SAVANNAH, GA.- The Telfair Museum of Art presents Andrée Ruellan at 100, on view through January 28, 2007. Organized by the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, this exhibition presents 45 paintings, drawings and prints by this remarkable American artist, including the whose career spanned most of the 20th century. The exhibition includes the Telfair’s signature Ruellan work, Savannah, depicting the Barnard Street ramp leading to the river, circa 1942.

Born in New York City in 1905 to French-émigré parents, Ruellan was a child prodigy who was awarded her first solo exhibition in Paris in 1925. The artist’s early work reflects her exposure to European art trends as well as the influence of her mentor, Robert Henri. After spending several years in Paris, Ruellan returned to America in the 1930s and traveled to Savannah, Charleston, and New Orleans. Some of Ruellan’s most notable paintings were inspired by her travels in the South; her work from this period captures the distinctive character of the region and its people during the harsh years of the Depression.

Ruellan’s work is typically associated with the American Scene, depicting realistic images of everyday life in small-town America. Following World War II, however, her style began to reflect the influence of Cubism and Surrealism. Taken as a whole, Ruellan’s body of work reveals her masterful ability to portray the evolving character of modern America from the Great Depression through World War II and into the 1960s. Andree Ruellan died at the age of 101 on July 15, 2006.