Ruth Faison Shaw (1889-1969)

American School

THE PENGUINS, 1938

(#3628)

16 x 20 inches / 22½ x 32½ framed

Finger paint

Signed and dated lower right: “Ruth Faison Shaw, Nov., 1938”

Provenance:          Adamson-Duvannes Galleries, Los Angeles, California

                                       (since September, 1990)

     Ruth Faison Shaw was born and raised in North Carolina, and taught as an untrained schoolteacher in the Appalachian Mountains.  In 1918, she traveled to France and Italy with the Young Womens Christian Organization, where she set up an experimental school in Rome, the Shaw School for English speaking children.

     In 1926, inspired by a child smearing iodine on a wall, she developed the art of finger painting, later introducing it into the American school system.  She developed the techniques and materials necessary, and in 1931 patented a gelatinous paint medium that was safe for children.

     Ruth returned to the United States in 1932 where she became a pioneer in progressive education.  She took a position at the Dalton School in New York City and introduced finger painting into the curriculum.  An exhibition of finger painting took place in Manhattan in 1933, and she started a factory in New York to produce her paint.  She published several books on Finger Painting, workshops were started for adults, and she was invited to lecture and organize exhibitions.  Her motto was: Be free in your motions and bold in your colors!