Ilona Royce Smithkin (March 27, 1920 – August 1, 2021) was a Polish-born American artist, author, model, and performer. Her work included appearances in films such as ''Advanced Style'' and ''Ilona, Upstairs'', in the television series ''Ilona's Palette'', ''Painting with Ilona'', and ''Finishing Touches with Ilona'', and the books ''Painting with Ilona, Joy Dust, and Ninety-Nine: Straight Up, No Chaser''. Smithkin turned 100 in March 2020 and died in August 2021 at the age of 101 in

Provincetown Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...

Early life and training

Smithkin was born Ilona Rosenkranz on March 27, 1920, in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. She was raised in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Belgium, and studied at the Reimann School of Art and Design in Berlin and the Academie Royal des Beaux Arts in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. In 1938, her family emigrated to the United States. In the United States she studied with

Robert Brackman Robert Brackman (September 25, 1898 – July 16, 1980) was an American artist and teacher, best known for large figural works, portraits, and still lifes. Biography Robert Brackman was born on September 25, 1898, in Odessa, Russian Empire (no ...

at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

, and then at the Cape School of Art in

Art

Smithkin's primary mediums were oil painting rooted in

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

and

sanguine Sanguine () or red chalk is chalk of a reddish-brown colour, so called because it resembles the colour of dried blood. It has been popular for centuries for drawing (where white chalk only works on coloured paper). The word comes via French fr ...

portraiture. Her portrait of writer-philosopher

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

continues to appear on Rand's book covers and Smithkin has been interviewed about her friendship with the author. Additional subjects of her portraiture were

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

. Smithkin's work has been exhibited at venues including

Musée d'histoire des sciences de la Ville de Genève The ''Musée d'histoire des sciences de la Ville de Genève'' (Museum of the History of Science of the City of Geneva) is a small museum in Switzerland dedicated to the history of science. Location The museum is located in the ''Villa Bartholoni' ...

, Gallerie

Charlotte Norberg Maria Charlotta "Charlotte" Norberg also known as ''Charlotte Törner'' (27 December 1824 in Stockholm – 25 February 1892 in Stockholm) was a Swedish Ballerina and ballet teacher. She was a star of the Royal Swedish Ballet in the mid 19th-century ...

in Paris, the Eugene O'Neill Memorial Institute in

Waterford, Connecticut Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,571 at the 2020 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) and had a population of 3,074 ...

, the

Provincetown Art Association and Museum The Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) is located at 460 Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is the most attended art museum on Cape Cod. The museum's permanent coll ...

, and the

Columbia Museum of Art The Columbia Museum of Art is an art museum in the American city of Columbia, South Carolina. History The Columbia Museum of Art was originally in the 1908 private residence of the city's Taylor family. Located on Senate Street in Columbia, ad ...

. Her work remains on permanent exhibition at the Karilon Gallery in

, where she maintained a studio. Smithkin began teaching art in 1970. She was a front runner of the educational painting genre on public television, starring in ''Ilona's Palette'', ''Painting with Ilona'', which spawned a book by the same title, and ''Finishing Touches with Ilona''. She also authored ''Painting with Ilona, Joy Dust: Ilona at 96,'' and ''Ninety-Nine: Straight Up, No Chaser''.

Fashion

Smithkin was the subject of Melissa Hammel's ''Ilona, Upstairs'', which received the 2005

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

Audience Award for best documentary, and as a lifestyle model featured in Ari Seth Cohen's ''Advanced Style'' book, documentary, blog, and coloring book, and the ''Stylelikeu'' book and blog. Smithkin appeared as a model at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

, on ''

The TODAY Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'', and for fashion lines including Coach, Karen Walker and Mara Hoffman. Her trademarks included flaming red, pixie-cut hair and matching homemade eyelashes.

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

declared her a "style legend." An essay about Smithkin was featured in Bill Hayes' book, ''Insomniac City: New York, Oliver Sacks, and Me.''

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera ''General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Bra ...

Dita Von Teese Heather Renée Sweet (born September 28, 1972), known professionally as Dita Von Teese, is an American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, and businesswoman. She is credited with re-popularizing burlesque performance, earning the moniker "Queen ...

, and actor

Erik Liberman Erik Liberman is an American actor, author, and director. Early life and education Liberman was born in Miami, the son of social worker Marsha and Havana-born vision scientist and author Jacob. He attended New World School of the Arts, where he ...

have cited Smithkin among their influences. Moore and Von Teese endorsed Smithkin's last book.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smithkin, Ilona Royce 1920 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Polish women artists 20th-century American women artists 20th-century Polish women writers 20th-century American women writers Art Students League of New York alumni Polish centenarians American centenarians Women centenarians Polish emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women