Ruth Peabody

American painter Ruth Peabody studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. She moved to Laguna Beach, California around 1924 with her mother, artist Eleanor Colburn (1886-1939), who later changed her name to Elanor Colburn, and they both became active in the Laguna Beach Art Association. Their works were mostly mother-child scenes in an impressionistic style. In her early works, Peabody focused on figure painting and still lifes. She also sculpted fountains and memorial plaques when not teaching privately and at Laguna Beach High School. During her early years she mainly painted portraits, moving to abstracts in the 1940s, and garden and flower subjects in her last years.

In 1932, Peabody submitted a portrait of John Jehle, A Ringer. John Jehle (1856-1949) was a businessman and probably a neighbor of the Peabody’s in California. Nothing is known, however, about his athletic activities. His daughter Clara Antonia Jehle (1880-1955) was also a painter and probably therefore well acquainted with Peabody.