Ruth Buker

Ruth Buker was an American artist active during the short period of 1935 to 1940. Her primary documented artistic output consists of fourteen designs created for the Index of American Design (IAD). This massive Federal Art Project, established during the New Deal era, sought to document and preserve a visual record of American material culture, folk art, and decorative items spanning three centuries.

Buker specialized in the detailed rendering necessary for the IAD’s documentation purposes. The subjects of her work reflect the diversity of American craftsmanship documented by the program, ranging from functional tools to domestic textiles. Notable examples of her documented designs include the Applique Quilt (Detail), Lantern, Locomotive Bell, and multiple studies titled Needle Case.

These works function as significant historical records of Americana, emphasizing precision in line and color over artistic interpretation. All fourteen known designs created by Buker for the Index are preserved in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, demonstrating her contribution to this vast catalog of national design history. As part of this significant repository, Ruth Buker prints are accessible globally. Many of these historically valuable renderings are available today as downloadable artwork, enabling widespread study of this public domain resource.