Dike, Phil, 1906-1990

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Phil Dike (born Philip Latimer Dike, April 6, 1906 in Redlands, California-died April 24, 1990, Los Angeles, California), American muralist, watercolorist, painter, designer and animator for Disney Studios. He studied at the 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. In 1923, he won 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.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Phil Dike Collection, 1932-2000 Claremont Colleges. Library
creatorOf Dike, Phil, 1906-1990. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
creatorOf Philip Latimer Dike : artist file : study photographs and reproductions ... 1930?-1990 [compiled by staff of The Museum of Modern Art, New York] Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection
referencedIn Milch Gallery records Archives of American Art
creatorOf Phil Paradise papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Dike, Philip, 1906- : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Phil Dike photographs of art work Archives of American Art
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Oral history interview with Phil Dike Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith Brandt, Rex (American painter, 1914-2000 person
associatedWith California National Water Color Society corporateBody
associatedWith Disney, Roy O. (Roy Oliver), 1893-1971 person
associatedWith Disney, Walt, 1901-1966 person
associatedWith Dodd, Lamar person
associatedWith McGlynn, Betty Hoag, person
associatedWith Milch Gallery. corporateBody
associatedWith Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project. corporateBody
associatedWith New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project. corporateBody
associatedWith Paradise, Philip Herschel, 1905-1997. person
associatedWith Paul Darrow person
associatedWith Scripps College corporateBody
associatedWith Sheets, Millard (American muralist and teacher, 1907-1989 person
employeeOf Walt Disney Studios. corporateBody
correspondedWith Walt Disney Studios. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
California
California--Claremont
Cambria (Calif.)
Balboa Island (Newport Beach, Calif.)
California
Subject
Art, American
Art
Art
Federal aid to the arts
mural paintings (visual works)
Painters
Painters
Walt Disney Training and Development Programs (Firm)
watercolors (paintings)
Western Americana
Occupation
Animator
Artist
Muralist
Painter
Watercolor Artist
Activity

Person

Birth 1906

Death 1986

Male

Americans

Information

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