Long a prominent watercolorist, Philip Latimer Dike was instrumental in establishing the California watercolor style. He was also one of the first West Coast artists to achieve national recognition. After attending Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1924-27, where he was influenced by Clarence Hinkle (1880-1960), Dike went to New York to study at the Art Students League with Frank Vincent DuMond (1865-1951) and George Bridgman (1864-1943). He took private lessons with GEORGE LUKS. Dike also studied fresco painting at the American Academy in Fontainebleau and lithography in Paris and visited Spain, Italy, and North Africa. Back in the United States in 1931, he became known for his depictions of the sea and coast. Late in life his work became increasingly abstract.
Beginning in 1935 Dike worked for Walt Disney Productions for ten years, contributing art to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Fantasia (1940). He also served as president of the California Water Color Society, 1938-39. He became one of the most influential teachers in Southern California, first at Chouinard, then in 1946 establishing his own summer school with REX BRANDT at Corona del Mar. In 1950 Dike began his long association with the Claremont Colleges, which in 1971 honored him with the title of professor emeritus.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Who’s Who in American Art, 1936-37,1986, s.v. "Dike, Philip Latimer" § "Phil Dike: Me Captures the Scale of the West," American Artist 4 (November 1940): 19-23 § Moure 1975, pp. 12-13, with bibliography § Janice Lovoos, "Phil Dike: The Poetry of Painting," American Artist 43 (December 1979): 34-37, 88-89 § Janice Lovoos and Gordon T. McClelland, Phil Dike (Beverly Hills: Hillcrest Press, 1988), with chronology