Ruth Simpson

Ruth Simpson (née Alison, 1889 – 1964) was a British artist who was an active member of the Newlyn School of artists and the Lamorna artists colony.

Biography Simpson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the daughter of Alister and Ada Alison. She studied art under Elizabeth and Stanhope Forbes at their school, the Forbes School of Painting, in Newlyn during 1911 and 1912. In Newlyn, Simpson lodged with her sister Rose and together they led a full social life. During this time Simpson met the artist Charles Walter Simpson and the couple married in 1913. Their daughter, Leonora, was born the following year in Newlyn. Subsequently, the family lived in different locations throughout Cornwall, including at Carbis Bay, Lamorna and at St Ives. In St Ives, starting in 1920 the Simpsons ran their own painting school, the Shore Studio, with Ruth specializing in teaching portrait painting. Works by Simpson were included in the exhibition Painting in Newlyn 1880–1930 held at the Barbican Centre during 1985.