The Kagans are an artistic family. His father, Vlady, was one of the preeminent furniture designers in the world. His mother, Erica Wilson, was often called “the Julia Childs of Needlework”.
Illya studied at Skidmore and Lacoste Ecole in the town of Provence. And he’s worked extensively out of Aspen, the West Indies, and Nantucket, where he has an upstairs studio on Main Street.
Illya is a dedicated plein air painter that you might see anywhere from Federal Street to Great Point to Sesachacha Pond.