Jennie Ruth Nickerson (November 23, 1905 – March 31, 1997) was an American sculptor who worked in stone carving. She made several works for the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

and was a 1946

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

Biography

Early life and education

Ruth Nickerson was born on November 23, 1905, in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...

. Her parents Kate Mary ( Ellis) and Robert Wellington Nickerson were Canadian. Originally raised in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

, she became interested in sculpture was a young child after she saw her brother carve a

taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

for school. She moved to Canada where she graduated from Simcoe Collegiate Institute. Nickerson began studying at the Detroit School of Applied Art in 1924, before moving to New York City to attend the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

and the

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID, later the National Institute for Architectural Education) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City. Her teachers were Samuel Cashwan,

Robert Ingersoll Aitken Robert Ingersoll Aitken (May 8, 1878 – January 3, 1949) was an American sculpture, sculptor. Perhaps his most famous work is the West Pediment of the United States Supreme Court Building. Life and career Born to Charles H. Aitken and Katherin ...

, and Ahron Ben-Shmuel. She had to work as an advertising agency receptionist to pay for school tuition.

Art career

In 1932, Nickerson started her own studio at 14th Street after failing to find a well-known sculptor to apprentice her, a decision she attributed to

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

. She also worked as a teacher at the

Nicholas Roerich Museum The Nicholas Roerich Museum is a museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, dedicated to the works of Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947), a Russian-born cosmopolitan artist. His early accomplishments include devising with Igor Str ...

(1933-1934), Westchester Art Workshop (1947-1968), and the National Academy School of Fine Arts (1979-1981), as well as the

Grand Central School of Art The Grand Central School of Art was an American art school in New York City, founded in 1922 by the painters Edmund Greacen, Walter Leighton Clark and John Singer Sargent. It closed in 1944. History The school was established and run by the Gra ...

and Scarsdale Art Guild. In 1934, Nickerson had a one-woman exhibition at the Nicholas Roerich Museum. She made several works for the

: ''The Dispatch Rider'' (1937), a tympanum erected for the

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ''Learning'' (1937), a three-figure pink Tennessee marble stone group at the

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two Brooklyn Publ ...

's children branch; and ''American Oriental Rug Weaving'' (1941), a terra cotta sculpture at the Leaksville post office in

Eden, North Carolina Eden is a city in Rockingham County, North Carolina, Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Piedmont Triad, Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont Triad region. As of the United State ...

. Her work also appeared at the 1938

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932; the first biennial was held in 1973. It is considered ...

, as well as at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. She was also part of the Scarsdale Art Association and White Plains Civic Art Commission. Nickerson won the 1933 Saltus Gold Medal for her work ''Slav Madonna'', which was later installed at the NAD. She won a 1933

National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'', to "stimulate, foster, and promote publi ...

Medal, a 1936

American Artists Professional League The American Artists Professional League (AAPL) is an American fine art organization, established in New York City in 1928 by a group of painters, illustrators and sculptors. The AAPL is a nonprofit organization promoting traditional Realism in Am ...

Medal, and a 1939

Montclair Art Museum The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is located in Montclair in Essex County, New Jersey and holds a collection of over 12,000 objects showcasing American and Native North American art. Through its public programs, art classes, and exhibitions, MAM ...

Medal. She was admitted to the

as an associate in 1945, before being admitted as a national academician in 1966. In 1946, she was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

for sculpture. She once received the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding member ...

Therese Wright Prize. In 1995, the National Sculpture Society honored her for her distinguished contributions to American art. Nickerson specialized in stone carving, especially with

Tennessee marble Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found only in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, the stone has been use ...

. Her sculptures were done under the direct method, where she would sculpt directly into her base through a sketch and chisel. Her daughter Barbara recalled that her sculptures "were inspired by the Bible and ordinary people". By 1960, she had carved hundreds of small sculptures, which were normally at most two feet tall.

Personal life and death

Nickerson married Edmund Greacen Jr., son of painter

Edmund Greacen Edmund William Greacen (1876–1949) was an American Impressionist painter. His active career extended from 1905 to 1935, during which he created many colorful works in oil on canvas and board. One of his works, a reproduction of which is at the ...

, on December 30, 1935 in New York City; they had two daughters and were married until his death in 1970. Originally living in New York City and

Scarsdale, New York Scarsdale is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coterminous municipality, coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate ...

, she moved to

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

in 1946. She was a member of the Scarsdale Community Baptist Church, as well as a Republican. Nickerson died on March 31, 1997 at

Westchester Medical Center Westchester Medical Center University Hospital (WMC), formerly Grasslands Hospital, is an 895-bed Regional Trauma Center providing health services to residents of the Hudson Valley, northern New Jersey, and southern Connecticut. It is known for h ...

Valhalla, New York Valhalla ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The name wa ...

, aged 91. Her papers were later deposited at the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

, including an unpublished memoir by her daughter Elizabeth Knudsen, ''The Stone Carver in the House'' (2005).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickerson, Ruth 1905 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women sculptors Stone carvers Women stone carvers Federal Art Project artists Sculptors from New York City Sculptors from Wisconsin Sculptors from Florida People from Scarsdale, New York People from White Plains, New York People from Palm Beach, Florida American people of Canadian descent National Academy of Design alumni Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (New York City) alumni National Academy of Design associates National Academy of Design members