Leo Wrye Zimmerman

Who was Leo Wrye Zimmerman?

Leo Wrye Zimmerman was an abstract artist who founded The Society for the Arts in Louisville and was a prolific Louisville artist for over 50 years. His unique style combined art, philosophy, and invention. Zimmerman was born in Timlin, Pennsylvania, but moved to and grew up in his mother's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. He attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky with the intent to study medicine and follow in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Leo Zimmerman. Shortly after his first school year, with World War II in full swing, he joined the army, worked as a medic, then in Special Services in Biarritz and Paris and determined that art was his path. After serving honorably, and studying art while awaiting a ship home, Zimmerman returned to Louisville and won first prize in the Ashland Oil Company art contest.

Proceeds from the award were enough to allow Zimmerman and his new bride, Marie Kavanaugh Graves, to go to Paris. In Paris for five years, Zimmerman mixed with the top abstract artists of the 1950s including Robert Breer, Jean Dewasne, Auguste Herbin, Fernand Léger, Edgar Pillet, Jack Youngerman and Victor Vasarely.