Ida Kohlmeyer American, 1912-1997

Ida Kohlmeyer (1912-1997) was a matriarch among American artists, achieving international acclaim without leaving her native New Orleans. Although she did not begin painting full time until she was in her mid-thirties, Kohlmeyer's work has been represented in well over 100 solo exhibitions, including a major retrospective at the Mint Museum of Art. Her work is in the permanent collections of over 80 institutions including the High Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Ida Kohlmeyer's joyful abstract paintings and sculptures reflect the spirit of New Orleans and her long fascination with folk and primitive art. Based on her own developed alphabet of various organic and geometric shapes, the works transpose Kohlmeyer's passions and delights into compact, colorful and celebratory images.