Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Ruth Armer Papers, 1911-1976, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.armeruth
Creators:
Armer, Ruth, 1896-1977
Dates:
1911-1976
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.6 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of painter Ruth Armer measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1976. The collection includes scattered documentation of Armer's career through printed bookplates, biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, photographs, printed material, a scrapbook, and writings and notes.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of painter Ruth Armer measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1976. The collection includes scattered documentation of Armer's career through printed bookplates, biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, photographs, printed material, a scrapbook, and writings and notes.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Ruth Armer (1896-1977) was a painter active in San Francisco, California.
Armer studied at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art (San Francisco Art Institute) and in New York City with Robert Henri, George Bellows, and John Sloan. During her career she worked as a commercial illustrator as well as a landscape and portrait artist. In the late-1930s she experimented with abstraction, a tendency reinforced by contact with the California School of Fine Arts abstract expressionist movement in the late-1940s.
Armer taught for years in the Bay area and was an active exhibiting artist until her death.

Administration

Author
Jayna M. Josefson
Sponsor
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Existence and Location of Copies
The collection is available on 35mm microfilm reels 2200 and 4046 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Ruth Armer donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in 1974. Additional material was donated by John and Robert Brantsen in 1986.
Processing Information
The collection received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation and was partially microfilmed on reels 2200 and 4046. The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2022 with support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Conditions Governing Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Preferred Citation
Ruth Armer papers, 1911-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview with Ruth Armer conducted by Paul Karlstrom on 1974 August 14.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- California -- San Francisco Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Collectors and collecting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women educators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Collectors -- California -- San Francisco Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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