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ividing his life between New YorkCity and the small town of Hunrer,New York, Nachan Dolinsky particularly en-

joyed painting the landscape thar surrounded thequiet village as well as portraits of the community'schildren. For a"lmost eighcyyears the artisr maintaineda residence in the small town, inspired by the beautyof the land and the friendliness of its people. Neverdrawn to melancholy subjects, Dolinsky painred rhejoyful aspects ofhis life.

In 1893 the Dolinsky family immigrared fromRussia, where they had lived in Moscow and Kiev, roNew York City. Nathan, the second youngest ofsevenchildren, was almost three years old when his familyarrived in America. The Dolinskys enjoyed the cul-tural activities of city life yet found rranquiliry andpeace in the rural village of Hunter. The family vaca-

tioned there for rnany years and later purchased a3,000-acre farm and established a permanenr resi-dence. As the family macured, Nathan's parents sup-ported the interescs of all their children, includingyoung Nathan's arciscic ambitions. Dolinsky was es-

pecially close to his siscer, Aida, whom he frequentlyused as a rqodel throughout her life. Aida, in turn,was his biggest champion. At rhe age of ten, he stud-ied formally with Henry McBride, dean of rhe Ameri-can critics at the Educational Alliance, and ar rhir-teen he studied at the National Academy of Design.He concinued to study underJerome Meyers and also

received instruction from Siegmund Ivanovski, whobecame the Polish art comrnissioner after World War I.1

Dolinsky began exhibiting his works when hewas sixteen, in private shows, one-man, and smallgroup presentations; however, he steered away fromcompetitive exhibitions.2 In 1972, he became chair-man of the Art Guild in New York Ciry. The fo11ow-

ing year Dolinsky displayed one of his oils, The Sight-1ess, in the Armory Show of 1913. At rhar rime he was

twenty-three years old. the youngesr arrisr ro parrici-pate in rhe famous exhibition. Dolinsky was asked topatticipare because oF his work wirh "The Eighr," orthe Ashcan School. Although nor a member of rhatgroup, Dolinsky displayed his work with theirs prob-ably because his paintings revealed their influencesin palette and subject marter. His work mirrored rhework ofthe Ashcan arrisrs in irs urban subject marterand in its character as "not an art of social commen-tary but one thar fek che pulse ofciry life...they [theartists] relied on rapid execution...which lends rheircanvasses the immediacy of spontaneous observation."3

Dolinsky painted in oils and acrylics and drew

in charcoal and ink; because he wanted to develop histalents in other media, he also experimenced wirh etch-

ing. From early in his career, Dolinsky preferred co

work alone, either in a silent classroom after schoolor in his private scudio. This solitude enabled him tostudy the spiric of an individual or rhe armosphere ofa landscape. "His paintings catch and express, in a

portrait, the inner personality of the model or in a

landscape, a mood. Each paincing has somerhing tran-scendent;' wrote one criaic.4

Recognized primarily as a portrair painter,Nathan Dolinsky was comfortable painring familymembers, children, landscapes, and even the personalevents ofhis own 1ife. Ofhis art he said, "Technique,no matter how good, is not enough. You have to have

talent and imagination, and you have to be able tosay someching in the painting."s Adhering ro rhis dic-tum, Dolinsky's works relate simple, mome4tary joyas expressed in the faces and postures ofhis sitters.His early style ofpainting has been characcerized as

casting a Victorian haze over a nineteenth-centuryacademic style with a constant "blending and mutingof all chroma and disregarding value scales."6 His sty1e,

with cool colors and misty atmosphere, have an im-mediacy that recalls rhe spontaneiry of his friendsamong "The Eighti' especially \X/i11iam Glackens.

After Dolinsky married a beauriful young nursenamed Blossom, the cwo explored Europe and thewestern United States, later establishing part-dmeresidence in Hunter. As rhey rraveled, his sryle became

more refined, and his colors bolder. Moreover, his tech-

nique started to resemble that of Maxfield Parrish,who used pure colors creating a luminescence and fra-gility in works of art chac blend worlds of reality andfantasy. To establish compositions, Parrish used pho-tographs ofmodels that he arranged on the canvas rocreate "lines of dynamic symmetry."T Dolinsky'sdiptychs are similar in style although ir is unknownto what extent he used photography.

Because of his association with the Armory Show,

Dolinsky was asked to teach at Cooper Union in NewYork. He began to teach in 1913 and he srayed for sixyears. "This was my life," said the artist. "I was one ofthe youngest instructors to teach at Cooper Union..."8During his tenure at the school, Dolinsky became amember of the Salmagundi Society, rhe oldest arrisrs'association in the Unired Srates. Membership carriespresdge and honor, for affiliation is only grantedby unanimous election.

Although they never had any of their own, rheDolinskys loved children and encouraged them in the

study of fine arts. The couple founded CampSchoharie in 7920 in Hunter with the goal ofprovid-ing boys and girls from the ages ofnine to seventeen

summers of educational fun. Sports, painting, sing-

ing, dance, and music classes were offered to the chil-dren so that they would have a variety of means bywhich to express themselves. Parenfs were encouraged

to stay in Hunter at a lodge provided for them on thecampground andvisit "The Dream Gardenl'the magica1 house and gardens Dolinsky had designed as a wed-

ding gift for his sister and her suitor, not far from thecamp. Along with the participants of the camp andtheir parents, prominent people of the period, such

as socialites, writers, and movie stars, visited "The BigHouse," the family home, to attend social gatherings.e

With so many visitors Dolinsky never ran out of sub-jects to paint, and he was able to expand his range ofportraits, without limiting his subjects to family and

friends. However, because ofche artisr's predilictionfor painting the camp's young residents, Dolinsky be-

came known as a portrait painter of children.Well inco his eighties, Nathan Dolinsky painted

every day in his studio in Hunter. In his long career,

he saw his works of art exhibited at the National Acad-

emy of Design, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Penn-

sylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art.Today, his works are in the permanent collections ofthe Smithsonian Museum and the Munson-W'il1iams-

Proctor Insticute and in numerous private collections.

CAROL L. ROSSMussul,r Sruorss PpocRAM

ENDNOTES1 "Nathan Dolinsky...Vigorous Octogenarian,"

Windham (New York) Journal, 7970, l.2 Joanne Howard, "Noted Hunter Artist: Nathan

D olinskyi' C a tskill (N ew Yo rk) D aily Mail, Awgws t 3 1, 1 959, 1.

3 H.W Janson, History of Art (New York: Harry N.

Abrams, l99l), 724-725. According to Kirby Kooluris,Dolinsky's grandnephew, family legend holds that the artistalso exhibited Dancers in the Streer at the Armory show.

4 "Nathan Dolinsky...Vigorous Octogenarian," 1.

5 "Noted Hunter Artist: Nathm Dolinskyj' 1.

6 fAuthor not listed], Exhibition revrew, Art Digest 27(April 1953):43

7 Lawrence S. Cutler and Judy GoFFman Cutler,Mufield Parrish: A Retrospective (San Francisco: Pomegran-

ate Artbooks, 1995), 3.

8 "Noted Hunter Artist: Nathm Dolinskyj' 1.

9 To the end ofhis life, Dolinsky opened his house topeople of all ages and interests, and in that spirit, his sister

Aida wrote on an invitation to his grandnephew at the University ofVirginia in the 1960s: "Ifyou have exploring ten-

dencies in your nature, come visit the friendly old house thatnow looks as if ir had grown rather than been designed andbuilt. We have good books md minds here this summer whomicably disagree on every topic urider th" sun. We live inserene elegance and respect, and each is le[t alone to his ownvices after the fire goes out. Come stay and suffer with us."

ocknowledgemenlsThis exhibicion and brochure are presented through the museum studies program atthe Ceorgia Museum ofArt. We

would like to acl<nowledge the generosity of the lenders to the exhibicion as well as, in particular, the gracious

assistance of Mr. Leland C. Howard, Mr. Kirby Kooluris, Ms. Andr6e Ruellan, Mrs. Elizabeth Costigan Dick, Mr.

Richard Pope, and Mr. Daniel M. Costigan. lalsowantto thanl<thestafl especiallyAnnelies Mondi, Bonnie Ramsey,

.Jen nifer DePrima, and Peggy Sorrells for helping me teach museu m practices th rough this exhibition. Partial su PPortforrhe exhibition was generously provided by Director's Circle membersJohn A. and Miriam Harlan Conant. Finally,

Rhonda Reymond andJenniferCasserly helped to initiate this project, which was so ablycarried to fruition bytheassociate curators Carol Ross andJosephine Bloodgood.

Wrrueu U. Erur.roDrnrcron

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168.

checklist of the exhibition

Narxnru DoursrvAll works in the collection of Mr. Kirby Kooluris.

2.

Portrait of Aida at the Dream Garden,tgt+Oil on canvas

12 x 16 inches (sight); 14 112x18 1/2 inches (frame)

The Barker, Old New York, totzOil on canvas

23314x28314inches

Dancing in the Street, tloaOil on canvas

19 1 /2 x 23 3/4 i nches (sight); 25 x 29 1 /2 inches (frame)

Portrait of Blossom, ca. 1935Oil on canvas

23 118x17 1/4inches

Concert in Town Hall,toosOil on canvas

13 1/2x15 1/2inches

Autumn Landscape with Green Shack,ca.1940Oil on canvas

20 x 24 inches (Sight)

Family Group, toosOil on canvas

19x25 inches

Blossom with Beads, ca. 1920

Oil on canvas

36 x 30 inches

Partial support for the exhibitions and progralfor the Arts through appropriations oftheportion of the museum's general operatingServices, a federal agency thac offers general

and corporations provide additional supportigia Museum ofArt's hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p

Friday; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Cover: Checklist Number One (Detail)

Groncrn Museuna oF ART

PeRroRvtNc AND VISUAL ARTS COVPI-EX

Woman Reading to Child 6ia with lsolda), 1920

Oil on canvas

24 x 30 inches

Winrer in the Catskills(Colonel's Chair, Hunter Mountain), ca. 1 908Oil on board1 2 x 20 inches (frame)

Winter Scene, tgosOil on canvas

38 1/2x20 1/4 inches (frame)

Study for Red Cross Nurse,1g14Craphite on paper22112x15inches

Quarry Workers, tgt3Oil on fluen88 x 36 inches

Woman with Children, t st zOil on flaxen

88 x 36 inches

Plow Horse/War Horse (diptych), 1913

Oil on flaxen

88 x 25 inches (each panel)

Fall/Spring piptych),'1 e'1 3

Oil on flaxen

1 07 x 3'1 inches (each panel)

um of Art is provided by the Ceorgia Council

land the National Endowment for the Arts. Aprovided through the lnscitute of Museum

:nation's m useu ms. I ndivid uals, foundacions,University of Ceorgia Foundation. The Geor-

ihursday, and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on