John Pike, American (1911 - 1979)

John Pike was a student of Charles Hawthorne and Richard Miller. In 1933 he went to Jamaica, W.I., married and had one son. After painting, doing advertising for the rum industry, designing stores, nightclubs, theaters and painting murals, the artist returned to this country in 1938 to exhibit. Since then he has had over fifty four one-man shows.

After pilot training, Mr. Pike served in the Psychological Warfare Branch in Egypt and Italy. Then to the Philippines where he transferred to the Combat Art Section, Corps of Engineers, heading the unit to record U.S. occupation of Korea in 1945. These paintings are in the Historical Properties Section of the War Department.

As a member of the Air Force Historical Foundation (1945-1960), Mr. Pike did paintings for the USAF in France, Germany, Thule Greenland, Ecuador, Columbia, Japan and Formosa. These paintings are in the permanent collection of the USAF Academy.

He did paintings, illustrations - covers - for Colliers, Life, Fortune, True, Readers Digest, as well as advertising paintings for Alcoa, Standard Oil, National Cash Register, Equitable Life Insurance, General Tire International, etc... His paintings are in many public and private collections.

A member of the National Academy of Design, Salmagundi Club, Allied Artist, American Watercolor Society, Society of Illustrators, Woodstock Artist Association, Southwest Watercolor Society (Honorary), Philadelphia Watercolor Club and Grand Central Galleries.

Awards include American Watercolor Society Award, National Academy, Hallgraten Prize, Salmagundi Black and White prizes, A.W.S. "Watercolor U.S.A. Award", 1974 recipient of the National Academy "Walter Briggs Memorial Award", as well as the "Franklin Mint $5,000 Gold Metal Award" for one of twelve best American Watercolor Society prize winners for five years, 1976 top National Academy Watercolor award, the "William A. Paton Prize of $1,000", A.W.S. "The John Young Hunter Award", Academic Artists Association "The Helen Gould Kennedy Award". Invited by National Gallery of Art and NASA to be one of two official artists on Apollo Moon Shot.

Since 1966, instructor for "Painting Holidays" covering England, Belgium, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Mexico, Jamaica, W.I., Ireland, Yugoslavia, Guatemala, New Mexico, Columbia, S.A.. Invited to hang in the "200 Years of American Watercolor" show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.C. Invited "Artist of the Year" at the Ohio State Fair, 1975.

While operating the John Pike Watercolor School in Woodstock, N.Y. 1960-1979, he attracted many professional artists from around the country. The reputation of the school was such that corporations, ad agencies, etc., sent their artists for advanced study.