Page 14 - Demo

RU ISRAELS
Ru Israels was born in 1912 in Rotterdam, Holland and became interested in art when still a child. He studied
at the Lyceum and Art Academy in Rotterdam. Then he moved to the Hague where he devoted himself to the painting profession. He studied for several years with Professor William Van Den Berg, who was director of the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam and a noted painter in Holland. In 1938 Ru married Ann Ritz and they came to the United States. He continued his studies at the Art Students League in New York, of which he was a life member. He joined the Dutch armed forces during World War II and he and his wife moved to Sarasota in 1953. They operated their own gallery and craft shop, Ru and Arms Studio, on the South Tamiami Trail. During the summer months they operated another shop in Thornton, New Hampshire.
Ru participated in many exhibitions: Modem Dutch Art in Holland and America, a traveling show organized by
the Dutch government and other exhibitions. In addition, he exhibited at the New York Public Library, Dutch West Indies, Radio City Hall, the Whitney Museum, Manchester, New Hampshire, Syracuse, New York, Symphony Hall in Boston, Sarasota Art Association, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Lowe Gallery in Miami, the Society of Four Arts;
Isaac Delgado Museum in New Orleans, and the Governor’s Show in Sarasota. He won many awards in these exhibitions. He and his wife also executed a mural for the home of Philip Hiss, a well known Sarasota architect.