Richard Thomas

Nude Study

Unknown

Original Oil on Board painting by John DeMott. Framed size: 34" X 46"

Signed by original Artist lower right.

Unsigned. On unstretched canvas.

This artwork "Nude" is an oil painting on canvas by noted Czech/American artist Jan De Ruth, 1922-1991. It is signed at the lower right corner by the artist. The canvas size is 16 x 13 inches, framed size is 24 x 21 inches. Framed in the original wooden gold and black antique style frame, with fabric liner and gold bevel. It is in excellent condition. About the artist: Born Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia Studied: Rotter Art School, Prague; Ruskin Art School, Oxford University, England; ASL New York; New School, NY; also with Frederic Taubes. Exhibited: 38 National Juried Exhibitions, 14 Museum Solo Shows and 51 Gallery Solo Exhibitions. Author: Portrait Painting, 1964; Painting the Nude, 1968. De Ruth, a native of Czechoslovakia and an American citizen, spent the years of World War II being shunted through five different concentration camps, including the infamous Auschwitz. He made four escape attempts and finally made good on his fifth try. De Ruth constantly sought materials with which to draw, but "The only things we had were the few pieces of cloth we wore," he recalls. By chance, he was transferred to Germany as part of a labor detail and managed to sneak a pencil away from the camp supervisor. "I became a perfect thief during those years," he says. De Ruth drew a mother and child on a scrap of paper he scrounged from the factory where he worked and filled it in with shadings of coffee in various strengths-his finger was his brush. He exchanged the sketch for a piece of bread from a camp guard, and in effect, sold his first painting. In March of 1945, after being transferred to his native Czechoslovakia, he made his successful escape "knowing every step of the way." After the war, De Ruth became the commissar in a small Czech town and remained in the post for one year, just long enough to forge some documents that allowed him to flee to England. He took up residence in London and enrolled at the Ruskin Art School in Oxford University. He arrived in the USA in 1948. There are times in the life of a painter when his dedication to his art is overshadowed by the immediate requirements of self-preservation. This was one of those times! From '48 to 1955 he supported himself by working at night, earning his way painting designs on neckties and bathroom cups...