Ruth VanSickle Ford
| Ruth VanSickle Ford | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Ruth VanSickle August 8, 1897 Aurora, Illinois |
| Died | April 18, 1989 (aged 91) Aurora, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, Carl Newland Werntz, John F. Carlson, George Bellows |
| Known for | Painting, educator |
| Movement | Realism |
| Spouse(s) | Albert (Sam) Ford |
Ruth VanSickle Ford (August 8, 1897 – April 18, 1989) was an American painter, art teacher, and owner of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. She credited artists George Bellows, who influenced her interest in social realism, and John Carlson, who founded the School of Landscape Painting in , with helping her to develop her talent. She traveled and made paintings in the United States, Caribbean and South America. An award-winner, her works are in many permanent public and private collections. A book has been written about her entitled Warm Light, Cool Shadows: The Life and Art of Ruth VanSickle Ford.
Ruth VanSickle was born August 8, 1897 in Aurora, Illinois to Charles P. VanSickle and Anna Miller, who had immigrated from Germany in 1879. The VanSickles, who owned the restaurant The Rookery, were married about 1891. She was an only child and grew up on the west side of Aurora, Illinois. VanSickle attended West Aurora High School. After high school graduation in 1915, she enrolled at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where she studied under Carl Newland Werntz and graduated in 1918. VanSickle was a classmate of Walt Disney, with whom she stayed in contact after school. She continued studying art and credited the influences of teachers John Carlson, founder of the School of Landscape Painting in Woodstock, New York, and social realist George Bellows. She also studied at the Art Students League, Chicago and the New York Art Students League summer school.
She married civil engineer Albert (Sam) Ford in 1918 in a military ceremony in Houston, Texas. After the wedding he departed for service in the First World War. In 1918 Ruth traveled while pregnant to visit a relative in Utah and gave birth while on the trip to their only child, Barbara. After the war, the Fords settled in Aurora. Barbara graduated from West Aurora High School in 1936 and attended Wellesley College.
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