Joseph Webster Golinkin

Wrestling [untitled].

circa 1940

JOSEPH WEBSTER GOLINKIN (1896-1977) Painter, printmaker, naval officer, politician, environmentalist, and philanthropist. He was a true Renaissance man – excelling in everything he pursued. Joseph Golinkin was born in Chicago on September 10, 1896, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He entered the United States 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, where he studied at the Art Students League with Ash Can school artist George Luks. The two artists became fast friends, and Luks introduced him to many other artists. During the 1920s and 1930s, Golinkin exhibited with several other well-known artists, including George Bellows, Joseph Margulies, and David Shotwell. He was also represented by several renowned dealers in New York City, including Ferargil Galleries, Macbeth Gallery, and Van der Straeten. He had one-person shows at the Museum of the City of New York, the Macbeth Gallery, Ferargil Galleries, Gump's in San Francisco, the San Francisco Art Gallery, and the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. His works are part of many museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum, New York Public Library, Museum of the City of New York, 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 and sports. He produced a large body of prints, drawings, and lithographs surrounding these two subjects. His images of New York include scenes of both city life and the structures, capturing the ambiance of the late 1920s and early 1930s. 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 X Olympiad in 1932 and again at the XI 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. 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 nonpartisan civic association that successfully opposed building a Robert Moses proposed bridge that would have connected Oyster Bay and Rye, New York.