"Ruth Cobb: A Retrospective," the latest art show at the Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center (WSRC), is truly one of the hidden treasures on the Brandeis campus. The exhibit, which opened Sunday, displays over 50 years of watercolor and acrylic works by one of Boston's most prominent contemporary female painters. Ana Davis, Assistant Director for the Arts and Public Relations at the WSRC, states that displaying Ruth Cobb paintings is like having a living piece of art history right on the Brandeis campus.Born in Boston in 1914, Ruth Cobb fell in love with watercolors during high school when she took classes at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. She graduated from art school and married the well-known Boston artist Lawrence Kupferman in 1937. The couple had two children, both of whom also became artists.

During her career, Cobb's works have been displayed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, DeCordova Museum, Addison Gallery and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute. She has also received awards from the American Watercolor Society, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Allied Artists of America.

Now 88, Cobb continues to paint in her Boston studio. Davis said Cobb is one of the first female artists in the Boston area to achieve professional and financial success, in addition to raising children and caring for a family.

Cobb's works consist of cozy, comfortable domestic still-lifes and captivating studies of flowers and plants. She brings intimacy to her paintings by portraying her cherished family heirlooms, such as her own vintage dress, her mother's pickle jar and meat grinder and her grandmother's Bavarian glass candy dish. Light washes over the antiques in her works, making objects a delicate and timeless. Davis comments that what she admires most about Cobb's paintings is her ability to capture the idea of transparency, showing how light can flow through objects.

Cobb's depiction of nature, particular her pieces capturing the beauty of a single flower, are equally as captivating. In many of her pieces, such as "White Lilies" and "Paper White," Cobb paints a white flower behind a stunning sunset of amalgamated pastel color. Her vibrant watercolors leave the viewer feeling as cheerful as the bright hues that radiate from her works. "My primary interest is a quality of transparency and luminescence," Cobb said "I try for interplay between different depths, between cool and warm, between soft and hard."

In perusing the exhibit, one is able to witness Cobb's artistic development and changes during her painting career. Her earliest pieces, such as her "Birds in Branches," (1955) show heavy influence from Japanese prints, but lack the brilliant color of her later works. Paintings from the height of her career demonstrate Cobb's interest in exploring light, shadow and color in her work.

In her most recent works, such as "Cyclamen III," painted in 2002, Cobb's paintings show minimal attention to the actual objects themselves and instead focus on the blending of radiant colors. "In looking at Cobb's paintings, students will see how her techniques changed and realize how their techniques may change in the future as well," Davis remarked.

In addition to showcasing one of Boston's most notable female artists, the exhibit organizers have involved Brandeis' own art community with the show. Student critiques accompany the paintings, and a possible audio tour of the exhibit put together by Brandeis undergraduates is in progress. Davis has said she would be willing to make arrangements for any students interested in meeting Ruth Cobb to learn more about the Boston art scene. The WSRC even sought out artist and Brandeis alumna Amy Kaufman Selame '79 to be the guest curator for the Ruth Cobb show.

The show takes about 10 to 15 minutes to walk through -- a nice break to any busy day of studying. "Ruth Cobb: A Retrospective" is a must-see exhibit at Brandeis and is well worth the walk to the WSRC. Cobb's delicate, colorful works are refreshing among more controversial modern art.

As former Boston Globe art critic Edgar J. Driscoll, Jr. writes, Cobb's work is "an abiding faith that all's well with the world."

"Ruth Cobb: A Retrospective" is on display at the Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center until April 15. Admission is free of charge. For more information, contact Ana Davis at x68102.