The Artist
Idda Lütolf, born in Lucerne (Switzerland), inherited her talents through the genes of both grandfathers, one was a composer, the other Art-photographer. After her studies of economics, Idda Lütolf worked for a number of years for Swissair as a flight-attendant. This offered her the opportunity to visit all the great museums and arts exhibitions around the world. Jean Tinguely (Basel Switzerland) was a great example for her.. Through her marriage she moved to Ieper and came into contact with the Flemish artists of the region. Thanks to her knowledge of he Flemish language, the feeling of well-being in the flat country, and motivated by many friends, she was tempted to take up again her artistic creativity. She continued her evolution through self-teaching and with Belgian Art-teachers in private Ateliers.
 

The Work
For Idda Lütolf creativity is a certain form of communication. She paints playing water-colours wherein an original written message is reproduced,where by generally each sentence is represented as congratulation in another colour. By using soft and warm tones and intimate symbols she manages to create a work with an atmosphere that illustrates her emotions. In her oil paintings she is capable to illustrate in narrative manner. Her love for everything related to astrology is for Lütolf an inexhaustible source of new inspirations. From her sub-conscience her dreams are given total liberty throughout the cosmos. One cannot however accuse her of ignorance. She knows this subject. Each composition is structured realistically, as in the case of the painting "The Solar-System". The attentive spectator must be able to conclude from it to what extent it expresses the degree of Lütolf,s love for the subject and for the colour. From the sub-conscience she is able to spontaneously and honestly build up a soul-gripping composition and to transfer the tensions onto the canvas through a deeply felt personal colour palette.

On some of her works she comes forward in an abstracting form, as if she flirting with the abstraction, and she manages to create a picture of what has stimulated her emotionally. In her sensual nudes, she is searching for the inner motivations of the model or the figure. Thereby the uses a soft line in order to present the spectator a harmonious atmosphere of the whole. Painting seems to be for Lütolf a compulsory necessity, to project a reflection of her rich moral and sentimental life, of her fancy and her dream world by means of colour and shape onto the canvas. She is thus revealing to the spectator a Universe in which he can fulfil his own dreams. It is at the same time an invitation to a dialogue whereby the sense of beauty of each one is woken up.

Critical evaluation
Idda Lütolf has a spontaneous sense for shape and line, light and colour. The cosmic orientation of certain paintings, the rotating elements which dominate the canvas as well as the illumination in the picture produce a fascinating radiance. But she also knows ho to transmit to the clown-type figures deep-felt and humorous air, whereby she is furthermore capable to create a harmonic colour-symphony. The artist reveals in a surprising manner her sentimental to man, to nature and to the cosmos.