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Impressionism
A Brief History

Claire Ruby's impressionistic oil paintings are intimate projections of her feelings onto canvas; it is her unique and lyrical expressions of these spontaneous feelings which delight the viewer.  Blending realism with impressionistic light and color, she layers her landscapes, still life's, figurative works and florals with luminous atmosphere.  Contemporary scenes along with images which have remained as vital memories from her past in the Hungarian village of Losonc fill her canvases.

Recognized as a child of great talent in Hungary (she began painting when she was four), her talent earned her a scholarship to the Budapest Fine Arts Academy where she learned basics, fundamentals and a rigid discipline.  Today she credits this rigorous training for her ability to capture the most important essence of a subject - the "feeling" - without being overly aware of technical considerations.   Preferring to paint primarily in oil and oil washes, although occasionally working in other media such as pastel and watercolor, she follows a disciplined daily painting schedule.  Inspired by an image, she renders her impression as quickly as possible, focusing on light, atmosphere and mood.  Working from a small on-the-spot sketch or a black and white photo as a reminder and eschewing preliminary studies, Ruby concentrates on the canvas, visualizing the finished work.  Hues are mixed as needed.   Preferring to work by day, but having the studio lighting to enable work to be done on gray, over-cast days and at night, she works through a painting one piece at a time.   She has been known to get out of bed and paint whenever solutions to painting problems occur.

In the 1950's, at age 18 and with her father's encouragement, she immigrated to the United States where she continued her studies at the Chicago Art Institute.  After completion of her studies, Claire worked for a brief period in the field of commercial art.  Between 1952 and 1955, she studied with such professionally inspiring artists Cilfone, Turtle, Grant, Eccles and Vickery. 

As a young girl, Claire Ruby had to decide between painting and classical piano.  She chose painting because, "In music there are rigid rules, plus hours and hours of repetitive practice.  In art you never do a painting over.  Each canvas is a chance to express a new feeling".  She felt that there was never enough time in a day to practice both; her choice was art, but her enjoyment of music inspires and compliments art.

Claire considers Impressionism to be one of the most beautiful ways to express the feeling of an artist about a subject, and her work evidences her serious professional commitment to fine art.  She is a disciplined artist who has mastered the fundamentals of classical art; one who imbues her painting with a passion and sensitivity felt at the moment of inspiration.  She sums up her life as an artist be stating, "I'm very happy to be a painter, to be able to put onto canvas the beauty of what is around us instead of thinking about bad things, I'm in my own private world there as soon as I go to the canvas".