Robert Philipp (February 2, 1895 – November 22, 1981) was an American painter influenced by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and known for his nudes, still lifes, and portraits of attractive women and Hollywood stars.
Noted art critic Henry McBride called Philipp one of America's top six painters of his generation.
[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][excessive citations] In 1940, Philipp was invited to Los Angeles by Hollywood mogul Louis B. Mayer to paint portraits of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie stars.
The same year, Walter Wanger, producer of The Long Voyage Home, directed by John Ford and based on plays by Eugene O'Neill, contracted with Reeves Lewenthal, head of the Associated American Artists gallery in Manhattan, to bring nine well-known artists to the set and paint scenes from the movie and portraits of the actors in character.
While on the West Coast, Philipp painted portraits of celebrities associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood, including Clark Gable, Shirley Temple, Margaret Sullavan, Ian Hunter, Thomas Mitchell, and Mayer's daughter, Edith Mayer Goetz, wife of William Goetz, who was a co-owner of 20th Century Fox.