Inola by Robert Philipp (New York, 1895-1981), oil on canvas, signed, circa mid 20th century, framed - 23" x 43"
 
Robert Philipp was born Moses Solomon Philipp on February 2, 1895 in New York City. He showed early talent and grew up in a family atmosphere that fed and cultivated his creativity. At age of 14, he entered the Art Students League for four years and then continued his training at the National Academy of Design. Though success as an artitst came early to Philipp, after the death of his father he turned away from painting for a time and joined his uncle’s opera company as a tenor. He eventually returned to painting and settled in Paris, living there in the 1920s, where he lived for 10 years supporting himself by seling his works and attending classes at Académie Julian. Back in New York in the early 1930s, Philipp was gaining a reputation for his portraits and figure studies. His painting Olympia won the Logan prize at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1936 and was subsequently purchased by J. Paul Getty. During the Depression, he worked for the Public Works of Arts Project. The 1940s brought commissions by Louis B. Mayer to paint portraits of MGM movie stars,  as well as scenes from the production of the John Ford film “The Long Voyage Home” alongside such prominent artists as Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton. Henry McBride, the dean of New York art critics during the 1930s, called Philipp one of the best American painters of his generation. It was during the 1930s that Philipp began to paint landscapes, still lives and nudes evolving a distinctively lyric and modern style. Philipp also taught at the Art Students League for over thirty years and at the National Academy for sixteen years. He was a member of the Lotus Club, National Academy of Design and Royal Society of Arts. Paintings by Philipp can be found in numerous public collections around the United States including those of the Akron Art Institute, Ohio; University of Arizona, Tucson; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Columbus Museum of Art, Georgia; Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, Iowa; Dayton Art Institute, Ohio; Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago; IBM Corporation; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; University of Illinois, Urbana; Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia; Seton Hall University, the Walsh Gallery and The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia.