Known for his scenes of Provincetown, Massachusetts and surrounding area, especially atmospheric seascapes, Philip Malicoat settled in Provincetown, where he had first gone as a student of Charles Hawthorne with whom he had studied at the John Herron Institute in Indianapolis.

According to Malicoat, Hawthorne had a big reputation and came to the Herron Institute on one of his many tours around the country to give demonstration classes. He was a very positive, encouraging and upbeat teacher and demanding but not overtly demanding. Malicoat then painted with him at Provincetown. Of this experience, he said: "You always came out of his class wanting to get right going again, because there was plenty of room to get better. Besides, on t...