Ruth Doris Swett, "Carolina Long Leafed Pines"

RUTH DORIS SWETT

Carolina Long Leafed Pines
Drypoint, 1938

Ruth Doris Swett was an artist who was active during the 1930s making drypoint and etchings. She was a native of Southern Pines, North Carolina, and much of her work involved the pine needle motif. In December 1941 the local newspaper of Southern Pines, The Pilot, reported that its new nameplate was designed by Ruth Doris Swett from her original drawing of pine needles, a compass, and a map of Moore County.

Not much is know about Swett but Who Was Who in American Art, by Peter Hastings Falk, lists her as an etcher born in 1901 in North Carolina and notes that she had studied at Chouinard Art Institute in California. The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalogue has three prints by Swett: Florida Pine, The Lone Palm, and Long Leaf Pine, all of which were done in the 1930s.

--Kathleen Durham and Lois Smalley