IVAN OLINSKY

(1878-1962)

 Born in the Ukraine, Ivan Olinsky moved to New York City with his parents sometime around 1890, and he began to study art at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design.  At both schools, Olinsky eventually took teaching posts, remaining a member of the faculty for many years.  From 1900 to 1908, Olinsky served as an assistant to artist John La Farge (1835-1910), with whom he worked on mural painting and stained-glass commissions.  After this apprenticeship, he spent two years painting in Italy and France, spending much of his time in Venice.  When he returned to the United States, Olinsky set up a studio in New York City, which he maintained for the rest of his career, and, beginning in 1917, the artist and his family began to spend their summers in the Grassy Hill section of Old Lyme. 

A much sought after painter of women’s portraits, Olinsky also produced still lifes and landscape paintings.  From early on in his career, Olinsky’s art was critically acclaimed, and throughout his life, he was an integral part of the New York and Lyme art communities.

Memberships

Allied Artists of America, New York, NY

American Federation of Arts, New York, NY

American Watercolor Society, New York, NY

Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford, CT

Lotos Club, New York, NY

Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT

National Academy of Design, New York, NY

National Arts Club, New York, NY

New York Society of Painters, New York, NY

Salmagundi Club, New York, NY

Ivan G. Olinsky

American, 1878-1962

Partial Awards List

Thomas B. Clark Prize (National Academy of Design, 1914)

Samuel T. Shaw Prize (Salmagundi Club, 1919)

Museum Purchase Prize (Lyme Art Association, 1922)

W.S. Eaton Purchase Prize (Lyme Art Association, 1926)

Carnegie Prize (National Academy of Design, 1929)

Goodman Prize (Lyme Art Association, 1930)

Maida Gregg Memorial Prize (National Arts Club, 1931)

Henry Ward Ranger Purchase Prize (National Academy of Design, 1931)

Members Prize (National Arts Club, 1935)

Gold Medal (Allied Artists of America, 1935)

Isidor Prize (Salmagundi Club, 1936)

Adolph and Clara Obrig Prize (National Academy of Design, 1937)

Best Painting Prize (Lyme Art Association, 1937)

Pastel Drawing Prize (Lotos Club, 1941)

Joseph DeCamp Prize (St. Botolph Club, 1942)

Thomas B. Proctor Prize (National Academy of Design, 1952)

Henry Ward Ranger Purchase Prize (National Academy of Design, 1953)

Emily Lowe Prize (Allied Artists of America, 1961)

Select Public Collections

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT

Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT