Ruth Tuck

{{Infobox artist | name = Ruth Tuck | image = Ruth Tuck, self portrait.jpg | imagesize = | caption = "The Triple Mirror" self-portrait of Ruth Tuck | birth_name = Ruth Edith Tuck | birth_date = {{birth date|1914|7|22|df=y}} | birth_place = Cowell, South Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|10|8|1914|7|22|df=y}} | death_place = | nationality = | education = | field = Painting | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = | spouse = {{marriage|Mervyn Ashmore Smith|1943}} }}

'''Ruth Edith Tuck''' {{postnominals|country=AUS|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. The Ruth Tuck Art School, founded by her in 1955, continues to operate in Adelaide. She was related to the better-known Marie Tuck.

==Early life and education== Ruth Edith Tuck was born on 22 July 1914<ref name=":0" /> at Cowell, South Australia, a daughter of Arthur Edward Tuck (1855 – 8 April 1925) and his wife Minnie, née Wallis.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==Career== 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.<ref>{{cite news |date=24 July 1947 |title=Art Show By Husband And Wife |page=10 |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35989350 |url-status=live |accessdate=10 December 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231111081608/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/35989350 |archive-date=11 November 2023 |via=Trove - National Library of Australia}}</ref>

She met Mervyn Smith in 1943 and married him on 15 October the same year;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pike |first=Philip |title=Interview with Mervyn Ashmore Smith / Interviewer: Philip Pike |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36507494 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231113042320/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36507494 |archive-date=13 November 2023 |access-date=10 December 2015 |website=Trove |publisher=National Library of Australia |quote="...marriage to Ruth Tuck on 15 October 1943...", "...married Ruth after knowing her for about 3 months.."}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |date=27 June 1952 |title=Art Show By Husband And Wife. |page=5 |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |location=Newcastle, NSW |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160332688 |url-status=live |accessdate=9 December 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231113042933/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160332688 |archive-date=13 November 2023 |via=Trove - National Library of Australia}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Clive |date=24 August 1954 |title=Artistic Partnership Has Same Outlook |page=10 |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47614341 |url-status=live |accessdate=10 December 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231113043304/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47614341 |archive-date=13 November 2023 |via=Trove - National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Publications== Her written work includes biographies of Mary Packer Harris and Marie Anne Tuck for the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography''.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==Ruth Tuck Art School== Ruth established the Ruth Tuck Art School in 1955.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Boisvert |first=Eugene |date=4 December 2014 |title=Burnside’s Ruth Tuck Art School wants former students’ paintings for 60th anniversary exhibition at Carclew |work=The Advertiser |url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/east-hills/burnsides-ruth-tuck-art-school-wants-former-students-paintings-for-60th-anniversary-exhibition-at-carclew/news-story/cd590b391abe5db4d51b4e194150c955 |url-status=live |access-date=12 November 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231113044842/https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/east-hills/burnsides-ruth-tuck-art-school-wants-former-students-paintings-for-60th-anniversary-exhibition-at-carclew/news-story/cd590b391abe5db4d51b4e194150c955?amp&nk=1259dc062844864a1146ba1759b9ecfc-1699850928 |archive-date=13 November 2023 |quote=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.}}</ref>

==Recognition and honours== Tuck was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1981 for services to art.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Snowden |first=Betty |date=2011 |orig-date=1995 |title=Ruth Tuck - biography |url=https://www.daao.org.au/bio/ruth-tuck/biography/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231113045650/https://www.daao.org.au/bio/ruth-tuck/biography/ |archive-date=13 November 2023 |access-date=12 November 2023 |website=Design & Art Australia Online}}</ref>

The Ruth Tuck Scholarship for Visual Arts was awarded by the state government via Carclew until 2016.<ref name=br2015>{{cite web |last=Rodda |first=Paul |title=News: Carclew Scholarships 2015 |website=The Barefoot Review |url=https://www.thebarefootreview.com.au/menu/news-opinion/122-2014-stories/950-news-carclew-scholarships-2015.html |access-date=18 October 2024}}</ref><ref name=announce2015>{{cite web |title= Carclew scholarships help four talented young SA stars grow| publisher=Carclew| date= 3 December 2015|url=https://carclew.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/03122015-Carclew-Scholarships-Help-Four-Talented-Young-SA-Stars-Grow-Media-Release.pdf |access-date=18 October 2024}}</ref>

==Death and legacy== Tuck died on 10 October 2008.<ref name=":0" />

The Ruth Tuck Art School continues to operate, at the Burnside Arts and Crafts Centre, in Hubbe Court, Burnside.<ref >{{cite web |title=Location |website=Ruth Tuck Art School |url=https://www.ruthtuckartschool.com/location-1 |access-date=20 October 2024}}</ref>

==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<ref>{{cite news |date=22 April 1949 |title=Art Prizes Go to Women |page=13 |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130246472 |url-status=live |accessdate=10 December 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231113043715/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/130246472 |archive-date=13 November 2023 |via=Trove - National Library of Australia}}</ref> and twin daughters Michele and Angela in 1953.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sa-artist-ruth-tuck-dies-at-94/story-e6freesc-1111117739826|title=South Australian water colour artist and teacher Ruth Tuck dies at 94|work=The Advertiser|accessdate=10 December 2012}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Ruth}} Category:20th-century Australian painters Category:21st-century Australian women painters Category:21st-century Australian painters Category:Australian women art educators Category:Australian art educators Category:1914 births Category:2008 deaths