2023–2024: Frank Stewart’s Nexus: An American Photographer's Journey, 1960s to the Present, Washington, D.C.: Phillips Collection, June 10–September 2, 2023; Baker Museum, October 14, 2023–January 7, 2024; Telfair Museums, February 9–May 12, 2024; and Brandywine Museum of Art, June 30–September 22, 2024. Co-curator with Fred Moten, a dynamic retrospective of Stewart’s photography.
Frank Stewart, Stomping the Blues, 1997. Gelatin silver print, 16 × 20 in. (40.64 x 50.8 cm.). © Frank Stewart, New York.
2020–2021: Body Language: The Art of Larry Day, curated by David Bindman and organized by the Woodmere Art Museum with portions of the exhibit on view at the University of the Arts and Arcadia University. Fine contributed an essay to catalogue published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.
The exhibition celebrated Larry Day (1921-1998) in his centenary year, exploring his singular contributions to American art and the lasting power of his observations and imagination.
Larry Day, Poker Game, 1970. Oil on canvas, 60 1/2 x 72 1/4 in. (153.67 x 183.515 cm.). Gift of Ruth Fine © Estate of Larry Day, Philadelphia.
2013: A Riot of Color: The Fabric Workshop and Museum in collaboration with Ruth Fine, Philadelphia, PA: Fabric Workshop and Museum, September 13–December 15, 2013. The Riot of Color window display returns revealed the brilliant range of work artists have created at FWM within the tradition of printed textiles.
The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, in collaboration with Ruth Fine. FWM Quilt (detail), 2013.
2015–2016: Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis, Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, November 12, 2015–April 3, 2016; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, June 4–August 21, 2016; Chicago Cultural Center, September 17, 2016–January 8, 2017. Catalogue awarded the College Art Association’s Alfred H. Barr Award for Museum Scholarship. The first comprehensive museum overview of Norman Lewis: a pivotal figure in American art, a participant in the Harlem art community, an innovator of Abstract Expressionism, and a politically-conscious activist.
Norman Lewis, Title unknown (March on Washington), 1965. oil on fiberboard, 351/4 × 471/2 in. (89.535 x 120.65 cm.). L. Ann and Jonathan P. Binstock, © Estate of Norman W. Lewis; Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY.
2008: The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States. Fine worked with collectors Dorothy (1935–2025) and Herbert Vogel (1922–2012) and other National Gallery of Art staff to distribute their collection of American avant-garde art, culminating in this initiative. A total of 2,500 artworks by 177 artists were given to 50 institutions across 50 states.
Don Ball, The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, 2008. National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C. ISBN: 978-0615232713
2003: The Art of Romare Bearden, Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, September 14, 2003–January 4, 2004; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, February 7–May 16, 2004; Dallas Museum of Art, June 20–September 12, 2004; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 14, 2004–January 9, 2005; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, January 29, 2005–April 24, 2005. Exhibition and catalogue remain the most comprehensive survey of Bearden’s work to date.
Romare Bearden, Tomorrow I May Be Far Away, 1967. Collage of various papers with charcoal, graphite and paint on paper mounted to canvas, 116.8 x 142.2 cm (46 x 56 in.). Paul Mellon Fund © Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY, 2001.72.1
2001: Jasper Johns: Prints from Four Decades, Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, June 3–October 7, 2001; Terra Museum, Chicago, February 16–April 28, 2002; Musée d'Art Americain, Giverny, July 7–September 15, 2002. The exhibition, organized by Ruth Fine, presented 59 prints by Jasper Johns and examined Johns' printmaking during the 40-year period from 1960 to 2000.
Jasper Johns, Four Panels from Untitled 1972, 1973-74. Color lithographs with embossing on four sheets of gray Laurence Barker handmade paper, 38 × 25 33/40 in (96.5 × 65.6 cm). Gift of Gemini G.E.L. and the Artist © Jasper Johns and Gemini G.E.L./VAGA, New York, NY, 1981.5.37.1-4
1990: Let’s Play House, Philadelphia, PA: The Fabric Workshop and Museum, May 25–September 7, 1990.
Pat Steir, Calligraphy Screen (cherry tree imagery), 1983, Pat Steir, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Calligraphy Screen (cherry tree imagery), 1983. Black pigment on unbleached cotton muslin, stretched and inserted in a traditional Shoji frame of ashwood, 80 x 191 x 2 in. Related edition on natural Belgian linen. Collection of The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño.
1993: Helen Frankenthaler: Prints, Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, April 18–September 6, 1993. Curated by Ruth Fine, this survey exhibition consisted of 77 prints and related drawings made from the holdings of the National Gallery of Art, and loans from the artist's archive and other collections..
Helen Frankenthaler, First Stone, 1961. Five-color lithograph on Arches Satine paper, 55.9 x 76.2 cm (22 x 30 in.). Rosenwald Collection. 1964.8.869.
1990: Selections and Transformations: John Marin, Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, January 28–April 15, 1990. The exhibition of 10 sketchbooks, 26 prints, 26 paintings, and 85 drawings by John Marin were presented in this first comprehensive exhibition of the artist's oeuvre in 20 years and inspired by a significant gift from the artist’s son and daughter-in-law, John Jr. and Norma Boon.
John Marin, Grey Sea, 1938. oil on canvas, 55.9 x 71.1 x 1.9 cm (22 x 28 x 3/4 in.). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Marin, Jr., 1987.19.1
1984: Gemini G.E.L., Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, November 18, 1984 - February 24, 1985. The exhibition, coordinated by Ruth E. Fine. Gaillard Ravenel and Mark Leithauser, included 110 prints in many diverse media, sculpture, and working drawings and other preliminary materials were selected from the Gemini G.E.L. (Graphic Editions Limited) archive established at the National Gallery in 1981. Three hundred and thirty-one artists were represented.
Robert Rauschenberg, Link, c. 1974. color screenprints on tissue paper laminated to pigmented handmade paper, 60.64 × 49.53 cm (23 7/8 × 19 1/2 in.). Gift of Gemini G.E.L. and the Artist, 1981.5.78.
1982: Lessing J. Rosenwald: Tribute to a Collector, Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, February 7–May 9, 1982. The exhibition and catalogue prepared by Ruth E. Fine, curator in the Gallery's department of graphic arts, and formerly curator of the collection when it was housed in a wing of Alverthorpe, Rosenwald's home in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. The memorial exhibition honored one of the Gallery's founding benefactors at that time with 100 old master and modern prints and drawings selected from the 22,000 works collected by Lessing J. Rosenwald from the mid-1920s until his death in June 1979.
William Blake, Christ Appearing to His Disciples After the Resurrection, c. 1795. Color print (monotype), hand-colored with watercolor and tempera, 43.2 x 57.5 cm (17 x 22 5/8 in.). Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.8995.