Ilona Royce Smithkin

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.

Early life and training Smithkin was born Ilona Rosenkranz on March 27, 1920, in Poland.

She was raised in France, Germany and Belgium, and studied at the Reimann School of Art and Design in Berlin and the Academie Royal des Beaux Arts in Antwerp.

Art Smithkin's primary mediums were oil painting rooted in Impressionism and sanguine portraiture. Additional subjects of her portraiture were Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill.

Fashion Smithkin was the subject of Melissa Hammel's Ilona, Upstairs, which received the 2005 HBO 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, on The TODAY Show, and for fashion lines including Coach, Karen Walker and Mara Hoffman. ''