Ruth Tuck Explained

Ruth Tuck
Birth Name:Ruth Edith Tuck
Birth Date:22 July 1914
Birth Place:Cowell, South Australia
Nationality:Australian
Field:Painting

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

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.[1]

She met Mervyn Smith in 1943 and married him on 15 October the same year;[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]

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

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.

Notes and References

  1. News: 24 July 1947 . Art Show By Husband And Wife . 10 . . Adelaide . live . 10 December 2015 . https://archive.today/20231111081608/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/35989350 . 11 November 2023 . Trove - National Library of Australia.
  2. Web site: Pike . Philip . Interview with Mervyn Ashmore Smith / Interviewer: Philip Pike . live . https://archive.today/20231113042320/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36507494 . 13 November 2023 . 10 December 2015 . . . "...marriage to Ruth Tuck on 15 October 1943...", "...married Ruth after knowing her for about 3 months..".
  3. News: 27 June 1952 . Art Show By Husband And Wife. . 5 . . Newcastle, NSW . live . 9 December 2015 . https://archive.today/20231113042933/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160332688 . 13 November 2023 . Trove - National Library of Australia.
  4. News: Kelly . Clive . 24 August 1954 . Artistic Partnership Has Same Outlook . 10 . . Adelaide . live . 10 December 2015 . https://archive.today/20231113043304/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47614341 . 13 November 2023 . Trove - National Library of Australia.
  5. News: Boisvert . Eugene . 4 December 2014 . Burnside’s Ruth Tuck Art School wants former students’ paintings for 60th anniversary exhibition at Carclew . . live . 12 November 2023 . 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 . 13 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..
  6. Web site: Snowden . Betty . 2011 . 1995 . Ruth Tuck - biography . live . https://archive.today/20231113045650/https://www.daao.org.au/bio/ruth-tuck/biography/ . 13 November 2023 . 12 November 2023 . Design & Art Australia Online.
  7. News: 22 April 1949 . Art Prizes Go to Women . 13 . . Adelaide . live . 10 December 2015 . https://archive.today/20231113043715/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/130246472 . 13 November 2023 . Trove - National Library of Australia.
  8. Web site: South Australian water colour artist and teacher Ruth Tuck dies at 94. The Advertiser. 10 December 2012.

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