Burnside, South Australia. She was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 1981 for services to art.[1]

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[7] and twin daughters Michele and Angela in 1953.[8]

For further information on the family see Tuck family.

References

  1. 1 2 Snowden, Betty (2011) [1995]. "Ruth Tuck - biography". Design & Art Australia Online. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Art Show By Husband And Wife". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 24 July 1947. p. 10. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2015 – via Trove - National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ Pike, Philip. "Interview with Mervyn Ashmore Smith / Interviewer: Philip Pike". Trove. National Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2015. ...marriage to Ruth Tuck on 15 October 1943...", "...married Ruth after knowing her for about 3 months..
  4. ↑ "Art Show By Husband And Wife". The Newcastle Sun. Newcastle, NSW. 27 June 1952. p. 5. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2015 – via Trove - National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ Kelly, Clive (24 August 1954). "Artistic Partnership Has Same Outlook". The Advertiser. Adelaide. p. 10. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2015 – via Trove - National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ Boisvert, Eugene (4 December 2014). "Burnside's Ruth Tuck Art School wants former students' paintings for 60th anniversary exhibition at Carclew". The Advertiser. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023. South Australian watercolour artist Ruth Tuck founded the school in 1955 and originally ran classes from her home in Fullarton. The school then moved to the Freemasons Hall in Fullarton before relocating to Burnside Arts and Crafts Centre, in Hubbe Court, in 1981.
  7. ↑ "Art Prizes Go to Women". The News. Adelaide. 22 April 1949. p. 13. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2015 – via Trove - National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "South Australian water colour artist and teacher Ruth Tuck dies at 94". The Advertiser. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
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