Ruth Butler (October 7, 1931 – November 28, 2024) was an American art historian and academic who specialized in 19th-century French sculpture and the roles of artists' models and collaborators.
In 1957, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Paris, conducting research on Auguste Rodin's early works and their relationship to earlier sculptors.
[1][4] Butler began her academic career as an assistant professor of art history at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1969 to 1972.
This work focused on the lives of Marie-Hortense Fiquet, Camille Doncieux, and Rose Beuret, examining their relationships with Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, and Rodin, respectively.
[1][8][9] After retiring, Butler created a scholarship fund at the University of Massachusetts Boston to support art students studying abroad.