Ruth Abrams, 1912-1986

Ruth Abrams was born in Brooklyn, New York. In the 1930s she studied art at the Art Students' League, Columbia University, and the School of Social Research, and worked in the ateliers of sculptors William Zorach, Aleksandr Archipenko, and Jose de Creeft, and painters John Graham, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Wallace Harrison.

At the age of nineteen Ruth Abrams married Charles Abrams, who would later become a prominent urban planner and housing expert as well as a member of Governor Harriman's cabinet. The couple had two daughters, Judith and Abby.

Between 1965 and 1966, Ruth Abrams was Art Director for the New School of Social Research Association. She also lectured at the Parsons School of Design and elsewhere on changing perceptions of space as affected by advanced space technology.

Ruth Abrams was a painter of the New York School. As early as the 1940s she exhibited at the American Contemporary Art Gallery along with Hans Hofmann, I. Rice Pererira and Giorgio Cavallon and, over the years, remained closely associated with Abstract Expressionists. Ruth Abrams devoted an impressive body of work to such problems as visual perspective and the image of space and scale. Beginning in the late 1950s Ruth Abrams was preoccupied with the technique of action painting in relation to cosmic space. She created a series of paintings in small format called Microcosms . In the 1970s Ruth Abrams produced a film, Paradox of the Big, to further explain her artistic vision. The film sought to remove the viewer from any sense of scale and concentrated on the vision of the work, the loss of horizon line, the sense of endlessness, and speed that Abrams wanted to impart.

• 1912: Born in Brooklyn
• 1930s: Studied painting with Alexander Brook at Art Students League; studied sculpture with William Zorach and Aleksander Archipenko; shared studio with Raphael Soyer
• 1931: Married Charles Abrams, lawyer and urban planner
• 1933: Mother died; traveled to Mexico with a fellow artist
• 1934: Solo exhibition held at A.C.A. Gallery, New York
• 1940s: Gave birth to daughters Judith and Abby; prepared for second solo exhibtion at A.C.A. Gallery; traveled to Paris; became friends with Milton Resnick, Phillip Pavia, Willem de Kooning and other members of the Artists Club; studied with Yasuo Kuniyoshi at the Art Students League
• 1943: Participated in group exhibition at A.C.A. Gallery, New York
• 1944: Participated in group exhibition at Artists League, New York
• 1947: Participated in group exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery if Art, Washington, D.C.
• 1949: Solo exhibition held at A.C.A. Gallery, New York; returns to figurative work with Judy in Jeans
• 1950s: Studied with Wallace Harrison and John Graham in their respective studios
• 1954: Solo exhibition held at The Artists Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts; participated in group exhibition at Provincetown Art Association, Provincetown, Massachusetts
• 1956: Solo exhibition held at Roko Gallery, New York; participated in group exhibitions at Stable Gallery, New York and Tanager Gallery, New York
• 1958: Participated in the Armory Exhibition, New York
• 1959: Solo exhibition held at Roko Gallery, New York ; participated in group exhibitions at Camino Gallery, New York and Tanager Gallery, New York
• 1962: Solo exhibition held of Microcosms at D'Arcy Gallery, New York; participated in group exhibitions at Smolins Gallery, New York and East Hampton Gallery, New York
• 1963: Solo exhibition held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Caracas, Venezuela; participated in group exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas
• 1964: Solo exhibition held at M.I.T.'s Faculty Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 1965: Participated in group exhibitions at East Hampton Gallery, New York; served as director of The New School for Social Research Associates Gallery (until 1966)
• 1968: Solo exhibition held at Shepherd Gallery, New York
• 1969: Solo exhibition held at M.I.T.'s Faculty Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 1976: Solo exhibition held at Delson-Richter Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel; participated in group exhibitions at Landmark Gallery, New York and 80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York University
• 1977: Solo exhibition held at 80 Washington Square East Galleries (first screening of her film Paradox of the Big); participated in group shows at 80 Washington Square East Galleries, Pleiades Gallery, New York and Landmark Gallery, New York
• 1978: Solo exhibition held at Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo, Texas and Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
• 1979: Participated in group exhibitions at Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut, Landmark Gallery, New York, and Marymount Manhattan College, New York
• 1981: Participated in group exhibition the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
• 1985: Solo exhibition held of the Haiku paintings at the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University; traveled to Israel
• 1986: Died of heart disease on March 12

NOTE: A detailed biography can be found in Ruth Abrams. Paintings, 1940 to 1985. New York: Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, 1986. A copy of this publication can be found in the reference library of Yeshiva University Museum.

From the guide to the Papers of Ruth Abrams, (1912-1986), 1934-1986, (Yeshiva University. Museum)