Mira Lehr Abstract Paintings

Mira Lehr graduated from Vassar College in 1956 with a degree in art history, where she studied under the mentorship of Linda Nochlin, the renowned feminist art historian.

In the 1950s, Lehr lived and worked in New York as an artist, where she studied with James Brooks, Ludwig Sander, Robert Motherwell, and within the Hans Hofmann circle. During this time, she met some of America’s most prominent masters including Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner and Helen Frankenthaler.

When Lehr moved to Florida in 1960, she was shocked at the lack of an art scene, especially for women. She founded Continuum in 1960, one of the country’s first co-ops for women artists, which flourished for more than 30 years until the mid-‘90s. During this period, Lehr convinced many of the masters she met in New York to visit and lead workshops. This helped the evolution of art in Florida, earning her acclaim as "The Godmother of Miami's Art Scene."

In 2014, her work was the subject of a monograph, Mira Lehr: Arc of Nature, which included an essay by Irving Sandler and has recently been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, the Jewish Museum of Florida and the Mennello Museum of Art in Orlando, Florida.

Her work can also be found in numerous private and public collections including the permanent collections of the Orlando Museum of Art, the Perez Art Museum of Art in Miami and the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach in Florida; the Vassar College Library in Poughkeepsie, New York; and the American embassies in Dhaka, Bangladesh; Sofia, Bulgaria; Mexico City, Mexico; and Bucharest, Romania.

Find a collection of original Mira Lehr art on 1stDibs.