Olimpia Ogilvie

Olimpia Ogilvie died Friday September 7, 2012 at Bethel Home in Oshkosh after a long illness. She was born on May 10, 1928 in Argentina, the daughter of Pedro and Yolanda Aimaretti. She married John Thayer Ogilvie who preceded her in death. She was a Professor of Art at Ripon College from 1975 to 1993, and was an active and prolific painter and printmaker. At the age of 24, she received a scholarship to travel the United States and pursue graduate studies at Indiana University, where she received an MAT (1954), an MFA (1959) and studied with the influential Rudy Pozzatti. Later she embarked on an extensive investigation of etching and engraving at the University of Iowa under the guidance of the master printmaker Mauricio Lasansky. In 1966, she settled in Paris, France, where she joined the celebrated Atelier 17 printmaking group, under the tutelage of William Stanley Hayter. From 1969 to 1974, she worked independently, residing in Eus, a village in the French Pyrenees, before returning to the United States and joining the faculty of Ripon College in 1975. At the time of her retirement, she was a Full Professor and had served as Chairperson of the Art Department.Among her many awards, she was Artist in Residence at the Cit Internationale des Arts in Paris (1967-1969), under the auspices of the American Center for Students and Artists. She was also a Fulbright Scholar (1987-88), during which time she lived and painted in the jungles of Costa Rica. Ms. Ogilvies paintings and prints were included in over 70 exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout America, Latin America, and Europe, including the Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, Associated American Artists in New York, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Muse dArt Moderne in Paris, the Galeria Van Riel in Buenos Aires, and the Hoogeveen Art Center in Holland. Her work is included in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts, the Bibliothque Nationale de Paris, the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, and locally in the Oshkosh Public Museum.She is survived by her daughter Arabella Ogilvie-Makari of New York City, her sister Zunilda Gertel of San Francisco, her nephew Rafael Gertel, and two grandchildren, Gabrielle and Jack Makari. Her family is grateful to the staff of Bethel Home of the Lutheran Homes of Oshkosh for their unfailing kindness and support during Olimpias final years. Olimpias passion for art and adventurous spirit took her to numerous foreign countries, where she is mourned by many dear friends she has left behind.