Ida Kohlmeyer Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Ida Kohlmeyer Art Value Price Guide

Oct. 06, 2026
IDA KOHLMEYER (American, 1912-1997) Synthesis #B 1982 oil and mixed media on canvas 120 x 120cm
Est: $30,000 - $50,000
IDA KOHLMEYER (American, 1912-1997) Synthesis #B 1982 oil and mixed media on canvas signed and dated lower right: Kohlmeyer 1982 120 x 120cm PROVENANCE: The Elaine Horwitch Galleries, Arizona 1983 Private collection, Sydney OTHER NOTES: Ida Kohlmeyer (1912-1997) created a distinctive visual language of animated signs, rhythmic structures and exuberant colour. Although closely connected with Abstract Expressionism, she resisted remaining within the orbit of her celebrated mentors, transforming their lessons into a unique practice grounded in experimentation, intuition and play. Born Ida Rittenberg in New Orleans to Polish Jewish immigrant parents, Kohlmeyer initially studied English literature at Newcomb College, graduating in 1933. A formative journey through Mexico the following year awakened her interest in the visual arts, although she did not commence formal artistic training until 1947, when she enrolled at the John McCrady School of Art. She subsequently returned to Newcomb College, completing her Master of Fine Arts in 1956 under Pat Trivigno. Reflecting on this concentrated period of development, Kohlmeyer identified "three really tremendous influences in my life: Hans Hofmann, Pat Trivigno and Mark Rothko."(1) Immediately following her graduation, Kohlmeyer attended Hans Hofmann's summer school in Provincetown. The encounter proved transformative. Recalling her rapid conversion from figurative painting to abstraction, she declared: "Overnight I became an Abstract Expressionist." What liberated her was "the dynamism of the work, the felt quality, the emotion, the freedom..." (2) Hofmann's principles of spatial tension and colour remained foundational throughout her career. Mark Rothko provided another important model when he taught at Newcomb during the late 1950s. Kohlmeyer absorbed his floating forms, veiled colour and softened edges, but became increasingly determined to establish her independence. She later explained: "I didn't want to be that dependent on anybody."(3) Her response was to move away from Rothko's expansive rectangles, introducing circles, hard edges and linear elements. These signs became central to Kohlmeyer's mature work. Arranged within irregular grids or dispersed across vividly coloured fields, they suggest an invented alphabet without prescribed meaning. Kohlmeyer firmly rejected symbolic or narrative interpretations, explaining that she selected each form according to its compositional function, often using individual elements to direct the viewer's eye across the canvas. Her paintings instead operate through rhythm, repetition and variation, producing a visual language comparable to music. Kohlmeyer remained in New Orleans despite encouragement to relocate to New York, teaching at Newcomb College from 1956 to 1964 and at the University of New Orleans from 1973 to 1975. Her first museum exhibition was held at the institution now known as the New Orleans Museum of Art in 1957, followed in 1959 by a significant solo exhibition at Ruth White Gallery in New York.(4) In later decades, she expanded her pictographic language into sculpture, including major public commissions such as 'Aquatic Colonnade' for the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. Across painting and sculpture, Kohlmeyer united formal discipline with spontaneity, creating an art of remarkable vitality and unmistakable individuality. Painted in 1982, 'Synthesis #B' belongs to a dynamic period of Kohlmeyer's career, when her distinctive vocabulary of signs, lines and chromatic forms had reached full maturity. Its title reflects her ability to unite the seemingly opposing qualities that shaped her practice: structure and spontaneity, discipline and play, abstraction and the suggestion of language. Works by Kohlmeyer are rarely encountered in the Australian market, making the appearance of Synthesis #B a rare opportunity to acquire a significant painting by an important American artist whose work remains unmistakably her own. Wiebke Brix Head of Art (1) Berman A., "Oral History Interview with Ida Kohlmeyer, 17-20 May 1989," Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution (2) Ibid. (3) Tulane University, Ida Kohlmeyer (NC '56), newcombalumnae.tulane.edu/node/3206 (accessed 25 August 2026)
Leonard Joel
Sep. 11, 2026
Ida Kohlmeyer, Untitled, 1985, small mixed media on wood
Est: $2,500 - $3,500
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Untitled" mixed media on wood 1985, signed and dated.
Neal Auction Company
Sep. 11, 2026
Ida Kohlmeyer, Crux, oil on canvas
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Crux" oil on canvas signed lower right, inscribed with title and typed label with artist and title on stretcher, framed.
Neal Auction Company
Sep. 11, 2026
Ida Kohlmeyer, Afloat with Blues, oil on canvas
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Afloat with Blues" oil on canvas signed lower left, "White Gallery, 57th Street, New York, NY" label with artist and title, "The Glade Gallery, Toulouse Street, New Orleans, LA" label with artist and title, typed label with artist and title and artist biography on stretcher, framed.
Neal Auction Company
Jul. 16, 2026
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, "Smogged In", silkscreen
Est: $500 - $700
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Smogged In" silkscreen 1973, pencil-signed and dated lower right, titled, numbered "45/100" and blind stamp lower left, "Landfall Press, Chicago, IL" stamp and inscribed en verso, unframed.
Neal Auction Company
Jul. 16, 2026
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, "Kohlmeyer Kloud", silkscreen on paper
Est: $800 - $1,200
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Kohlmeyer Kloud" silkscreen on paper 1973, pencil-signed, titled, dated and numbered "32/100" lower margin, "Landfall Press, Chicago, IL" stamp en verso, blind stamp lower left under mat, framed.
Neal Auction Company
Jul. 16, 2026
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, "Tokens of Identity (State II)", lithograph
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Tokens of Identity (State II)" lithograph 1981, pencil-signed, titled and numbered "23/35" lower margin, framed.
Neal Auction Company
Jul. 16, 2026
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, "Circus Series, 84-6", oil and mixed media on canvas
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Circus Series, 84-6" oil and mixed media on canvas 1984, signed and dated lower center, framed. Note: A native of New Orleans, Ida Kohlmeyer achieved international acclaim as an artist and developed her own unique perspective on abstract art. She is widely considered one of the most influential artists from Louisiana and the South, although her art career did not begin until later in life. Following graduation from Sophie Newcomb Memorial College at Tulane University in 1933, Kohlmeyer married and raised a family. Dissatisfied with what she called a "vapid, dilettante life," she first joined the John McCrady Art School in 1947, and then began classes at Newcomb College under the tutelage of Pat Trivigno in 1950. She eventually pursued a master's degree in fine arts, producing primarily figurative studies and representational work for her thesis. Following the completion of her degree in 1956, Kohlmeyer spent a formative summer at the art colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts studying under Hans Hofmann. Abstraction appealed to Kohlmeyer, and she likened her sudden shift from representation to being freed from prison. The following year, Mark Rothko came to New Orleans in a visiting artist position at Tulane and moved his family into the Metairie home of Ida Kohlmeyer's late mother. The resulting friendship between Kohlmeyer and Rothko would have a profound influence on the trajectory of her work. By the 1970s, Kohlmeyer had transcended the influences of Hofmann and Rothko and moved entirely to non-objective subject matter. She developed her own code of schematic symbols, which she often arranged in a grid pattern on her canvases or rearranged into sculptural totems. These works are abstract, yet linguistic, and hint at the deep personal emotion behind them. While the symbols present a pictographic code, their meaning remains elusive. Throughout her active career, Kohlmeyer successfully exhibited her work in prestigious galleries and museums nationwide, with over one hundred solo exhibitions. She received the National Women's Caucus for Art's outstanding achievement award in 1980 and was the subject of her first major retrospective exhibition at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1983. Kohlmeyer can be considered a matriarch among American artists, as she broke the mold for southern artists and women artists alike during her lifetime. Her legacy is one of joyful, colorful works and a generation of female creators who follow in her footsteps. Reference: Plante, Michael. Ida Kohlmeyer: Systems of Color. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2004; Kessler, Jane. Ida Kohlmeyer: Thirty Years. Charlotte, NC: The Mint Museum, 1983.
Neal Auction Company
Jun. 17, 2026
IDA KOHLMEYER, 'QUARTERED', 1981, SERIGRAPH
Est: $1,200 - $2,400
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American / Louisiana, 1912-1997). "Quartered" - 1981, serigraph on paper, numbered 7 of 135, titled, signed, and dated to margin under image. Framed. Provenance: Private Collection of Marion Wall Hall, Atlanta, GA. Approximate dimensions: sheet h. 35", w. 38"; frame h. 37.25", w. 40.25", d. 1.125".
Ahlers & Ogletree Inc.
May. 14, 2026
Ida Kohlmeyer, Untitled
Est: $12,000 - $15,000
Ida Kohlmeyer Untitled c. 1960 oil on canvas 33 h x 37 w in (84 x 94 cm) Signed to lower right 'Kohlmeyer'. Provenance: Acquired in the 1960s, Dr. Rosalind Novick, New Orleans | Thence by descent to Dr. Lan Wu, California | Gift from the previous in 2016 to Genie and Mike Woods, Vista, CA This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.
Rago Arts and Auction Center
May. 05, 2026
Attr. Kohlmeyer, Mid Century Drip Painting
Est: $100 - $10,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997), acrylic on cardboard, signed "Ida R...1963", lower right. 30 1/8" high, 9 1/2" wide. Toning.
Schwenke Auctioneers
Mar. 10, 2026
Ida Kohlmeyer (US/Louisiana, 1912-1997) Gouache/Watercolor, 3 Modern painted shapes. Sight size 10-1/2 x 18 inches, overall framed size 23 x 15-3/4 inches.
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Ida Kohlmeyer (US/Louisiana, 1912-1997) Gouache/Watercolor, 3 Modern painted shapes. Sight size 10-1/2 x 18 inches, overall framed size 23 x 15-3/4 inches.
Bill Hood & Sons Arts & Antiques Auctions
Feb. 21, 2026
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER (American 1912-1997) "Two Totems in Gay Colors," 1973, 30 1/2 x 24 in. (77.5 x 61 cm.), Frame: 34 3/4 x 28 1/4 in. (88.3 x 71.8 cm.)
Est: $200 - $400
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER (American 1912-1997) "Two Totems in Gay Colors," 1973, screenprint on paper, titled, numbered, signed, and dated in pencil at lower right, "Two Totems in Gay Colors 52/100 / Kohlmeyer '73," with a label on reverse from DuBose Gallery, Houston, Texas.
Simpson Galleries, LLC
Feb. 15, 2026
IDA KOHLMEYER "ORANGE CLUSTER" ACRYLIC, 1974
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
IDA KOHLMEYER "ORANGE CLUSTER" ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 1974. Height: 22.5 & 13 in. by Width: 23.5 & 13 in. by Depth: 1.5 in.
Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
Feb. 15, 2026
IDA KOHLMEYER " VIOLET CLUSTER" ACRYLIC ON CANVAS,
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
IDA KOHLMEYER " VIOLET CLUSTER" ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 1974. Height: 22.5 & 13 in. by Width: 23.5 & 13 in. by Depth: 1.5 in.
Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
Feb. 15, 2026
IDA KOHLMEYER " PINK CLUSTER" ACRYLIC, 1974
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
IDA KOHLMEYER " PINK CLUSTER" ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 1974. Height: 22.5 & 15 in. by Width: 23.5 & 13 in. by Depth: 1.5 in.
Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
Feb. 15, 2026
IDA KOHLMEYER "PINK X ON BLUE" ACRYLIC, 1974
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
IDA KOHLMEYER "PINK X ON BLUE" ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 1974. Height: 22.5 & 15.5 in. by Width: 23.5 & 15.5 in. by Depth: 1.5 in.
Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
Feb. 03, 2026
Rittenberg Kohlmeyer "Tokens of Identity" Print
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997). Screenprint on paper titled "Tokens of Identity (State II)," 1981. Depicting a grid array of various shapes and symbols on black ground. Pencil signed and dated 1981 along the lower right; titled, blind stamped, and editioned "34/35" along the lower left.
Revere Auctions
Feb. 03, 2026
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer "Findlay's Print" 1979
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997). Screenprint on paper titled "Findlay's Print," 1979. Depicting an arrangement of symbols and pictographs in a grid format. Executed in vibrant colors. Pencil titled, editioned "2/15 AP," dated, and signed along the lower center margin.
Revere Auctions
Dec. 10, 2025
Ida Kohlmeyer, large mixed media on canvas, 1991
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Ida Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997), "Semiotic 91-C", signed and dated lower right, gallery label and biography verso, 78"h x 52.75"w (sight), 79"h x 53.75"w (frame)
Millea Bros Ltd
Dec. 10, 2025
Ida Kohlmeyer, mixed media on canvas, 1978
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
Ida Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997), "Cluster 2-41", signed and dated lower right, gallery label and artist biography verso, 56"h x 34"w (sight), 56.75"h x 34.75"w (frame)
Millea Bros Ltd
Dec. 06, 2025
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER 'FINDLAY'S PRINT' LITHO
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer 'Findlays's Print' lithograph in colors. Pencil signed, dated 1979, numbered 32/50 and titled lower center. Sheet measures 42" x 30"
Antiques & Modern Auction Gallery
Dec. 06, 2025
IDA KOHLMEYER 'UNTITLED, CLUSTER SERIES'
Est: $300 - $400
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer 'Untitled, Cluster Series' print in colors on wove paper. Sheet measures 35 3/4" x 24".
Antiques & Modern Auction Gallery
Nov. 21, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, "For the Grecian Gala", offset color lithograph
Est: $800 - $1,200
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "For the Grecian Gala" offset color lithograph 1980/1981, signed and dated in plate lower right, pencil-signed, titled, dated, numbered "98/350" and inscribed lower margin, framed.
Neal Auction Company
Nov. 21, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, “Kakatoe”, enamel and epoxy on aluminum
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Kakatoe" enamel and epoxy on aluminum 1992, unsigned. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA and exhibited in "Ida Kohlmeyer Recent Works", 1994; Collection of Madeline and Edward Redstone, Rancho Mirage, CA. Note: A native of New Orleans, Ida Kohlmeyer achieved international acclaim as an artist and developed her own unique perspective on abstract art. She is widely considered one of the most influential artists from Louisiana and the South, although her art career did not begin until later in life. Following graduation from Sophie Newcomb Memorial College at Tulane University in 1933, Kohlmeyer married and raised a family. Dissatisfied with what she called a "vapid, dilettante life," she first joined the John McCrady Art School in 1947, and then began classes at Newcomb College under the tutelage of Pat Trivigno in 1950. She eventually pursued a master's degree in fine arts, producing primarily figurative studies and representational work for her thesis. Following the completion of her degree in 1956, Kohlmeyer spent a formative summer at the art colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts studying under Hans Hofmann. Abstraction appealed to the Kohlmeyer, and she likened her sudden shift from representation to being freed from prison. The following year, Mark Rothko came to New Orleans in a visiting artist position at Tulane and moved his family into the Metairie home of Ida Kohlmeyer's late mother. The resulting friendship between Kohlmeyer and Rothko would have a profound influence on the trajectory of her work. By the 1970s, Kohlmeyer had transcended the influences of Hofmann and Rothko and moved entirely to non-objective subject matter. She developed her own code of schematic symbols, which she often arranged in a grid pattern on her canvases or rearranged into sculptural totems. These works are abstract, yet linguistic, and hint at the deep personal emotion behind them. While the symbols present a pictographic code, their meaning remains elusive. Beginning in the late 1960s, Kohlmeyer explored the extension of her pictorial compositions into three dimensions. Taking several approaches in both small and large scale, the initial sculptures played with form and texture, almost always reflecting her contemporaneous paintings. By the mid-1980s, Kohlmeyer was extracting shapes from her grid paintings and reassembling them into totemic forms that served as anthropomorphic representations within her complex visual language. As the sculptures developed, the scale increased and the works, created in fabricated steel or aluminum and then painted, became more elaborately volumetric, as seen in the monumental "Kakatoe" of 1992 offered here. Throughout her active career, Kohlmeyer successfully exhibited her work in prestigious galleries and museums nationwide, with over one hundred solo exhibitions. She received the National Women's Caucus for Art's outstanding achievement award in 1980 and was the subject of her first major retrospective exhibition at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1983. Kohlmeyer can be considered a matriarch among American artists, as she broke the mold for southern artists and women artists alike during her lifetime. Her legacy is one of joyful, colorful artworks and a generation of female creators who follow in her footsteps. Ref.: Plante, Michael. Ida Kohlmeyer: Systems of Color. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2004; Kessler, Jane. Ida Kohlmeyer: Thirty Years. Charlotte, NC: The Mint Museum, 1983.
Neal Auction Company
Nov. 21, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, "Untitled", oil, charcoal and graphite on canvas
Est: $5,000 - $8,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Untitled" oil, charcoal and graphite on canvas signed lower right, framed. Provenance: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan, Houston, TX; Simpson Galleries, Houston, TX, Feb. 8, 2025, lot 312; Private Collection, New Orleans, LA.
Neal Auction Company
Nov. 20, 2025
Ida Kohlmeyer, Untitled
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
Ida Kohlmeyer Untitled painted metal collaged to painted wood 27.25 h x 12.75 w x 0.75 d in (69 x 32 x 2 cm) Signed to lower right 'Kohlmeyer'. This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.
Rago Arts and Auction Center
Nov. 20, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/Louisiana, 1912-1997), "Icons"
Est: $1,200 - $1,800
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/Louisiana, 1912-1997) "Icons" three oils on shaped metal sculptures unsigned, each on a wooden presentation stand.
New Orleans Auction Galleries
Nov. 19, 2025
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER (1912-1997) Mythic Series #43 60 x 60 in. (152.4 x 152.4 cm.) (Painted in 1986-1990)
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER (1912-1997) Mythic Series #43 signed and dated '1986-90 Kohlmeyer' (lower right); inscribed and dated 'Mythic Series #43 1986-90' (on a label affixed to the stretcher) oil, oil stick and charcoal on canvas 60 x 60 in. (152.4 x 152.4 cm.) Painted in 1986-1990
Bonhams
Nov. 19, 2025
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER (1912-1997) Composite 90-2 50 1/2 x 50 in. (128.3 x 127 cm.) (Painted in 1990)
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER (1912-1997) Composite 90-2 signed and dated 'Kohlmeyer 1990' (lower right); inscribed and dated 'Composite 90-2 1990 Kohlmeyer' (on a label affixed to the stretcher) oil, oil stick and charcoal on canvas 50 1/2 x 50 in. (128.3 x 127 cm.) Painted in 1990
Bonhams
Nov. 19, 2025
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER (1912-1997) Horizontal Rectangles 81-A 61 x 107 in. (154.9 x 271.8 cm.) (Painted in 1981)
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
IDA RITTENBERG KOHLMEYER (1912-1997) Horizontal Rectangles 81-A signed and dated 'Kohlmeyer 1981' (lower right) oil, oil stick and charcoal on canvas 61 x 107 in. (154.9 x 271.8 cm.) Painted in 1981
Bonhams
Nov. 12, 2025
Ida Kohlmeyer, Untitled
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
Ida Kohlmeyer Untitled 1976 mixed media on canvas 37 h x 39 w in (94 x 99 cm) Signed and dated to lower right 'Kohlmeyer 1976'. This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.
Rago Arts and Auction Center
Oct. 18, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997), "Untitled"
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/Louisiana, 1912-1997) "Untitled", 1985 carved and painted wood assemblage signed and dated at bottom.
New Orleans Auction Galleries
Oct. 05, 2025
"PINK X ON BLUE" BY IDA KOHLMEYER
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
"PINK X ON BLUE" BY IDA KOHLMEYER Height: 23 in. by Width: 24 in.
Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
Oct. 05, 2025
"PINK CLUSTER" BY IDa KOHLMEYER
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
"PINK CLUSTER" BY IDA KOHLMEYER Height: 22.5 in. by Width: 23.5 in.
Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
Oct. 05, 2025
"VIOLET CLUSTER" BY ID KOHLMEYER
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
"VIOLET CLUSTER" IDA KOHLMEYER. Height: 23.5 in. by Width: 22.5 in. by Depth: 1 in.
Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
Oct. 04, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, Louisiana (1912 - 1997), Cluster Drawing #14, 1975, mixed media on paper, 6 1/4"H x 14"W(sight), 14 1/4"H x 21 3/4"W(frame)
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer Louisiana, (1912 - 1997) Cluster Drawing #14, 1975 mixed media on paper Signed and dated lower right. Biography from the Archives of askART: Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer became one of the most prominent abstract artists in the South and started her career late, turning to art in her late thirties in search of a deeper meaning and purpose in life. She moved from an early figurative style in paintings of children to Abstract-Expressionism, influenced by a summer's study in Provincetown, Massachusetts with Hans Hofmann. Kohlmeyer's life before art was relatively conventional, though her native creative instincts are clear in her feeling for literature. She was born in 1911 in New Orleans, Louisiana, gaining her B.A. degree in English literature in 1933 from Newcomb College. She then married a businessman and had two children. Her artistic evolution began when she took local art classes, accelerating with her study of art at Tulane University in New Orleans, where she eventually received an M.F.A. degree in 1956. She was forty-five years old. That summer the fateful encounter with Hofmann occurred when she took his classes in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and his influence as an abstractionist was reinforced by Mark Rothko in 1957 when both he and Kohlmeyer were teaching at the Sophie Newcomb School in Tulane. These men influenced her to change her style from representation to abstraction including the blurring of bands of color into large geometric shapes. In the 1970s, she developed a distinctive style using personalized symbols or hieroglyphs, which she continued to use in her work. Kohlmeyer's work would evolve to paintings utilizing grids, and abstract sculpture in a variety of materials from styrofoam to steel. The artist had numerous exhibitions in galleries and museums including Gimpel Fils, London; the David Findlay Galleries, and Ruth White Gallery in New York City; New Orleans Museum of Art; William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco; Indiana State University, Terre Haute; and Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, among others. Kohlmeyer's work is found in the collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art; National Museum of Women in the Arts; and National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.; Jewish Museum, New York City; Milwaukee Art Center; Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Houston Museum of Fine Arts; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer died in 1997. From Jules and Nancy Heller, North American Women Artists of the 20th Century Charlotte Steifer Rubinstein, American Women Artists
Ripley Auctions
Oct. 02, 2025
IDA KOHLMEYER, LOUISIANA 1912-1997, "SMOGGED IN", 1973, Serigraph, Sight: 18 1/4 x 25 in. (46.4 x 63.5 cm.), Frame: 24 1/2 x 20.3 in. (62.2 x 51.7 cm.)
Est: $700 - $900
IDA KOHLMEYER LOUISIANA, 1912-1997 "SMOGGED IN", 1973 Serigraph Lower left titled and numbered: Smogged in 79/100; lower left blind stamp; lower right signed: KOHLMEYER '73
Potomack Company
Sep. 25, 2025
Ida Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997) Cluster Shelf #4, 1987
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
Ida Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997) Cluster Shelf #4, 1987 acrylic on wood 36 x 40 1/2 x 6 inches. Property from a Private Collection, Bonita Springs, Florida This lot is located in Chicago.
Freeman’s | Hindman
Sep. 12, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, "Quartered", serigraph
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Quartered" serigraph 1981, pencil-signed, titled, dated and numbered "94/135" lower margin, blind stamp lower margin under mat, framed.
Neal Auction Company
Aug. 15, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/Louisiana, 1912-1997), "Four for the CAC," 1980, Sight- H.- 17 1/2 in., W.- 22 1/2 in., Framed- H.- 26 in., W.- 31 1/2 in.
Est: $500 - $800
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/Louisiana, 1912-1997), "Four for the CAC," 1980, color serigraph on paper, pencil signed, titled and numbered "270/350" lower margin, presented in a giltwood frame with a linen mat and gilt liner under plexiglass,
Crescent City Auction Gallery
Jul. 27, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997), "Clusters"
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/Louisiana, 1912-1997) "Clusters", 1974 oil and mixed media on paper signed and dated lower right. Float-mounted, glazed and framed.
New Orleans Auction Galleries
Jul. 03, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, "Quartered", serigraph, 35 x 38 in. (88.9 x 96.5 cm.), Frame: 36 1/4 x 39 x 1 1/4 in. (92.1 x 99.1 x 3.2 cm.)
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Quartered" serigraph 1981, pencil-signed, titled, dated and editioned "WP 2/4" lower margin, blind stamp lower left under mat, framed.
Neal Auction Company
Jul. 03, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, American/Louisiana 1912-1997, “Untitled”, mixed media collage, Sight: 39 1/2 x 24 5/8 in. (100.3 x 62.5 cm.), Frame: 43 5/8 x 28 7/8 x 1 3/8 in. (110.8 x 73.3 x 3.5 cm.)
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer American/Louisiana, 1912-1997 "Untitled" mixed media collage 1979, pencil-signed and dated mid-right, framed.
Neal Auction Company
Jun. 17, 2025
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer, 1912-1997 (USA)
Est: £20,000 - £40,000
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (1912-1997). “Untitled: Symbols Series”, 1974. Mixed media on canvas, size 168 x 213 cm (66 x 84 inches). Signed and dated on the lower right. Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer became one of the most prominent abstract artists in the South and started her career late, turning to art in her late thirties in search of a deeper meaning and purpose in life. She moved from an early figurative style in paintings of children to Abstract-Expressionism, influenced by a summer's study in Provincetown, Massachusetts with Hans Hofmann. She was born in 1911 in New Orleans, Louisiana, gaining her B.A. degree in English literature in 1933 from Newcomb College. Her artistic evolution began when she took local art classes, accelerating with her study of art at Tulane University in New Orleans, where she eventually received an M.F.A. degree in 1956. She was forty-five years old. That summer the fateful encounter with Hofmann occurred when she took his classes in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and his influence as an abstractionist was reinforced by Mark Rothko in 1957 when both he and Kohlmeyer were teaching at the Sophie Newcomb School in Tulane. In the 1970s, she developed a distinctive style using personalized symbols or hieroglyphs, which she continued to use in her work. The artist had numerous exhibitions in galleries and museums including Gimpel Fils, London; the David Findlay Galleries, and Ruth White Gallery in New York City; New Orleans Museum of Art; William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco; Indiana State University, Terre Haute; and Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, among others. Kohlmeyer's work is found in the collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art; National Museum of Women in the Arts; and National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.; Jewish Museum, New York City; Milwaukee Art Center; Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Houston Museum of Fine Arts; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer died in 1997.
Cultural Traditions
Jun. 11, 2025
IDA KOHLMEYER NUDE FEMALE OIL ON CANVAS, 1971
Est: $6,500 - $9,500
IDA KOHLMEYER (1912-1997) NUDE WOMAN OIL ON CANVAS 1971. Ida Kohlmeyer was a distinguished abstract painter who found inspiration in South American folk art, leading her to develop a visual lexicon of pictographs. She earned a bachelors degree in English literature from Newcomb College at Tulane University and would later return to her alma mater in her late thirties to pursue a masters degree in painting. Studying under Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann in the summer of 1956, she adopted an organic, gestural style influenced by the floating shapes and soft edges of Arshile Gorky and Mark Rothko. She continued to evolve her style, later arriving at a language of discrete pictographs, symbols, and geometric shapes that float against an abstract background. Her work was the subject of two retrospectives during her lifetime, one at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and another originating at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Height: 22 in. by Width: 17 in.
Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
Apr. 12, 2025
IDA KOHLMEYER 'CLUSTER SERIES' MIXED MEDIA / PAPER
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
Mixed media painting on wove paper attributed to Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997). Pencil signed and dated 1989 lower right. Holds blindstamp upper right. Sheet measures 30" x 22 1/4".
Antiques & Modern Auction Gallery
Apr. 12, 2025
IDA KOHLMEYER 'CLUSTER SERIES' MIXED MEDIA / PAPER
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
Mixed media painting on wove paper attributed to Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997). Pencil signed and dated 1988 lower right. Sheet measures 30" x 22 1/4".
Antiques & Modern Auction Gallery