Artist Katie von der Ohe
Title Janet's Crown #A/P
Media colour silkscreen on paper
Dated
2001
Size 11 x 8 in. / 27.9 x 20.3 cm.
Estimate $450 - $900
Notes
signed, titled, dated and numbered along bottom; unframed
Provenance
this work was generously donated by the artist; proceeds will be donated to the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts) Centennial Scholarships fund in celebration of the university's Centennial year. The Centennial Scholarships fund is a transformative initiative to provide future artists, craftspersons, and designers with tuition-free education. Centennial Scholarships will reduce financial barriers and provide students with a tuition-free year of study. For more information or to donate directly visit: auarts.ca/donate-now
Biographical Information
Katie von der Ohe ~ [b.1937] Canadian ASA, RCA
Katie Ohe is a Canadian artist best known for her abstract and kinetic sculptures and her influential role as a teacher and mentor to generations of Alberta artists. Spanning more than six decades, her practice reflects a lifelong curiosity about movement, form, material, and the relationship between artwork and viewer.
Born in Peers, Alberta in 1937, Ohe began studying at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (now Alberta University of the Arts) in 1954, where her mentors included Marion Nicoll, Luke Lindoe, Stanford Perrott, and Illingworth Kerr. She later studied child art education under Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and sculpture at the Sculpture Center in New York.
Ohe became known for kinetic sculptures that invite touch, motion, and interaction. Working in steel, aluminum, concrete, and other materials, her process-driven approach explores relationships between body, space, and form. Her broader practice also includes drawing and printmaking.
In 1970, Ohe began teaching at the Alberta College of Art, where she taught for more than 40 years and mentored numerous artists, including Chris Cran and Evan Penny. In 2007, she co-founded the Kiyooka Ohe Arts Centre (KOAC) with her life partner, artist Harry Kiyooka.
Ohe’s work is held in major public and private collections across Canada. Her honours include the Alberta Order of Excellence (2019), Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025).
for more biographical information and examples of work see artist's website at koartscentre.org
see Katie Ohe, by Richard Gordon, published by Alberta College of Art, 1991;
Katie Ohe: Ethos, Now and Then, published by Herringer Kiss Gallery, 2015
included in
The Shell Canada Collection, by Basil Shammas, pg. 39, Shell Canada, Calgary, 1977;
Artists of Alberta, by Suzanne Devonshire Baker, pg. 36, University of Alberta Press, 1980;
Founders of the Alberta College of Art, by Valerie Greenfield, pg. 95, 1986;
Alberta Society of Artists, the First Seventy Five Years, by Kathy E. Zimon, plate 59, University of Calgary Press, 2000
biography and other examples in
Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction, by Anthony R. Westbridge, Vol. 3, pg. 60, Westbridge Publishing, 2001
Dictionary of Canadian Artists, by Colin MacDonald, Vol. 5, pg. 1428
listed on Artists in Canada, a Union List of Artists' Files, by National Gallery of Canada Library et al, see website at Canadian Heritage Information Network [CHIN]