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"Arroyo Spring"

Creator: Jack Ramsey
Offered by: Arthur T. Kalaher Fine Art

Description
Original oil and canvas by the well known Texas and Sag Harbor artist, Jack Ramsey. Signed lower right and dated 1988. Signed, titled and dated verso. Condition is very good; no restorations. Framed in a new contemporary floating custom gallery frame. Overall measurements are 49 by 41 inches. Provenance: A Long Island, New York collector.

Biography: Jack Ramsey (American 1924-2020)
He was born John C. Wilson, Jr., in Fort Worth, Texas, to Dr. Jack and Frances Wilson on February 22, 1924. Mr. Ramsey was raised in Stephenville, Texas, where he was an Eagle Scout and multi-sport athlete. He graduated from Stephenville High School and attended Tarleton State University, where he commanded the Corps of Cadets. He left college in 1944 to enlist in the Army’s Specialized Training Program, which was designed to identify soldiers with outstanding technical skills. He transferred to the 99th Infantry Division, where he served as a mortarman. He was severely wounded in the opening hours of the Battle of the Bulge. After recovering in London, he returned to the Division, where he was wounded two more times before the war in Europe concluded. He earned the Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.

Upon demobilization, Jack moved to New York where he studied acting at the Actor’s Studio. Due to confusion with other actors of the same name, he changed his name to Jack Ramsey, using his mother’s maiden name. He appeared in multiple Broadway and summer stock productions. He met and married his wife Daga while appearing at the John Drew Theater in East Hampton, Long Island.

After leaving acting, Jack earned B.FA. and M.F.A. degrees from the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in Bloomfield, MI. Jack and Daga opened Ramsey Workshop, an art studio in Sag Harbor, NY. They quickly earned recognition, he as a painter, and she as a printmaker. Jack was befriended by his neighbor, the writer John Steinbeck, who wrote a monograph on Jack’s painting, and featured him in his short story, “My Battle with the Osprey.”

In addition to exhibiting his paintings in multiple shows and galleries on the east coast, Jack taught painting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Atlanta College of Art, and several museums in Long Island. He died in 2020 at the age of 96.

An arroyo, also called a wash, is a dry creek, stream bed or gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Flash floods are common in arroyos following thunderstorms. In Spain and Latin America any small river is called an arroyo, flowing continually all year and never drying. Wikipedia

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Origin:	United States, New York
Period:	1980-1999
Materials:	Oil paint on canvas
Condition:	Very good
Creation Date:	1988
Styles / Movements:	Contemporary
Incollect Reference #:	555159