Louis Ritman (American Artist, 1889 to 1963)
A critic in the “International Studio” in April 1919 referred to Ritman as “the Vermeer of the impressionist school”. This is not surprising as Louis Ritman’s work embodies all the elements of American impressionism and post-impressionism; high-keyed palette, limiting spatial depth by use of complex array of multicolors, decorative effect of profuse patterning in composition and well-modeled, anatomically accurate figures.
Ritman came with his family to the United States from Russia as a teenager. His studies at the Art Institute of Chicago were under Wellington J. Reynolds and John H. Vanderpoel, and from there he went to Paris to further his instruction. Ritman’s work was accepted by the Paris Salon jury in 1911 and that summer he discovered the American expatriate circle at Giverny. By 1913, he was integrating modernistic effects into his works, including geometric compositions and the flattening of the surfaces of objects by imposing abstract patterns. A year later, the Art Institute gave him a one-man show in February, which was a huge success.