Ruth Egri

Ruth Egri (1911–1996) was an American artist, painter, muralist, educator, and illustrator of Hungarian-Jewish descent who worked in the Federal Art Project and in the WPA New Reading Materials Program during the New Deal. She is known for her mural at Lincoln Hospital (Bronx, New York),[2] and for teaching mural painting at the Spokane Art Center, Washington.[3]

Ruth Egri
Ruth Egri, photographed for the Works Progress Administration, New York, NY. From the collection of the Archives of American Art.
Born1911 (1911)
Died1996 (1997) January 14, 1996
Aurora, Colorado
NationalityAmerican
Known forFigure painter, muralist, illustrator

[1]

Education

Egri studied at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League of New York, and the Master Institute of the Roerich Museum with Howard Giles.[4]

Family

Egri's parents were Ilona and playwright Lajos Egri and she had multiple brothers.[4] She painted and exhibited in Taos, NM with one of her brothers, Ted Egri.[5]

Career

On top of all her art projects, Egri was also an educator who taught courses at the Spokane Art Center in Washington and the WPA's New Reading Materials Program, sponsored by the NYC Board of Education. Egri was most interested in making art that primarily expressed the female figure.[4]

Works

Egri's art works that have been discovered upon her death include:

  • 2 sketchbooks
  • 14 loose sketches
  • 21 drawings
  • 13 watercolors

She also painted an exhibit in Taos, New Mexico with her brother Ted Egri.[4]

Appearances

Her illustrations appeared in three children's books.[2]

References
  1. "Obituaries" (PDF). The Jewish Voice, Wilmington, Delaware. February 9, 1996. p. 14. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  2. "Ruth Egri papers, 1923-1988". Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  3. "Oral history interview of the board of the Spokane Art Center, 1965 Nov. 18 - Oral Histories". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  4. "Summary of the Ruth Egri Papers, 1923-1988". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  5. "Ruth Egri Papers, 1923-1988". Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 15 October 2020.

Further reading
  • "Medical murals." Direction 1 (June 1938): cover, 14–15. Photo essay on murals with medical themes in hospitals by Eric Mose and Ruth Egri (Lincoln Hospital, NYC), and Rudolph Crimi (Harlem Hospital). Cover photograph of Mose at work.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Works Progress Administration.


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