John Covert (painter)
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John Covert (1882 – 1960) was an American painter born in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, USA.


Life and career

Covert began his formal studies in painting at the Pittsburgh School of Design in 1902 under Martin Leisser and then, upon receiving a German government art scholarship, traveled to
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
in 1909 to attend the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, where he mentored under Carl Marr, another American. In 1912 he went to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France, where he stayed for two years, until the beginning of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1914, after which he moved to
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. He was a close friend of
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...
, a founding member and first secretary of the Society of Independent Artists, a participant in the Societe Anonyme, and a notable
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
ist in the Arensberg Circle, at the forefront of American Modernism. He was one of the first American artists to affix three-dimensional objects onto paintings. In 1923 Covert returned to Pittsburgh, where he worked as a salesman in his family business, which provided parts to the steel industry, while pursuing his interest in
cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...
, researching the
Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship The Baconian theory of Shakespearean authorship contends that Francis Bacon, Sir Francis Bacon, philosopher, essayist and scientist, wrote the Shakespeare's plays, plays that are attributed to William Shakespeare. Various explanations are offe ...
and working privately in various artistic mediums. He died in 1960 and was buried at Allegheny Cemetery.


References


External links


Penn State University Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Covert, John 1882 births 1960 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Painters from Pittsburgh Society of Independent Artists Burials at Allegheny Cemetery 20th-century American male artists