Ruth Butler

Ruth Butler (October 7, 1931 – November 28, 2024) was an American art historian and academic who specialized in 19th-century French sculpture and the roles of artists' models and collaborators. She taught at the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Massachusetts Boston, and authored works on Auguste Rodin and the lives of women associated with artists of the era.

Early life and education Butler was born on October 7, 1931, in Buffalo, New York, to Hermine Hansen and George Butler. She grew up in Buffalo, starting art lessons at age five, and later in Decatur, Illinois. Her father worked as a purchasing agent for an automobile parts manufacturer and also made yard signs and other objects at home.

Butler earned a B.A. in 1953 from Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Career Butler began her academic career as an assistant professor of art history at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1969 to 1972. She is best known for her 1993 publication Rodin: The Shape of Genius, a biography of Auguste Rodin that incorporated extensive archival research from the Musée Rodin. The book examined the sculptor's career and his broader historical and cultural context.

In 2008, Butler published Hidden in the Shadow of the Master: The Model-Wives of Cézanne, Monet, and Rodin. This work focused on the lives of Marie-Hortense Fiquet, Camille Doncieux, and Rose Beuret, examining their relationships with Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, and Rodin, respectively. The book explored their roles as models and collaborators.

After retiring, Butler created a scholarship fund at the University of Massachusetts Boston to support art students studying abroad.

Personal life Butler's first marriage, to biologist Maurizio Mirolli, ended in divorce. In 1994, she married Carl Kaysen, an economist and former deputy national security adviser who died in 2010.

Butler died on November 28, 2024, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, following a short illness.