610 South First Street, Just Before They Left

Naive artist Ruth Clide Proffitt’s artwork depicts warm family scenes that in fact were in stark contrast to her family’s reality.

Born outside of Richmond, Virginia, into a rural family of slender means, few would have foreseen an artist’s life for Ruth. The sudden death of her mother in 1915 found the five-yearold Ruth raising her two older brothers while seeing her younger siblings sent away to live with other relatives.

Impoverished, Proffitt sought out resources, including local museum visits, to learn how to paint. Her family struggles and sacrifices are not reflected in her works, which show instead idyllic scenes such as this family gathering at her home in the Oregon Hill neighborhood.