Fascinated by the American West since he was a child, Philip Peter Kovinick is widely acknowledged for his work as a researcher, writer, and lecturer covering historical topics and the lives of such Western artists as Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. Since the late 1950s, he has lectured high school students, historical society members, and occasionally university students on his favorite subject. Also, Mr. Kovinick has traveled from coast to coast in search of information. His trips have taken him to countless libraries, museums, historical societies, art galleries, and homes of artists and their descendants. In addition to these sources, he has corresponded with museums and libraries in England, France, and Switzerland, amassing a great deal of information during six decades. Also, he has co-authored four exhibitions on women artists.
Over the years, Mr. Kovinick has authored or co-authored a number of publications. One of his earliest works is “Contemporary International Problems: A Comparative Political, Economic and Cultural Analysis,” which he co-authored with three other Social Studies department chairmen in 1962. Since then, his portfolio includes, “John Frost: A Quiet Mastery” (2013); “The Art and Life of Edwin Roscoe Shrader” (2010); “Publications in Southern California Art” (1999); and “An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West” (1998), which received the Western Heritage award for Outstanding Art Book of 1998.
Born in Detroit in 1924, Mr. Kovinick and his family moved out west after his father’s early retirement in 1936. After landing in Venice, Calif., he graduated from Venice High School where he served as Student Body president, captain of the Varsity football team, and received the California Scholarship Society’s life time Roman Lamper in 1942. He next attended California State University, Chico, where he achieved a Bachelor of Arts in 1954 and a Master of Arts in 1954, graduating magna cum laude. After leaving Chico, he taught for one year in Durham, California, and from 1956-1981 at Lennox High School in the Centinela Valley Union High School District.
Mr. Kovinick has been listed in Who’s Who in American Art since 1976. He now devotes his time to writing articles on forgotten Western painters, such as Edward James Dressler.
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