Ruth Armer (May 26, 1896 – August 29, 1977) was an American abstractionist painter, teacher, art collector, and lithographer, from the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Bay area in California. Her art is held in the collections of

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, and the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the F ...

Early life and education

Armer was born on May 26, 1896, in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. She attended the

California School of Fine Arts San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximatel ...

and the School of Fine and Applied Art in New York. While in New York, she studied at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stud ...

with influential American artists such as

George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, "the most acclaimed Americ ...

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

Kenneth Hayes Miller Kenneth Hayes Miller (March 11, 1876 – January 1, 1952) was an American painter, printmaker, and teacher. Career Born in Oneida, New York, he studied at the Art Students League of New York with Kenyon Cox, Henry Siddons Mowbray and with Will ...

, and

John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...

Career

Armer was regarded as "one of San Francisco's more profound abstractionists." She had solo exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and at the

San Francisco Museum of Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

in 1936 and 1939, and in the Quay Gallery in San Francisco in 1972 and 1975. She painted landscapes, portraits, and abstract works, and was also a lithographer. Her art was influenced by her experience living in California, and her subject matter included the California desert and the cityscapes of San Francisco. Armer studied under George Bellows, Robert Henri, Kenneth Miller and

at the School of Fine and Applied Art in New York. She taught drawing, painting and other subjects at the California School of Fine Arts, today known as the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximatel ...

, from 1933 to 1940. During her career, she also worked at the

Oakland Museum The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Ca ...

, and later served on the Board of Directors. After retiring from teaching, she devoted her time to painting in her studio on Russian Hill, in San Francisco.

Artistic vision

Armer began her career painting landscapes, with an emphasis on portraying connections between objects rather than a literal likeness. Her later work was influenced by her exposure to classical music during a convalescence. She sought to re-create the emotion and form of music using the medium of line and color. In an interview, she explained, "What I paint is really an emotion, and I am most interested in the emotional response...What I want to create is a

milieu The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educate ...

wherein one can flow with bits and pieces of a luminous universe."

Personal life

She was married to Joseph M. Bransten, a wealthy businessman and art collector from San Francisco. Bransten outlived his wife, and died in 1980, at the age of 79.

Death and legacy

Ruth Armer died in San Francisco in 1977. Her papers have been preserved in the

Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institutio ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armer, Ruth 1896 births 1977 deaths American women painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists Painters from California Artists from San Francisco San Francisco Art Institute alumni Parsons School of Design alumni Art Students League of New York alumni American abstract artists American landscape painters American lithographers American portrait painters Abstract painters Women lithographers American women printmakers 20th-century lithographers