Ruth Ray Works Sought For Catalogue Raisonne

EASTON — James Steven Lipton of Appraisers Associates of NY & CT, Inc is seeking any and all artworks of, and information pertaining to, the artist Ruth Ray (1919-1977), to be included in a forthcoming catalogue raisonné that is to be produced in conjunction with an upcoming exhibition in Darien in June.

Ruth Ray’s art, which has been described by critics as “lonely and haunting” and “delightful and fantastic,” combines a subjective and otherworldly quality with strong technical precision, learned by the study of orthodox techniques.

She enjoyed the painting medium of egg tempera, employing an exacting technique used by Florence’s early Renaissance masters, applied in thin, almost transparent layers. She also worked in oils, as well as producing drawings and prints.

Ms Ray was a surrealist and a magic realist. She painted many commissioned portraits of people and horses. But when painting “for herself,” she focused on several series of subjects, such as the “White Manes” series, in which horses seemed to emerge out of the crest of a wave; the “Nativity” series she painted every year for her children; the fanciful “Unicorns,” the “Mooneater” series where a horse rears up to take a bite from the moon; and the “Paper Man” series — eerie figures wrapped in newspaper and tied with string.

For more information, contact James Steven Lipton, Appraisers Associates Inc., 445 Westport Road,  Easton CT 06612 or 203-459-1000.