Mid 20th Century Miniature Portrait Watercolor Painting by Ruby Walker Usher, Framed

Description

Artist: Ruby Walker Usher – American (1889-1957)
Title: Untitled
Year: unknown, circa 1950
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Size: 3 3/8 … more Artist: Ruby Walker Usher – American (1889-1957)
Title: Untitled
Year: unknown, circa 1950
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Size: 3 3/8 x 4 5/8 inches
Framed size:14.25 x 11.25 inches
Signature: Signed upper right
Condition: Very good

This miniature watercolor portrait by Ruby Walker Usher is exceptional in its detail and in the use of light and shadow and shading. It is in very good condition, mounted to a matboard backing and framed in a simple metal frame. The painting is signed in the upper right, “Ruby W. Usher.” The subject appears to be Hispanic, so it is reasonable to assume that this painting was completed when Usher was living in Los Angeles – from the 1930’s until 1957.

Ruby Walker Usher was born in Fairmont, NE on April 20, 1889. Usher studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Institute, American School of Miniature Painters, the Grand Central School of Art in NYC, and with Will Foster. She lived in Summit, NJ before moving to Los Angeles in the 1930s. A fire destroyed most of her work in 1943. She died in Los Angeles on Sept. 14, 1957. Member: Penn. Society of Min. Painters; Allied Artists of Palm Springs; Society for Sanity in Art; Artists of the SW; American Society of Min. Painters. Exh: Ebell Club (LA), 1935, 1955; Calif. Society of Min. Painters, 1935-44; Calif. State Fair, 1937-41 (prizes); Calif. Art Club, 1938, 1953 (gold medal); GGIE, 1939; American Artists Congress, 1940; Women Painters of the West, 1940-46; PAFA; Calif. S

Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Who's Who on the Pacific Coast 1951; Who's Who in American Art 1947-59 (obituary); Los Angeles Times, 9-19-1957 (obituary) less