ABOVE Philip painting the Eugenia
hilip Malicoat came to Provincetown to study with Charles W. Hawthorne
for the summers of 1929 and 1930. In 1931 he made Provincetown his home. He
studied drawing with E.W. Dickinson during the winter of 1931-32. In 1932 he married
artist Barbara Brown, daughter of artists Harold Haven Brown and Florence Bradshaw
Brown. The Browns settled in Provincetown in 1919 after spending several summers here. Phil and
Barbara had two children, Martha and Conrad.
BELOW Malicoat dune shack, 1964. From left: Phil Dunigan with daughter Seanad in his arms, Conrad Malicoat
with daughter Galen on his head, Phil Malicoat, Breon Dunigan (back to camera), Barbara Malicoat (standing in
back), Robena (standing in front of Barbara), Anne Lord (next to Robena, face partially blocked), Orin Dunigan (sitting
on Martha’s lap), Martha Dunigan (Conrad’s sister).
 West, I had never had any contact with a seagoing
town and my first walk down
Commercial Street was one of pure amazement
and delight. I felt that day an instant and
deep bond with the town which has never
left me. I returned for study the next two
summers and then in 1931 settled here to
make it my year-round home, getting married
in 1932 in the height of the depression when
art was a commodity of little use to anyone.
The townspeople were friendly and a young
painter was accepted. An atmosphere of
understanding and respect seemed to prevail
among the fishermen, merchants, and the
artists which could not be said of any place in the Middle West in those days. Through odd jobbing
we managed to get by, and I could still paint. A number of mature artists and writers had
their homes here and we younger painters
were included as members of this group.”
 PHILIP MALICOAT
Undated newspaper column, PAAM Archives
above: Phil, Barbara, Martha, and Conrad in 1945
living in what has since become Robena’s studio
left: Malicoat family under the
bulkhead, circa 1939
was birthed in year 1936 in Provincetown. It was an era of much hardship for years to
come (containing a great depression and World War II). The Township was, predominately,
Portuguese and artists that lived here in Provincetown. The early years of my growth
are remembered as a town immersed in hardships and people depending on their self-sufficiency
and resiliency. And they helped one another. Those aspects made a deep impression on me and
made this sand, land and water more important to my ever-growing creative life.”
CONRAD MALICOAT, son of Philip, 2008
grew up in Provincetown, next door to my grandparents Barbara and Phil Malicoat. They
were as close and familiar to me as my parents and sisters. There was never much money
(which often meant creativity spilling into fixing or building something yourself) but one way or
another my parents and grandparents
each had a studio. Each studio
had its own distinctive personality.
To me the studios were something
special because they were places
where creative things were happening;
paintings, drawings, sculpture,
thoughts, dreams… Growing
up in this environment provided me
with a deep respect and love for
the creative process.”
 ROBENA MALICOAT
daughter of Conrad, 2008
OPPOSITE Philip and Barbara, France 1960
all photos courtesy Robena Malicoat
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