Ruth Russell Williams Oils, ca. 1995
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GUEST:
These are a collection of paintings that I actually acquired from a friend and artist here in North Carolina, Ruth Russell Williams. I met her in, probably the '90s, I would say. She was a local artist, very community-based, grassroots in Vance County. She was a beautiful person, and we both had a lot in common in terms of our childhood. Grew up on a farm and worked very closely with our families. And we both had a love for gardening, which is something that we learned, we both learned from our grandmothers.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
Ruth also had a hobby as an artist. These are a series of paintings that she actually kind of, developed for me or provided, and I've had them for well over 30 years now. I love them dearly and wanted to bring them out and share them.
APPRAISER:
So did she, she have a studio, or a home, or...?
GUEST:
She had a home salon, actually. Cause she--
APPRAISER:
Salon?
GUEST:
Yes, she also was a hairstylist. And, in fact, she started to actually place some of her artwork there.
APPRAISER:
Her name is, uh, Ruth Russell Williams.
GUEST:
That's right.
APPRAISER:
And she was the daughter of sharecroppers. And these stories are really her biography in, in paint; the flowers, the... the bright palette. She's really considered an American folk artist.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Outsider American folk artist. She was born in 1932. They're oil on canvas. They're all signed. This piece has an inscription on the back. "'May God bless you,' Ruth Russell Williams."
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Now, was that a special note to you or...?
GUEST:
Well, I think it's just a special note because you know, faith was one of the things we had in common. I think she may have drawn inspiration from different parts of kind of traditional southern living. The one, for me, kind of reminds me of Charleston and the women at the flower market.
APPRAISER:
Oh.
GUEST:
I think what I like about these all is that they all have women in it.
APPRAISER:
Yes.
GUEST:
So even from a young girl up to a very sophisticated woman, and then you have the women here who are very close to nature with their flowers. Locally, she was known very well, and even nationally,she was starting to get national attention.
APPRAISER:
And the Smithsonian cover was what year? Do you remember that?
GUEST:
It was '93.
APPRAISER:
These pieces then would really come from her mature period in the, in the late '80s, early '90s.
GUEST:
That is correct.
APPRAISER:
What did you pay for them?
GUEST:
Collectively, I may have paid no more than $600.
APPRAISER:
I would estimate the small piece at probably $2,000 to $3,000.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The centerpiece I would estimate at $3,000 to $4,000. And, love this, and I would estimate this at between $4,000 and $6,000.
GUEST:
Okay. Very nice.
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