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 = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, 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 ...

, 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, 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 Vágsfjørðu ...

between the villages

, 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

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 passag ...

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 mov ...

. 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

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
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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