Evening Snow and Wooden Construction

These sales are long since passed by, but I don't think I've posted either of them before.

Evening Snow from 1962, 36" x 36":

And a Wooden Construction piece:

Missed on Ebay: Aspen & Fir from 1994

This one snuck by me!  Aspen & Fir from 1994.  A nice snowy scene.  I wonder where it ended up?  A first time fan or a repeat?  I like the extra blue paint that ended up on the back.

  

L'été From 1962

This painting recently came up for auction here.  I don't think I've ever seen it before.  Hopefully someone will enjoy it!

Blue Waters for sale at Rubylane and more

Hello!  I saw this posted recently and now the price has dropped.  It is still pretty ambitious.  There are not too many Ruth Dicker paintings of the coast or water, so that is interesting.  I may have seen a similar one or a smaller study for this one.  Titled Blue Waters, it was painted in 1996 and is 24" x 48".

I also realized I never posted this painting.  It was found at an estate sale and re-homed to another Ruth Dicker fan.  It is titled Winter Sun and is from 1975.

Aspen Light

It looks like a 1979 painting named Aspen Light came up for auction in Palm Springs recently.  Not sure if that price is to be believed or not, but the painting looks nice.  This is one that I don't think I've seen in slides before.

Waupaunsie Woods at Clars Auction House

There's a large two panel piece Waupaunsie Woods up for sale at Clars in Oakland, CA right now. It was painted in 1969 and is six feet square when the two panels combine.

 

Not Fast Enough!

We saw this painting go up for auction at Clars from the estate of the painter Robert Bechtle.  There were some other pretty cool pieces from the same estate lot.  I meant to post it earlier, but lost track of time and it looks like it sold for a pretty bargain price.  It was from 1965.  Trying to pull from the cached postings, now, it looks like it was titled Untitled (Trees).

Always looking for more!  What else is still out there?  I visited Empire College in Santa Rosa years ago because I knew they had two great paintings.  I found one of them more recently in this clip on YouTube at the 2 minute mark.  If you've got more Ruth Dicker paintings or info, let us know.

Coming Soon: A Six Panel Screen

A fan contacted us with this beautiful six panel piece living in the southwest.  It has been enjoyed for many years, but down-sizing means that it will be looking for a new home soon.  Please contact us for more information.  Panels of this width were not very common, but it is still a striking piece.  It is titled Screen, which may mean it was designed as a room divider.

I found one picture of the painting, at least five panels of it, hanging in the artist's home from a scanned slide.

Seen on justanswer.com

I found a thread where someone is asking for the value of a Ruth Dicker painting here.  A rather unassuming photo is included, but if you zoom in and crop, it's a great piece.  It looks familiar enough and in fact it appears in multiple show flyers for the Marin Civic Center and the Arlene Lind Gallery.  One references the title as Rapheal's Dream from 1981.  I'm not sure if that is a typo.

 If you are the owner of this painting, please contact us and tell us more information.

Sierra from 1963

The best part about having this website is when people send in pictures and stories about their Ruth Dicker paintings.  This painting was acquired 60 years ago by a family friend of the artist.  This one is titled "Sierra" and it three feet square.  I've seen similar pieces before, but maybe not this exact one.  Enjoy!

Briefly on Ebay

I just saw a 1963 painting on eBay, but when I went to look for it again, it was gone.  I do happen to know which painting it was, however, because it was the painting that appeared on this show flyer.  They even had a copy of the flyer taped to the back of the painting.  Maybe it will be posted again soon and if not, I wonder who bought it!

Paintings from the Coffee Tree

 Hello!  A few readers have written recently talking about paintings they purchased at The Coffee Tree restaurant (now closed) in Vacaville, CA.  I have seen this one in slides previously.  According to my records, it is called called Forest Pond from 1992.  Very Nice.  Here are a few previous posts on Coffee Tree murals and menus.  Some of my previous links to Google Picasa are now 404's... sorry about that.

ARTFORUM DECEMBER 1962/JANUARY 1963

 We previously linked to another ARTFORUM article here.  There's another one here a year later, which has some interesting notes.

Ruth Dicker

THE HORSE'S MOUTH GALLERY

The encaustic technique is used in the major portion of these works. Miss Dicker studied with Carl Zerbe who has been using this practice for many years. The paintings range in style from sche­matic representation to totally abstract evocations of landscapes. The latest abstract works have a restrained surface quality wholly in keeping with the me­dium used.

—James Monte

I don't remember another other reference to Carl Zerbe so I am curious about that.  Wikipedia has an article on Karl Zerbe, which I am going to assume is the same since they both reference encaustic.  Other possible connections include New York City in the 40's and both showing at the Nordness Gallery in the early 60's. The show flyer for The Horse's Mouth Gallery is here.

Save Mary Fuller McChesney Sculptures

Please consider supporting another Sonoma artist history project with Save Mary Fuller McChesney Sculptures.  I don't know the full connection between the two artists, but Ruth Dicker did have a Mary Fuller McChesney statue that she had on her deck for many years.

This summer, in the courtyard at The Astro Motel in Santa Rosa, we're planning an exciting, large-scale installation of the work of Sonoma Mountain sculptor Mary Fuller McChesney who passed away in May at the age of 99.

Mary was a brilliant artist, a formal innovator, a free thinker, prolific writer and fervent feminist. Like so many of the women who were 20th Century modernist masters in American art, her work is underknown, so we're ecstatic at the opportunity to bring it to a new audience in an urban setting welcoming to visitors who might never encounter it otherwise. Curated by Spring Maxfield, who first conceived of this exhibition months prior to her passing, and in partnership with the artist's estate and The Calabi Gallery, the installation will showcase about a dozen totems and goddesses as well as a handful of bronze sculptures.

Summer Updates

OK.  First of all, we have an interested party in Colorado who is looking for some sort of poplers or aspen painting.  This seems doable so we are on the lookout.

An update to Possible sighting in North Bay.  Previously, there was one painting visible in this listing, but it's come on and off the market a few times.  Now it has four Ruth Dicker paintings visible and they are definitely pieces from the mural that hung high above the Coffee Tree Restaurant.  Unknown if the paintings are included in the Inverness listing, probably not.

Finally an update on Blue Lake - Snow Mountain For Sale.  I was trying to connect with someone selling this painting and we weren't able to make it work.  Then, someone emailed from Arkansas to say it was at a Los Angeles area Goodwill and we sent someone over to pick it up.  It's now happily displayed on a new owner's wall and looks amazing.  Success.

Another painting here came and went one bay... who bought it?

There's always more out there to discover so if you have some pictures or information, send it along.

California Artists in China

 If you ever visited Ruth Dicker's studio, there was a distinctive poster on the wall with small lettering "CALIFORNIA ARTISTS IN" and then in big bold red letters "CHINA."  In the small text it describes a group of artists led by Earl Thollandar and including Ruth Dicker and Don Birrell (of The Nut Tree) among others.  I don't know if I still have a copy of this anywhere, but I recently came across an Earl Thollander website where not only is there a reproduction of the poster, but also many sketches and even a picture of Ruth Dicker on the journey.  You can scroll through it all here.  Below is a single page with Ruth Dicker Pictured.

Poplars and Haystacks from 1961

This painting really caught my eye, when I first saw it in scanned slides.  I included it in a set of cropped iPhone Wallpapers, now much too small for current iPhone.  Well, a fan wrote in to say that she found it at a consignment shop in Palo Alto, CA.  What a great discovery!

Also, SFGate just ran a story on The Nut Tree, that includes a picture of at least one Ruth Dicker painting. When I first saw the link, I was hoping that they uncovered some photos that I hadn't seen, but I don't think that was the case.

Multiple Updates

A fan wrote in to say they found Thistles from 1962 at a consignment shop in Mountain View.  Good find.  Keep your eyes peeled.  I'll have to check the slide archive for any record of it.

Another painting from a similar vintage seen on the blog here: http://ruthdickerpaintings.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-nice-piece-from-1960s.html is semi-actively looking for a good home.  Reach out if interested.

It looks like somebody snapped up a very fine piece at Auction last fall: https://finesf.com/lot/ruth-dicker-the-forest-der-wald-1982-4047462.

Finally, Les Arbres dans L'Hiver continues to be for say on ebay, but the price might be too high.  We'll have to keep watching that one.

Update to Les Arbres dans L'Hiver

Over a year ago, it was noted that this painting sold and we asked "Who was the lucky buyer?"

It seems that it has shown up again on Ebay and the current link is here.

Updates

It has certainly been a strange year and we hope everyone is staying safe in the world, but we have a handful of updates.

A previously seen painting has now showed up on eBay.  Check out Les Arbres dans L'Hiver.

Another fan found a really nice minimalist piece and sent along this photo:

Also, in what was a very unexpected surprise, a Ruth Dicker painting appeared in this Japanese food commercial: