[1][2] Her father was Lev Teodorovych Kulchytsky (1843 – December 4, 1909), a court counselor, lawyer, public figure, and member of many societies.

For several months between 1901 and 1902, she and her sister Olha attended the Lviv School of Arts and Crafts [uk] where she received her first lessons in watercolor.

Olena Kulchytska completed her art training at the private studio run by R. Bratkowski and S. Batowski-Kaczor in Lviv (1901–3) and the Vienna School of Industrial Design (1903–1908).

After graduating, she took a year to travel through the major European art centres, including Munich, Paris, and London.

[3] Kulchytska’s work combined the folk art traditions of the Western Ukraine, particularly, the Hutsuls, with the stylistic innovations of the European Secession.

She illustrated various works by Ivan Franko, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Vasyl Stefanyk, and Yurii Fedkovych, as well as more than 70 books for children for the series «For Our Littlest Ones», which included Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Star-Child’ (1920).