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Ruth Wall

American, 1917-2009

Works

Ruth Wall


Untitled, c. 1952

Oil on canvas
29 7/8 x 36 in
75.4 x 91.4 cm

Biography

Ruth Wall was born in Wyoming in 1917. In 1919, her family moved to a homestead on an Indian reservation in Uintah, Utah where she was raised. After graduating from high school, Wall enrolled in Brigham Young University where she was a member of the theatrical Mask Club. After college, Wall went on to become a high school teacher. In the early 1940s with the onset of the War, Wall moved to Los Angeles where she took an engineering course, and then worked as an Army materiel inspector. 1944, Wall joined the Women’s Army Corps as she had the hope of becoming a pilot, but at the time women were banned from combat. Instead, Wall became a Ferrier, flying various planes from manufacturing plants to training fields. Upon her discharge in 1949, Wall moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. She enrolled in the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA) in 1950 under the G.I. Bill. Wall studied under James Budd Dixon and Robert McChesney. In 1952, Wall departed for Paris where she studied painting at the Académie Frochot. While in Paris, her work was exhibited in group shows at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Salon des Realities Nouvelles, and Galerie Huit. Wall returned to the CSFA in 1955, and she continued her studies under Nathan Oliveira and Elmer Bischoff. Wall participated in various exhibitions in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her works are in the collections of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Jose Museum, Crocker Museum, and Monterey Museum.