The Eye of Duncan Phillips

The Eye of Duncan Phillips
Author: Duncan Phillips
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 820
Release: 1999
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780300080902

This book is both a survey of the major European and American works in The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and a guide to the museum's holdings and significance. A study of the history of taste in twentieth-century America, it documents the evolution of modernism as well as the pivotal role played by Duncan Phillips (1886-1966) as a critic and collector.

The Passionate Collector

The Passionate Collector
Author: Roy R. Neuberger
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2003-05-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0471471798

"Few living persons have served the Metropolitan Museum of Art-indeed, the entire world of art and art museums-longer, or with more distinction, than Roy Neuberger. A man of taste, passion, persistence, and generosity, he has shared much of his great private collection with the public, and for generations has supported activities that bring people to museums, and motivate them to return again and again. Now, this giant of a man has recorded eighty years of his life-and the result is entertaining, illuminating, and, like the tireless gentleman himself, inspiring." -Philippe de Montebello, Director, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Equal to his passion for investing is Roy Neuberger's love for art-which he has collected and encouraged for eight decades. In The Passionate Collector: Eighty Years in the World of Art, you'll follow this fascinating financial figure and great patron of the arts from the streets of 1920s Paris to the museums of New York as he develops the eye of a connoisseur and begins to collect great contemporary art. Vivid detail puts you in the center of the action as Neuberger collects the brilliant artists of his time-Milton Avery, Jackson Pollock, Ben Shahn, Edward Hopper; works with legendary art dealers Paul Rosenberg, Betty Parsons, Sidney Janis, and Leo Castelli; and befriends avid collectors, including the incomparable Duncan Phillips. You'll follow Neuberger as he strives to further the cause of contemporary American artists by exhibiting, lending, and donating from his growing collection, and becoming an activist for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney. You'll also see how the Neuberger Museum of Art was created at the urging of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and how it continues to fascinate art enthusiasts today. Part personal memoir, part history of art, The Passionate Collector offers a unique view of twentieth-century American art from a man who has lived it.

Duncan and Marjorie Phillips and America’s First Museum of Modern Art

Duncan and Marjorie Phillips and America’s First Museum of Modern Art
Author: Pamela Carter-Birken
Publisher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2021-07-06
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1648892604

He was born to privilege and sought the world of art. She lived at the center of that world—a working artist encouraged by the famous artists in her extended family. Together, Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips founded The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the first museum of modern art in America. It opened in the grand Phillips family home in 1921, eight years before New York City’s Museum of Modern Art and only a few weeks after they wed. Duncan took the lead in developing the collection and showcasing it. Marjorie kept space and time to paint. Duncan considered Marjorie a partner in the museum even though she was not directly involved in all purchasing and presentation decisions. To him, her influence was omnipresent. Although Duncan’s writings on artists and art history were widely published, he chose not to provide much instruction for visitors to the museum. Instead, he combined signature methods of displaying art which live on at The Phillips Collection. Phillips had viewers in mind when he hung American art with European art—or art of the past with modern art, and he frequently rearranged works to stimulate fresh encounters. With unfettered access to archival material, author Pamela Carter-Birken argues that The Phillips Collection’s relevancy comes from Duncan Phillips’s commitment to providing optimal conditions for personal exploration of art. In-depth collecting of certain artists was one of Phillips’s methods of encouraging independent thinking in viewers. Paintings by Pierre Bonnard, Arthur Dove, Georgia O’Keeffe, John Marin, Jacob Lawrence, and Mark Rothko provide testament to the power of America’s first museum of modern art.