Ruth Everard-Haden was born in 1904 at Nottingham Road in KwaZulu-Natal, as the first daughter of the artist Bertha Everard. Born into a remarkably creative family of women painters, Ruth’s mother, Bertha along with her sister Edith King became known as the Everard Group whilst living in Mpumalanga (what was formerly Eastern Transvaal) during the first half of the 20th Century.
In 1919, Ruth was attending Eunice School in Bloemfontein, of which her aunt, Edith, was the Headmistress. This was followed by her attending the Cape Town School of Art part-time between 1921 and 1922 but was merely a steppingstone to her enrolling in the Slade School of Art in London, where she would study for two years under Henry Tonks. Ruth found the format of the education in England as conservative and restrictive and this led her to move to Paris in 1923, where she remained until 1926. Before returning to South Africa in 1928, she travelled, learned, and exhibited with the Everard-Group through various European studios.
Upon her return to South Africa, Ruth met Denholm Haden, whom she married in 1929. The couple settled on a farm near the Everard-family home, Bonnefoi, where they bred racehorses. She continued to paint and to exhibit regularly with the Everard-Group until the Fifties, at which stage the family began to withdraw from the public view. To add to this, failing eye-sight, meant that Ruth could no longer paint by 1956.
Prior to 1923, Ruth work predominantly in watercolour, she also produced several linocuts during 1925, but ultimately, she was most comfortable working in oil. Through her chosen media she produced mainly landscapes, as well as still life and portraits. Her years spent on Europe and especially the new movements she experienced, such as Cubism, Vorticism and Futurism greatly influenced her work.
Her confidence in using simple outlines to convey shape and format, along with her consciousness of medium are what distinguish Ruth from the other members of the Everard-Group. Although being born into a family of successful artists gave her a head start in the development of her career, Ruth Everard Haden did not ride the coattails of her family to establish herself. Throughout her career, she established herself as a leading artist, not only within the confines of the Everard-Group, but as an independent artist.
Sources:
- Graham Modern & Contemporary. 2023. [O]. Available: https://grahamsgallery.co.za/ruth-everard-haden/Accessed: 2023/01/17.
- Berman, E. 1970. Art & Artists of South Africa. Cape Town: A.A. Balkema.
