LOUIS RITMAN 1889-1963

Louis Ritman (1889–1963) was an American painter whose work follows in the tradition of Post-Impressionism, enriched by a decorative and intimate sensibility.

Trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and later in Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian, Ritman was deeply influenced by the teaching of William Merritt Chase and by the French pictorial tradition, particularly Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard. He developed a pictorial language grounded in color, light, and a harmonious construction of space.

His work is distinguished by light-filled interior scenes, gardens, and landscapes imbued with calm and poetry. A free brushstroke, a luminous palette, and a keen attention to chromatic interplay lend his compositions an atmosphere that is both refined and contemplative.

A painter of intimacy, Louis Ritman occupies a singular place in twentieth-century American art, embodying a subtle dialogue between the European Post-Impressionist heritage and a deeply personal modern sensibility.