Ivan Olinsky: Prodigy

"Purple and Gold" by Ivan Olinsky

"Distinguished as a painter and teacher, Ivan Gregorovitch Olinsky (1878-1962) is best known for portraits and images of female figures in interiors, which he rendered in a vivid Impressionist style. Often he showed figures who appear to blend in with floral backgrounds, demonstrating a decorative approach similar to that used by Robert Reid and Frederick Frieseke. Like Reid and Frieseke, Olinsky complied with the taste for depictions of attractive, pensive women, but he also captured the individuality of his subjects, conveying their intelligence and strength of character.

The son of a farmer, Olinsky was born in an agricultural part of Ukraine and grew up in Elizabethgrad, Russia, a town near Odessa. Having begun to draw before his family settled in Elizabethgrad, he was sufficiently talented to study drawing at the university when he was only nine or ten years old--most of his classmates were twice his age. When he was twelve, his family emigrated to New York City, settling on Henry Street in lower Manhattan. In New York, Olinsky initially attended public school, but when he heard about the National Academy of Design, he was determined to attend."

To be continued

(Excerpts from the biography of Ivan Olinsky from Spanierman Gallery's website.)