The Phillips Collection archives contain materials created by the museum's founding director Duncan Phillips, by his wife, Marjorie Phillips, who worked with him and succeeded him as director after his death in 1966, and by the museum's departments. The archives are non-circulating and are available by appointment.
The archives include Duncan and Marjorie Phillips's correspondence with artists whose works are represented in the collection, and with dealers, critics, and others. They contain a wealth of written material by Duncan Phillips, including 30 journals (primarily from his years at Yale and his early travels), about 200 published articles and 200 unpublished articles, seven books, and multiple drafts of many of his writings. Records related to the museum's departments include information associated with public events and programs as well as exhibition research.
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The Phillips Collection began its oral history program in 2004. Interviews are being conducted with former directors of The Phillips Collection, Phillips family members, current and former staff members, trustees, artists, and others who have first-hand knowledge of the museum's history. The interviews are conducted by Donita M. Moorhus, an oral historian. Researchers may consult oral history transcripts in the library.
- Charles Crowder, former director of the music program
- David Driskell, artist, collector, professor
- Jay Gates, director of The Phillips Collection, 1998‒2008
- Sam Gilliam, Washington-based, internationally recognized artist
- Kevin Grogan, former museum staff member
- Linda Lichtenberg Kaplan, Vice Chair of the Trustees of The Phillips Collection
- Bill Koberg, manager of exhibitions at The Phillips Collection
- Willem de Looper, former curator, artist
- Charles Moffett, director of The Phillips Collection, 1992‒1998
- Gifford and Joann Phillips, Phillips family
- Laughlin Phillips, director of The Phillips Collection, 1972‒1992
- Penelope Saffer, director of development for The Phillips Collection, 1985–1996
- Arthur Hall Smith, former museum assistant, artist, professor
Finding aids, or research guides, exist for a portion of the museum's archives. More will be added as archival collections are processed. Records are included in the online library catalog.
Curatorial Exhibition Records
- After Matisse
- American Watercolors from the Permanent Collection
- Americans in Paris: Man Ray, Gerald Murphy, Stuart Davis, Alexander Calder (1921‒1931)
- Arthur Dove: A Retrospective
- Arthur Dove: Works on Paper
- Augustus Vincent Tack: Landscape of the Spirit
- Ben Shahn's New York: The Photography of Modern Times
- The Canal: Photographs by Robert Cotton
- Degas, Sickert, Toulouse-Lautrec: London and Paris, (1870-1910)
- A Dialogue with Nature: Nine Contemporary Sculptors
- Duncan Phillips Centennial Exhibition
- Duncan Phillips Collects: Paris Between the Wars
- East Meets West – Hiroshige at The Phillips Collection
- Elmer Bischoff Paintings (1947-1985)
- Gauguin and His Circle in Brittany: The Prints of the Pont-Aven School
- Georges Braque: The Late Paintings 1940-1963
- Georgia O'Keeffe: The Poetry of Things
- Howard Hodgkin: Forty Paintings (1973-1984)
- Impressionist Still Life
- Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party
- In the American Grain: Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz
- Indian Art Today: Four Artists from the Chester and Davida Herwitz Family Collection
- Jacob Lawrence: American Painter
- Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series
- Leland Bell
- Odilon Redon: Masterpieces from the Woodner Collection
- Pierre Bonnard: Early and Late
- Ralston Crawford
- Renoir to Rothko – The Eye of Duncan Phillips
- Richard Pousette-Dart
- Susan Rothenberg
- Theme & Improvisation: Kandinsky & the American Avant-Garde (1912–1950)
- Two Lives: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz
Departmental Records
- Guide to the records of the music department
- Guide to the records of the research department
- Guide to the records of the Board of Trustees
- Guide to the records of the Phillips Properties, Incorporated
Gifts to the Archives