Ruth Peabody Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Signed lower right, 'Ruth Peabody' for Ruth Eaton Colburn Peabody (American, 1893-1966) and painted circa 1955. Born in Highland Park, Illinois, Ruth Peabody was taught to paint as a child by her mother, artist Elanor Colburn, and first studied sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. The two women moved to Laguna Beach, California, in 1924, and became active in the local art scene. At their studio, Peabody sculpted fountains and memorial plaques when not teaching, privately and at Laguna Beach High School. Over the course of a long career, Ruth Peabody exhibited widely and with success including at the Panama Pacific Exhibition (1915), Art Institute of Chicago, Oakland Art Gallery (1932)and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1931) and was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards. In 1939, the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego presented Peabody's abstract works in a solo exhibition, the first show of its kind by a regional artist. Her work is held in private and public collections including the San Diego Museum and Orange County Museum. Exhibitions: Panama Pacific Exhibition, 1915; Laguna Beach Art Association, 1925-52; County Fair (LA), 1925, 1931; California State Fair, 1926, 1936; West Coast Arts (LA), 1927; Biltmore Salon (LA), 1927; San Diego FA Gallery, 1929, 1931, 1937, 1939; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1931; California Art Club, 1927-32; Painters & Sculptors of LA, 1930-31; Pasadena Art Institute 1931; Olympiad, LACMA, 1932; Oakland Art Gallery, 1932; Whittier Art Gallery, 1934; Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939. Collections: Laguna Beach Art Gallery (fountain & medallion of Anna Hills...