Phil Dike, N.A. Biography
Phil Dike, N.A. (1906-1990) Born: Redlands, CA; Studied: Chouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles), Art Students League (New York), American Academy (France); Member: National Academy of Design, American Watercolor Society, California Water Color Society, Philadelphia Water Color Club. Phil Dike was born and raised in Southern California. In 1923, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Chouinard Art Institute and received instruction from F. Tolles Chamberlin and Clarence Hinkle. He continued his art education in New York City studying with George Bridgman, Frank Vincent DuMond and George Luks. After returning to California in 1929, he began teaching at the Chouinard Art Institute and was one of the first artists to develop what became known as the California Style of watercolor painting.
In the early 1930s, he continued teaching and painting and took further studies in Paris. His watercolors were being exhibited in museum shows throughout America and he was receiving wide acclaim and numerous awards. By 1935, he was also working at the Walt Disney Studios where he taught art and color theory while working on animated films. Among the many classic films he worked on were Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia and The Three Caballeros. In 1938, Dike served as president of the California Water Color Society.
After World War II, Dike left Disney and went back into teaching and painting full time. He and Rex Brandt formed the highly successful Brandt-Dike Summer School of Painting and during regular school months, he taught at the Chouinard Art Institute. It was at this time that Dikes watercolors became more modern looking. He began using calligraphy in very creative ways and incorporating geometric abstractionist ideas into his work.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, he was a Professor of Art at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate School. He was an inspiration to many well-known artists who came out of these schools, and was honored with the title of Professor Emeritus when he retired. In addition to living in Claremont and painting at Balboa Bay, Dike also built a second home in Cambria on the central California coast. Harbors, driftwood, figures on the beach and dramatic rock formations all became subjects for his many abstract watercolors of this era. Dike is remembered as a thoughtful, caring teacher and is one of the main innovators in the development of the watercolor painting movement in California.
Biographical information:
Interview with Phil Dike, 1983.
Biography courtesy of California Watercolors 1850-1970,
©2003 Hillcrest Press, Inc.
California Watercolor
Bibliography:
2011 Nelson, Harold (Editor) * The House that Sam Built: Sam Maloof and Art in the Pomono Valley, 1945-1985 (Huntington Library Exhibition)
2005 Davenport, Ray Davenport's Art Reference: The Gold Edition
2005 AskART.com Inc. -
Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson (Editor) The Artists Bluebook 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005
2004 California Heritage Museum * Everyday Life in California, Regional Watercolors, 1930-1960
2002 Hughes, Edan Milton Artists in California: 1786-1940
(Two Volumes)
2002 Anderson, Susan; Janet Blake * California Holiday: The E Gene Crain Collection (Laguna Art Museum)
2002 McClelland, Gordon T; Jay T. Last California Watercolors 1850-1970, An Illustrated History & Biographical Dictionary
1999 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975 3 Volumes
1998 Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall California Art: 450 Years of Painting & Other Media
1996 Karlstrom, Paul J (editor) On the Edge of America California Modernist Art, 1900-1950
1995 Lovoos, Janet; G McClelland Phil Dyke
1994 Skolnick, Arnold/Suzan Campbell Paintings of the Southwest
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1992 Hough, Katherine * Transforming the Western Image in 20th Century American Art
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1991 Moure, Nancy D.W. * Scenes of California Light, 1930-1950 (Todd Madigan Gallery)
1991 Westphal, Ruth; Janet B Dominik American Scene Painting, California 1930s and 1940s
1991 Falk, Peter Hastings * Biennial Exhibition Record of the Corcoran Gallery of Art
1991 Todd Madigan Gallery * Scenes of California Life 1930-19
1991 Fort, Ilene/Michael Quick American Art A Catalogue/Los Angeles County
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1989 Hughes, Edan Milton Artists in California, 1786-1940
1988 Lovoos, Janice & G McLelland Phil Dike
1987 Perine, Robert The California Romantics: Harbingers of Watercolorism
1986 Jaques Cattell Press Who's Who in American Art-1986 1986
1985 McClelland, Gordon T; Jay Last The California Style Watercolor Artists 1925-1955
1985 Perine, Robert Chouinard: An Art Vision Betrayed: A History of the Chouinard Art Institute
1985 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Who Was Who in American Art: Artists Active Between 1898-1947:
1984 Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall Southern California Art Publication 3, Dictionary
1981 Betts, Edward Creative Seascape Painting
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1979 Editor, Laguna Beach Museum Southern California Artists 1890-1940
1976 Weller, Allen S * Watercolor U S A National Invatational Exhibit
1976 Jaques Cattell Press Who's Who in American Art, 1976 12th Edition
1975 Editor, Smithsonian Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Checklist of the Collection
1973 Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall * California Watercolor Society Index to Exhibitions 1921-1954
1972 Phoenix Art Museum * Today's Artist and the West By Members of the National Academy
1966 Fabri, Ralph * The American Watercolor Society The First Hundred Years/History
1956 Arizona State College Arizona State College Collection American Art
1954 Clark, Eliot History of the National Academy of Design, 1825-1953
1954 Arizona State University The Arizona State College Collection of American Art
1950 Metropolitan Museum of Art * American Painting Today 1950 A National Competitive Exhibition
1945 Watson, Ernest W/Norman Kent Watercolor Demonstrated
1937 Breckinridge, Mrs. H. (essay) * Second National Exhibition of American Art Summer 1937
1935 Mallett, Daniel Trowbridge Index of Artists: International-Biographical Two Volumes: Includes 1940 Index
Magazine articles:
American Art Review 2003 August Art on View Editors, American Art Review
Southwest Art 2003 August News From the California Art Scene Gangelhoff, Bonnie
American Art Review 2002 June California Holiday: E. Gene Crain Anderson, Susan
Southwest Art 2002 May California Holiday Gangelhoff, Bonnie
Art in America 2001 April Assessing the Golden State Duncan, Michael
Southwest Art 2000 January A Passion for California Gangelhoff, Bonnie
Southwest Art 1999 May Trauma, Tradition, and Transformation May, Stephen
American Art Review 1998 February California Style-1930s and 40s Stary-Sheets, David
California Watercolor Society-1948
Phil Dike and Rex Brandt teaching a class-Corona del Mar-1947