Norwich ― On the right-side wall of the Ellis Ruley exhibition at Slater Memorial Museum hangs an enlarged color photograph of the local folk artist selling his works on the lawn in front of the museum at a 1952 art show.
On Tuesday, Slater, located on the Norwich Free Academy campus, held a celebration to unveil its latest acquisition of an original Ruley painting ― one he initially sold to a woman at that Slater lawn show in 1952.
Of the only 63 known surviving Ruley paintings, only three of the African-American artist’s works depict Black subjects ― Ruley at times painted himself into the artworks with pale white skin…