Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/New Orleans, 1912-1997), "Untitled (Still Life with Ceramics and Oranges)", 1980, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 49 in. x 49 in., framed . Provenance: The Estate of Caroline P. IrelandNote: “Weak representational art is art tyrannized by nature. Weak abstract art squanders itself formlessly in its own emotionalism… a painted apple, no matter how much magic realism is brought to bear upon it, is abstraction if only because of the transposition it undergoes in being made of another substance.” – Ida Kohlmeyer
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ida Kohlmeyer reached an artistic impasse. In order to overcome this hurdle, she created a small group of paintings revisiting various themes both traditional and innovative. The painting offered here, an abstracted still life featuring oranges and ceramics, is one of a handful of canvases created in that time period and represents a fascinating and nostalgic return to representational painting long after Kohlmeyer had abandoned it in favor abstraction. Her abstract symbolism, well-developed by this point, is carried into the classic subject matter in a way that makes the canvas instantly familiar as part of Kohlmeyer's unique visual language despite the inclusion of recognizable objects.
Ref.: Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute and Fort Wayne Museum of Art. "Paintings by Ida Kohlmeyer." San Antonio, TX: Press of Ozzie Baum, 1968.
Neal Auction Company would like to thank Jane Lowentritt for her assistance with this note.