Supercentenarian Profile

Ides Kihlen

Born:

1917-07-10

Santa Fe,

Argentina

Current Residence:

Buenos Aires,

Argentina

✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest

Ides Kihlen is an Argentine semi-supercentenarian. She is currently the world’s oldest active painter.

BIOGRAPHY

Ides Kihlen was born in Santa Fe, Argentina, on 10 July 1917 to Swedish immigrant father and Argentine mother of Swiss origins. She spent her childhood between Santa Fe, Chaco, and Corrientes, in close contact with nature—an experience that would shape her artistic sensibility.

From a young age, she showed an inclination for both painting and music. She trained at the Ernesto de la Cárcova School of Decorative Arts in Buenos Aires and studied with renowned teachers such as Pío Collivadino, Vicente Puig, Juan Batlle Planas, Emilio Pettoruti, André Lhote (in Paris), and Kenneth Kemble. Simultaneously, she studied piano at the National Conservatory of Music and went on to perform as a concert pianist. The relationship between music and color would become a constant in her artistic production.

Despite having painted throughout her life, Kihlen kept her work private for over eight decades. She worked quietly and freely, unconcerned with trends or public exhibition. Many of her pieces were stored away, reworked, or even destroyed by herself, in a continuous and personal creative process.

Only in 2000, when she was over 80 years old, did she begin to show her work to the public. In 2002, she held a major retrospective at the National Museum of Decorative Arts, which marked the beginning of her growing recognition. Since then, she has exhibited in galleries and museums in Argentina and abroad, establishing herself as a singular figure in contemporary Argentine art.

Her style is characterized by experimentation with painting, collage, and mixed media, incorporating paper, thread, and various assembled materials. Her works are often organized into series and feature vibrant abstract forms with a strong rhythmic and chromatic imprint that reflects her musical background.

In 2018, she was declared a Distinguished Figure of Culture by the Buenos Aires City Legislature. She also received tributes and retrospective exhibitions at institutions such as the National Museum of Fine Arts, where her career spanning more than a century was recognized.

Ides Kihlen continued painting and playing the piano daily even after turning 100. Her life and work reflect a profound conviction: art is not just a profession, but a way of life.

She currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.