Cheryl O’Donoghue will be the first to admit she is no expert on Aurora artist Ruth Van Sickle Ford.
That title would go to the late Nancy Hopp, who as O’Donoghue noted, was a “such a treasure trove” of knowledge about this famous Aurora painter, and even wrote a book about Ford, who also was a teacher and owner of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
But that didn’t stop O’Donoghue from her quest to buy one of Ford’s paintings on behalf of the Aurora Women’s Empowerment Foundation, where she serves as the nonprofit’s operations manager.
As you may know from past stories, after Ford sold the academy in 1961 she began teaching classes at the Aurora YMCA, as well as what is now Aurora University. After her death in 1989, the three paintings displayed in the old YWCA building were bequeathed to the nonprofit, which in 2020 was dissolved but turned its money and mission into the Aurora Women’s Empowerment Foundation.
Because Ford’s work and legacy is at the heart of the new foundation’s mission of empowering women, you can see why it was interested in an investment that would bring more of the artist’s work back to her home.
So O’Donoghue signed up for an account with the Leonard Auction house in Addison, indicating her interest in receiving word when one of Ford’s paintings – likely from a private Chicago estate – was going to be offered. She heard nothing for months, however, and forgot all about the fact she had signed up until a few months ago when O’Donoghue got “pinged” with a photo of a painting by Ford called “Grand Mere,” along with a note that this piece would be going up for auction that weekend.
O’Donoghue had never before been involved in any sort of auction bidding and described this first attempt that Sunday morning as “hysterical.”
The bidding for the large oil painting of a Haitian grandmother started at $350. O’Donoghue knew that, while she was representing the foundation and “did not want to spend too much of its money,” she also “wanted Ruth’s painting to be valued,” which is an issue in the art world because “most women artists are low compared to men.”
Pleased “there was a lot of interest” in the painting, O’Donoghue was happy to be part of the early action, but even more pleased as many of those competitors fell off. And when the bidding war hit the $1,000 range, it became a contest between her and two others.
This is where her strategy paid off. “I wanted them to know I was not going to be tapping out any time soon,” she told me, so when the bidding went higher she would immediately respond with a higher number.
“I was so afraid I would screw up,” O’Donoghue said, laughing at the recollection. “I was so excited, knowing I was doing it for Ruth and also for Nancy.
“Quite frankly,” she added, “I was doing it for Aurora … it is such an unusual piece.”
In the end, with fees included, O’Donoghue was able to procure “Grand Mere” for $1,600.
Which was especially exciting news for Scott Sherwood.
When the art conservator got a call this painting was now at If These Walls Could Talk in downtown Aurora, he made a beeline from his work as an assistant with the Aurora Historical Society to the framing shop.
In his career preserving, treating and documenting works of art and artifacts, Sherwood has spent plenty of time with many Ruth Van Sickle Ford paintings, most of which are watercolors, and knew just what a gem this “almost square-shaped” oil painting was.
“It looked like it had come out of the bottom or back of someone’s closet,” he said. And while it was not in terrible shape, “whoever owned it at one point must have had a cat,” which put a 2½-inch hole into it.
“It’s hard to explain,” said Sherwood, “but when you are working at a Ford painting, it feels like there is another person in the room with you … it is like a living thing … and that is the unseen mark of a really good painter.”
Proclaiming the painting as “incredible,” he went on to describe what seems to be a “reflective light from below, coming up and hitting the face of this Haitian grandmother.” The brushstrokes show Ruth’s “absolute power and command” of her artistry, he continued. And the fact this is not only one of her rare oil paintings but so large makes it “a level above her others.”
“Grand Mere” likely was created in 1959-60, the year Ford spent in Haiti as a special guest of its president, who displayed her work at the National Museum of Art, the first person outside the country to have such an exhibit.
In addition to photographing, documenting, cleaning and repairing the portrait over a two-month period, Sherwood applied a light varnish before returning it to the shop, where it is getting a custom frame by co-owner Tim Frederick. The Aurora Women’s Empowerment Foundation is planning to unveil “Grand Mere” through a special tour, and it will also be displayed at other Aurora events.
“This is a kind of newly-discovered painting, never before seen,” said Sherwood, whose parents were fortunate to have been students of Ford when she taught at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
“Ruth Ford is very special to me,” he said, adding that, even though this Haiti painting may never have actually been in Aurora, “how neat it is to have it back here.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com