Meditation

Ivan G. Olinsky was born in Elizabethgrad, Russia (now Kirovohrad, Ukraine) in 1878. At the age of 13, his family immigrated to the U.S., settling in New York City.

In New York, Olinsky began studying at the National Academy of Design. In 1900, he was hired as an assistant by famed artist John La Farge. He continued in this role for eight years.

Wanting to establish his own career as an artist, he moved to Italy with his wife and daughter, before returning to New York in 1910.

Olinsky became best known for his female portraits done in an Impressionist style. In addition to his work, he served as an instructor at the Art Students League for many years.

Later in his life, he moved to Connecticut, where he and his second daughter Tosca Olinsky, a notable painter in her own right, became involved with the Old Lyme Art Colony. He died 1962.

He was awarded full membership in the National Academy of Design in 1919, and served as a longtime instructor at the Art Students League of New York in Manhattan, New York City.