Ruth Edith Tuck (22 July 1914 – 10 October 2008) was a modernist painter of South Australia, noted for joint exhibitions with her husband

Mervyn Ashmore Smith Mervyn Ashmore Smith OAM (11 December 1904 – 18 March 1994) was an Australian artist. He was best known for his watercolour landscapes and botanical works. He was born in Sydney, trained as an architect and was for a time town planner for Ne ...

(11 December 1904 – 18 March 1994), and her influence as a teacher of painting. She was related to the better-known

Marie Tuck Marie Anne Tuck (5 September 1866 – 3 September 1947), was an artist and art educator in South Australia. History Marie Tuck was born at Mount Torrens, South Australia, one of eight children of Edward Starkey Tuck (13 March 1827 – 9 Augus ...

History

Ruth Tuck was born at

Cowell, South Australia Cowell is a coastal town on Franklin Harbor on the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula, in South Australia on the Lincoln Highway 111 km south of the major town of Whyalla. It is 493 km by road from Adelaide. Franklin Harbor is a natu ...

, a daughter of Arthur Edward Tuck (1855 – 8 April 1925) and his wife Minnie née Wallis. She studied painting under

Dorrit Black Dorothea Foster Black (23 December 1891 – 13 September 1951) was an Australian painter and printmaker of the Modernist school, known for being a pioneer of Modernism in Australia. In 1951, at the age of sixty, Black was killed in a car crash. ...

and exhibited regularly with the

Royal South Australian Society of Arts The South Australian Society of Arts was a society for artists in South Australia, later with a royal warrant renamed The Royal South Australian Society of Arts in 1935. History A meeting of persons interested in the formation of a society for the ...

and was a foundation member of the

Contemporary Art Society The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) is an independent charity that champions the collecting of outstanding contemporary art and craft for UK museum collections. Since its founding in 1910 the organisation has donated over 10,000 works to museum ...

. She met Mervyn Smith in 1943 and married him on 15 October the same year; they lived in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, then Mervyn moved to

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle ar ...

in 1949, where he was employed as a County Council planning officer; she joined him few years later. 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. Her written work includes biographies of

Mary Packer Harris Mary Packer Harris D.A. (Edin.) (30 July 1891 – 26 August 1978) was a Scottish artist and art teacher with a considerable career in South Australia. History Mary was born in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire the only daughter of musician and beekeep ...

and

Marie Anne Tuck Marie Anne Tuck (5 September 1866 – 3 September 1947), was an artist and art educator in South Australia. History Marie Tuck was born at Mount Torrens, South Australia, one of eight children of Edward Starkey Tuck (13 March 1827 – 9 Augus ...

for the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Ruth established the Ruth Tuck Art School in 1955; it continues to this day in

Burnside, South Australia Burnside is suburb in the City of Burnside council area in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide. It is primarily a residential suburb. It was named Burnside, an amalgamation of the Scottish word for creek, "burn" and "side" because of the original pr ...

. She was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

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

(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 and twin daughters Michele and Angela in 1953. For further information on the family see Tuck family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Ruth Australian painters Australian women painters Australian art teachers 1914 births 2008 deaths