Ruth O'SuÍlleabhÁin

            Ruth Sullivan was a painter of fierce intellect and devastatingly sharp interpretation. Following is an introduction to this artist’s life… 

            Born in Lancaster, New Hampshire in 1922, Sullivan graduated from Bates College. When her parents forbade her to become an artist, Ruth left home to study with the infamous Writing Workshop of 1945 at the University of Iowa. It was there she roomed with Flannery O’Connor, acclaimed feminist and legendary writer, and established a friendship that would shape her life. After comparing her writing to Flannery’s, Ruth decided that she had better “give up trying to write, get married and have a pack of kids”. She did just that. Ruth married a promising young biology professor: they travelled extensively and resided in many corners of the United States while she supported his career and started a family. In 1958, they immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and it was there she raised 9 children and pursued her long suppressed passion for painting. Ruth graduated from the Vancouver Art College, now the Emily Carr School of Art, attending from 1969 to 1973. After a turbulent end to her marriage, Sullivan eventually came to live and paint in Toronto where she kept a studio and totally immersed herself in her art. Ruth often titled her paintings in French having a great admiration for French culture yet proud of her Irish roots she penned her name in the Gaelic, “O’Suílleabháin”. Ruth resided her final years outside Chicago and continued to paint prolifically until she passed in February of 2012. 

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            Ruth Sullivan painted remarkable interpretations of nature, grotesqueries of the human condition and abstractions of the mind. Having lead an extraordinary life influenced by the great intellectuals and artists of our time, O’Suílleabháin is destined to become an artist of importance.