Photographs

Photographs

The collection of photographs at the Phillips was significantly enriched in 1949, when Georgia O'Keeffe donated 19 works by her late husband, Alfred Stieglitz, writing to Duncan Phillips, "I think they will be very much at home with you."

Phillips also acquired photographs by Clarence John Laughlin and Henri Cartier-Bresson—who took one of the better late photographic portraits of Duncan Phillips by posing him outdoors in a family group.

In the early 1990s, the museum's photography collection began expanding significantly, a recognition of the important role that photography played in the 20th-century development of modern art.

The small and highly selective group of photographs in the collection continues to grow today. Many of these diverse images reflect some aspect of landscape (including cityscapes) that correspond to the strong thread of landscape in the museum's painting collection.

Alfred Stieglitz, Equivalent, 1929

André Kertész, Crossroads, Blois (Carrefour, Blois), 1930. © Estate of André Kertész.

©2010 The Phillips Collection.

1600 21st Street, NW | Washington, DC 20009 | 202-387-2151