John Ruthven
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John A. Ruthven (born 1927, Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American artist best known for his paintings of wildlife.
After serving in the U.S. military in World War II, Ruthven opened a commercial art studio in Cincinnati. His work for clients included the Play-Doh Boy, used in that product's original 1950s advertising. Ruthven's focus, however, was on wildlife painting in the style of John James Audubon. In 1960, his painting "Redhead Ducks" won the Federal Duck Stamp competition.
Ruthven's wildlife paintings are on display at many museums including the Smithsonian Institution, and his work was featured in a 1994 retrospective at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. He designed two pigs for Cincinnati's Big Pig Gig in 2000.
Ruthven was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2004. He now lives on a farm near Georgetown, Ohio.
