Chisholm Gallery

Golinkin, Joseph Webster

American, (1896-1977)

Joseph Webster Golinkin, painter, printmaker, naval officer, politician, environmentalist, and philanthropist. He was a true renaissance man excelling in everything he pursued.

Golinkin was born in Chicago on September 10, 1896, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He entered the United Sates Naval Academy and upon graduation was commissioned as an Ensign and immediately deployed to serve in World War I. He remained in the Navy until 1922 when he resigned his commission to pursue his original career as an artist. He remained, however, in the active reserve as a Lieutenant Commander.

After leaving the Navy, Golinkin moved to New York City where he studied with Ash Can school artist, George Luks, who was teaching at the Art Students League. The two artists became fast friends and Luks introduced him to many other artists. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Golinkin exhibited with a number of other well known artists including George Bellows, Joseph Margulies and David Shotwell. He was also represented by a number of famous dealers in New York City , including Ferargil Galleries, Macbeth Gallery, and Van der Straeten. He had one-artist shows at the Museum of the City of New York , Macbeth Gallery, Ferargil Galleries, Gump’s in San Francisco, San Francisco Art Gallery and the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. His works are part of many museum collections, including The Metropolitan Museum, the New York Public Library, the Museum of the City of New York, the Library of Congress, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

As an artist Golinkin worked in many mediums including painting, watercolor and lithography. While his subjects varied, two would dominate his work scenes of New York City and sports. He produced a large body of prints, drawings, and lithographs surrounding these two subjects. His images of New York City cover many subjects including scenes of life in the city and buildings. These images capture the ambience of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Golinkin’s scenes of New York City appeared regularly in the Sunday New York Times, many of which were published in a 1929 volume Golinkin illustrated entitled New York is Like This (H. I. Brock and J.W. Golinkin, Dodd, Mead & Company) Many of the illustrations are in the collection of The Museum of the City of New York.

The sporting events Golinkin depicted include baseball, bicycle racing, bowling, boxing, football, hockey, horse racing, horse shows, golf, polo, tennis, track and field, wrestling, and yacht racing. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Artistic Excellence in Relation to Sport at the Xth Olympiad in 1932 and again at the XIth Olympiad in 1936. Golinkin’s sporting scenes have been reproduced as posters for several Olympic games. His work is also in the collections of the Baseball Hall of Fame, The Palm Beach Polo Club, Madison Square Garden, numerous yacht clubs, and in the personal collections of well-known athletes and sports enthusiasts throughout the world.

In addition to New York is Like This, two other books featured Golinkin’s art The American Sporting Scene, by John Kiernan with pictures by Joseph W. Golinkin, published by the MacMillan Company, 1941, and The Twelve Meter Challenges for the America’s Cup by Norris D. Hoyt, with paintings and drawings by Admiral Joseph W. Golinkin, published by Brandywine Press, 1977.

When the Navy reactivated him in 1938, his artistic career was put on hold. He served with great distinction during WWII, was awarded the Bronze Star, and retired from the navy in 1958 with the rank of Rear Admiral. His other careers include serving for twelve years as Mayor of Centre Island, New York. As an early environmentalist, he formed a non-partisan civic association that successfully opposed building a Robert Moses proposed bridge that would have connected Oyster Bay and Rye, New York. Golinkin not only served his country as an officer in the Navy, a politician, and civic leader, but he left a large legacy of his artistic vision of city and sporting life in America.

Links

Joseph Webster Golinkin Featured in Chisholm Gallery Ads

Palm Beach Life Magazine, 1980

Rare Polo Lithographs

Letter from Mrs. Joseph Webster Golinkin to Jeanne and Jeremy Chisholm, March 11, 1980

Joseph Webster Golinkin & The Chisholm Gallery Collection

Polo Art: Rediscovering Joseph Webster Golinkin | by Jeremy Chisholm

Golinkin Magazine Presentation (PDF)

Mentions

The New York Times | ART; Where the Sports Focus, Forget Money, Is Back on the Action | by William Zimmer

The Atlantic | Remember When the Olympics Used to Have an Art Competition? No? | by Ashley Fetters

One Man Shows

Museum of the City of New York
Macbeth Galleries
Sporting Gallery
Feragil Gallery
Gumps
San Francisco Art Gallery
Newport Gallery of Art
Van der Straeten
Gallery of Contemporary Artists
Raymond & Raymond Gallery
Country Art Gallery

Group Shows

Carnegie International
Chicago Art Institute
National Academy
Pennsylvania Academy
Pan American Exhibition
American Exhibition – Paris
City of Los Angeles
City of Buffalo
Corcoran Gallery
American Watercolor Society
New York Watercolor Club
National Portrait Gallery

Publications

New York Times
Vanity Fair
Fortune
Country Life
Coronet
Watercolor Painting of Today
Eyes on America (Hall-Studio)
Incredible New York (Lloyd Morris)
Life in America (Met Museum)
Polo
Gondola
Palm Beach Life

Artist and Co-Author

New York Is Like This (text by H.I. Brock) 1929
The American Sporting Scene (text by John Kieran) 1941
Twelve Meter Challenges for the America’s Cup (text by N. Hoyt) 1977

Partial List of Collectors
Raymond Guest
Winston F.C. Guest
James Paul Mills
Adam Winthrop
Peter Brant
National Museum of Polo & Hall of Fame
J.P Morgan
Ogden Phipps
David W. Clark
Manufacturers Hanover Trust
John Ziegler
Paul Hobby
Maynard Brittan
Nigel À Brassard
Roderick Vere Nicoll
Neil Hirsch

Book References

2005
The Artists Bluebook
34,000 North American Artists to March 2005
AskART.com Inc. – Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson (Editor)

2005
Davenport’s Art Reference:
The Gold Edition
Davenport, Ray

1999
Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975
3 Volumes
Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor)

1995
Representing America
Ken Trevey Collection American Realist Prints
Robertson, Bruce

1990
Annual Exhibition Record, National Academy of Design
Falk, PeterHastings (Editor)

1990
Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago
Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor)

1989
Annual Exhibition Record, 1914-68, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor)

1986
Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary
American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers
Opitz, Glenn B (Editor)

1985
Who Was Who in American Art:
Artists Active Between 1898-1947
Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor)

1982
Dictionary of American Artists
Opitz, Glenn

1977
Twelve Meter Challenges
for the America’s Cup
Hoyt, N

1941
The American Sporting Scene
Kiernan, John; J Golinkin

1935
Index of Artists: International-Biographical
Two Volumes: Includes 1940 Index
Mallett, Daniel Trowbridge

1932
Olympic Competition and Exhibition
of Art, Catalogue of the Exhibition
Los Angeles Olympic Games

1929
New York Is Like This
Brock, H.I., Golinkin, Joseph