Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/New Orleans)

Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/New Orleans, 1912-1997) , "Woman No. 4", 1970, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, "Arthur Roger Gallery" label with artist, title and date en verso, 46 in. x 46 in., framed. Provenance: Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA. Note: In this work dated 1970, Kohlmeyer revisits figurative painting after having made her great shift towards abstraction in 1957. Upon reaching a momentary standstill in creativity with her geometric compositions, Kohlmeyer sought inspiration in the form of the female body. The rare canvases from this period such as the work offered here, challenge society’s notions of womanhood and beauty. Art historian David McCarthy writes that at this time women artists who painted the female body were grappling with the notion of representation in specifically “who controlled the body and, in particular, who controlled representations of the body.” Kohlmeyer’s works from this series are poignant and radical in their breathtaking honesty. Ref.: Plante, Michael. Ida Kohlmeyer – Systems of Color. New Orleans: Newcomb Art Gallery, 2004, pp. 13-15 Dimensions: