Ruth Smith Nielsen (5 April 1913 in
Vágur
Vágur meaning ''Bay'' ( da, Våg) is a town on the island of Suðuroy, part of the Faroe Islands
It is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and was founded in the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the ...
– 26 May 1958) was a
Faroese artist.
Smith lived for some years in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, where she was educated as a painter: first. at the Bizzie Højer Art School, and, later, at the Art Academy of Copenhagen.
Smith married the architect Poul Morell Nielsen in 1945. They lived in
Lemvig
Lemvig, with a population of 6,816 (2022),[BY3: Po ...](_blank)
, Denmark.
Later, with her husband, she moved back to the Faroe Islands; and in the last years of her life she lived in the small village of
Nes
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
, which is located on the fjord
Vágsfjørður
Vágsfjørður is a fjord on the island of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands. The fjord is located in the southern part and on the eastern side of the island. The distance between the east and the west coast of Suðuroy is very short from Vágsfjørð ...
between the villages
Vágur
Vágur meaning ''Bay'' ( da, Våg) is a town on the island of Suðuroy, part of the Faroe Islands
It is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and was founded in the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the ...
, where she was born, and
Porkeri
Porkeri ( da, Porkere) is a village in the Faroe Islands, situated northeast of Vágur on Suðuroy's east coast.
As of 2020 it had a population of 318, and it has been inhabited at least as early as the 14th century.
History
Tradition says that ...
. Smith enjoyed swimming in the sea; in 1958, she drowned while swimming in
Vágsfjørður
Vágsfjørður is a fjord on the island of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands. The fjord is located in the southern part and on the eastern side of the island. The distance between the east and the west coast of Suðuroy is very short from Vágsfjørð ...
.
Work
Ruth Smith dealt with colours more sensitively than many of her contemporaries. She caught the Faroese light in her pictures, and the colours vibrate under brush lines. Inspired by
Cézanne, her landscapes have
Impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
influences. Nevertheless, her work is considered representative of
realism
Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to:
In the arts
*Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts
Arts movements related to realism include:
*Classical Realism
*Literary realism, a move ...
.
Her two self-portraits of 195
and 1956 are ranked among the most important paintings of the Faroes and are in the Faroe Islands Art Museum.
Ruth Smith Art Museum
There is an art museum in
Vágur
Vágur meaning ''Bay'' ( da, Våg) is a town on the island of Suðuroy, part of the Faroe Islands
It is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and was founded in the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the ...
in honour of Ruth Smith. The museum is called Ruth Smith Savnið, which means Ruth Smith Art Museum. The museum is located in the Old School on Vágsvegur 101, which is the same school where Ruth Smith went to school as a child. The museum has paintings and drawing by the artist. One of the main attractions is a self-portrait, which she painted in 1941. It is the same self-portrait which was used as the cover of a book about the artist Ruth Smith.
RuthSmithSavn.com
/ref>
References
Literature
* Dagmar Warming: ''Ruth Smith : Lív og verk''. Tórshavn: Listasavn Føroya, 2007 - (294 p. Faroese)
External links
Faroe Islands Art Museum - Ruth Smith Nielsen
Danish Women's biography lexicon - Ruth Smith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ruth
1913 births
1958 deaths
Faroese women painters
People from Vágur
20th-century Faroese painters
20th-century women artists
Deaths by drowning
Accidental deaths in the Faroe Islands