Louis von Kaelnau (pronounced "Kell-now") was born in Chicago in 1924, the only child of artist parents. The senior von Kaelnau was a calligrapher and illustrator of children's books, in collaboration with the artist's mother, who also was a medical illustrator for the University of Minnesota.

The family moved to Minneapolis when young Louis was six years old, and settled in the Lakes district of south Minneapolis in a neighborhood of modest but pleasant homes. The future artist reveled in the close observation of nature and marine life there, and also enjoyed many rock and fossil hunting trips with his parents, both of whom were avid amateur mineralogists.

When the von Kaelnaus moved to Minneapolis, they brought with them Louis's maternal grandmother, a woman of iron will and great internal resources. She had departed Riga, Lativia in 1909 on a ship bound for the United States, her 4-year-old daughter (Louis von Kaelnau's mother) in arms. She intended to reclaim the recalcitrant husband who had abandoned her and the child, and this she did, in Chicago, U.S.A.

His grandmother taught German to her grandson; by the time Louis von Kaelnau was six years old, his grandmother had to read to him in German; all of the Old Testament, all of the New Testament and all of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Mr. von Kaelnau received his primary and secondary schooling in the Minneapolis public schools. He then enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (from which he graduated with honors) and finally, the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm, Sweden.

Next, he sailed to many of the exotic ports of the world as a Merchant Marine seaman and then went to Florida to work as a designer and craftsman of fiberglass boats and other utilitarian objects. During this period he was extremely uncertain about his own capabilities as an artist, but when he came back to Minneapolis for a visit, friends convinced him to remain in Minneapolis and launch himself as a sculptor. Since that time 13 years ago, Mr. von Kaelnau has worked exclusively as a sculptor of clear resin objects. His style has evolved and unfolded over the years, and he feels he is doing right now at age 68, the finest work he has ever done. He says if he had 2 or 3 lifetimes left, it would not be enough time to put into tangible form all the ideas he has.

His material is space-age and utterly modern, yet universal and timeless in its glorification of light, that ultimate mother of us all, that which, without which there can be no life at all.

Louis von Kaelnau's work is not intended to shock or confuse the viewer. Rather, he says he loves to make objects which are simply beautiful to look a and which invite the viewer to share his delight in the endless combination of light and shadow t be seen in his pieces.

The elegant, exuberant forms he gives us are exciting but not bizarre. They are timeless in their simplicity and invariably attractive to the innately tasteful collector who knows what is good and will wear well.