Ruth Gikow

Ruth Gikow (; January 6, 1915 - April 2, 1982) was an American visual artist known primarily for her work as a genre painter. Her paintings often depict human figures interacting with an urban environment.

Early life

Ruth Gikow was born on January 6, 1915, in the Russian Empire In 1920, the family emigrated to New York City due to civil war and pogroms against the Jewish community. Once in New York City, the Gikow family found themselves in poverty, rather than the middle-class comfort they enjoyed in Ukraine. She was not present for the "simple diversions of her age group" due to prioritizing her art and her night time job at Woolworth's. After the events of Pearl Harbor and once the Federal Arts Project was abandoned, Gikow's murals were solely sought after by New York department stores wishing to commission wall paintings. Gikow became disillusioned with mural painting due to the commercial aspect of these commissions. Her work was also included in the 1947 and 1951 Dallas Museum of Fine Arts exhibitions of the National Serigraph Society.

In 1946 she married the artist Jack Levine, whose dedication and concentration inspired and challenged her own work.

In 1959 she was awarded a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Museum of Modern Art Philadelphia Museum of Art Whitney Museum