JULIUS, RUTH (1919 -)

“Carnival” (c.1960)
Oil on board
24 x 29m
Signed lower right
*private collection, Sydney
 
Ruth is a forgotten, award-winning Australian Abstract Expressionist & Socialite. She was the daughter of prominent Cartoonist, Harry Julius (1985-1938), and brother of tragic, Australian War Artist, Rex Julius (1914-1944). Despite coming from a prestigious art family, she won a scholarship to East Sydney Technical College and studied at Workshop Arts Centre, Willoughby NSW with Bela Ivanyi and Sue Buckley. She also spent a brief period in London in the late 1940s..During her early years, Ruth made quite a splash in the society pages, regularly pictured at parties and gallery openings throughout the 1930s & 1940s in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. Her career as an artist didn't really take off until the 1960s when she had her first major one-woman show at Mavis Chapman Gallery, Sydney, followed by a number of solo shows at Beth Mayne Studio. Here she worked in a female artist colony which consisted of other important, forgotten artists including Hana Juskovic, Jessica Keatinge, Paddy Sayers & Susan Sheridan..She also established herself as a skilled printmaker, winning at least 5 major prizes for her works. She also contributed to group shows at the influential Gallery A, Cooks Hill Gallery, Findhorn Gallery, Fantasia Gallery & Griffith Gallery..She exhibited annually with Nine Printmakers Group, and was selected to design the UNICEF Greeting Card in 1988 & 1990. Her work is represented Parliament House, Sydney, numerous institutional and private collections in UK, USA, Australia.