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The artist Ford Ruthling was the twin brother to Carleton Ruthling (Carl 

Ruthling) and sister to Theo Ruthling.

He was a native to the state of New Mexico. He raised in Tesuque New Mexico by his mother Helene Ruthling.

Helene Ruthling emigrated from Germany in 1916 and settled in Sante Fe New Mexico. Probably at birth, for he is a New Mexico native as well as a Santa Fe original. His mother, Helene Maurer Ruthling, came to Santa Fe in 1916, as governess to the grandchildren of Mabel Dodge Luhan, the legendary arts patroness in Taos. He grew up on a farm in Tesuque, when it was just a rural village. She divorced her husband in the 1940’s and out of necessity to support her family, she started Rancho Arroyo children care for children in the Santa Fe and Teseque.

This allowed working families to entrust their children to Helene for days at a time so the parents could work and earn money to support their own families. Ford, Theo, and Carleton all pitched in to help their mother run the children care center and the farm and it proved to be much more work than they intended but overall a wonderful part of their lives.

They grew up on a farm that had animals and apple orchards. All three children pitched in to help keep the farm going. During World War II is was your civic duty to start a Victory Garden and they pitched in. Having a victory garden improved spirits as the hope was that someday victory would be achieved.

Ford Ruthling – Artists – The Owings Gallery

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Ford Ruthling Paintings & Artwork for Sale

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United states Air Forced


Ford Ruthling joined the United States Air Force as an airplane navigator. Ford always had a passion for art and his works can be found at several museums and art dealers. Along the way, Ford Ruthling’s art has been shown and collected worldwide. His art can be found in the Smithsonian Institution Museums in Washington, the Museum of New Mexico, and the Dallas Museum of Fine Art. He is also shown in galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, New York, Boston, Aspen, Tulsa, Dallas, and Santa Fe.

Ford’s Art


Ford Ruthling’s art work is in the private collections of shopping mall department-store Stanley Marcus, movie star Vincent Price, television journalist Morley Safer, oilperson Robert Anderson, and many others.In 1977 the United States Post Office assigned four of his paintings of New Mexico Pueblo Indian pottery as first-class stamps. Of Helene’s children, Ford is survived by his sister Theo Ruthling who still lives in Teseque