During the years between the wars Robert Philipp was considered a prominent, conservative figure painter. In the 1910s he studied for six years at the Art Students League in New York with George Bridgman (1864-1943) and Frank V. DuMond (1865-1951) and at the National Academy of Design for another four years. After a brief career as a comedy singer during the early 1920s, Philipp returned to art. Although he had exhibited at the National Academy of Design since 1919, he did not begin receiving awards until the 1930s. His series of café scenes and nudes, which were compared with those of Pierre, Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) and Edgar Degas (1834-1917), brought him numerous awards. He also received a number of portrait commissions and in 1940 went to Hollywood as one of nine notable artists commissioned to paint works related to John Ford’s production of The Long Voyage Home. Beginning in 1939, he taught at the Art Students League in New York for over fifteen years. He was also a founding member of the American Artists Group and a participant in Portraits, Inc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Archiv. Am. Art, Robert Philipp Papers § Harry Salpeter, "Robert Philip [sic] Collector’s Artist," Esquire 11 (January 1939): 59-61, 149 § "Art: Philipp, Noted for Nudes, Painter Goes to Hollywood to Portray Stars," Life 8 (April 8, 1940): 62-65 § "The Drawings of Robert Philipp," American Artist 8 (November 1944): 8-13, repro., cover § "Robert Philip [sic]: 2 + 4 + 4 = Ten Years of Drawing," Art Students League News 6 (April 1953): 5-6.