About | Calendar | Education | Shop | Press | Tickets | E-News

Duncan Phillips

 

Duncan Phillips

Duncan Phillips was born in Pittsburgh in 1886, the younger son of Major Duncan Phillips, a businessman and Civil War veteran, and Eliza Laughlin Phillips, whose father was a banker and a co-founder of the Jones and Laughlin steelworks. His family moved to Washington in 1895, seeking a warmer climate for Major Phillips's health .

Duncan Phillips was very close to his older brother, Jim, who put off attending Yale University until they could go together. Both graduated in 1908. Duncan went on to write extensively on art-related topics, publishing his first book, The Enchantment of Art, in 1914. He and Jim also collected works of art, obtaining a collecting allowance from their parents in 1916.

The death of their father in 1917 and Jim's death from influenza in 1918 were stunning blows to Phillips. He and his mother responded by founding the museum, which was originally called the Phillips Memorial Art Gallery. "Sorrow all but overwhelmed me," he later wrote. "Then I turned to my love of painting for the will to live."

Phillips married artist Marjorie Acker in October 1921, just before the museum opened. The two worked closely together to build the collection and organize exhibitions. Over the years, Phillips continued to write often about art, built strong relationships with many artists as a patron, collector, and correspondent, and frequently rearranged works of art within the museum, a tradition that continues today. Duncan Phillips remained active as the museum's director until his death in 1966.

Arthur G. Dove, Morning Sun, 1935. Courtesy of and copyright, The Estate of Arthur G. Dove.