Most of you have never heard of my favorite artist, yet you have probably seen his work for decades and didn't even know it. He is considered by far to be the Audobon of the 20th century. His name is John Ruthven and he is from nearby Georgetown, Ohio. Early in his career he did artwork for Proctor and Gamble, the Charmin baby on the package, the characters on the Playdough can. His cardinal is on the Ohio license plate. Did you notice the Bengal Tiger in the middle of the field at the Bengals-Pittsburgh Steelers game yesterday? That is a remake of his leaping Bengal Tiger that he did back in the 60s. He does all the Bengal Tiger work for the Cincinnati Bengals in the programs and insignias. In the 70s his Black Lab was was commissioned by Armco Steel Corp. and given to Brezniv (sp?) and he was the only US artist with a print hanging in the Kremlin. He has been commissioned to do prints for Presidents- Reagan, Bush, Ford, Neil Armstrong's Museum and on and on. He is the only artist in the world to discover a new species of a bird and do a print of it in the 20th century. When they found the Pileated Woodpecker which they thought was extinct, he was the artist they called to do a print. His accomplishments are endless. He does all kinds of wildlife and sporting dogs. He did the Federal Duck Stamp in 1960. I enjoy his work.
