Archives
The Phillips Collection Archives include Duncan and Marjorie Phillips’s correspondence and more.
The Phillips Collection Archives include Duncan and Marjorie Phillips’s correspondence with artists whose works are represented in the collection, and with dealers, critics, and others.
The archives 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including 30 journals (primarily from his years at Yale and his early travels), about 200 published articles and 200 unpublished articles, seven books, and multiple drafts of many of his writings.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.
Archives Digitization Project
The Phillips Collection recently digitized a portion of their archives. This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MA-30-18-0306-18].
Explore the Digitized Collections
From the Archives: Correspondence
Paintings desired for Phillips Memorial, 1922
Pierre Bonnard to Duncan Phillips, 1942
Georgia O’Keeffe to Duncan Phillips, 1949
From the Archives: Exhibitions & Events
Phillips Memorial Gallery Alumni Exhibition brochure
Sam Gilliam exhibition brochure, 1967
Picasso and Marin exhibition, 1938
Announcement of a lecture by Martha Graham, March 15, 1944
Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition announcement, 1939
Oral Histories
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 Sheree Scarborough, 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
- Val Lewton, exhibition designer
- 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
- Elizabeth Hutton Turner, former Phillips curator
Curatorial Exhibition Records
The Curatorial Exhibition Records consists of material dated from the early 1900s to the 2010s and include research material, exhibition planning, and catalog planning. The finding aids included on the website are complete. However, the Curatorial Exhibition Records are being added to regularly.
- 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
- John Graham: Artist and Avatar
- 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
Department Records
Guide to the records of the music department
The Records of the Music Department consist of materials dated from 1925 to 2009 and include correspondence, press clippings and reviews, photographs, concert programs, serial publications, pamphlets, press releases and other ephemera pertaining to performers. As records are being added to on a regular basis, please contact the library to access records later than 2009.
Guide to the records of the research department
The Records of the Research Office consist of materials dated from 1908 to 1999 and include correspondence, newspaper clippings, press releases, memorandums, minutes, reports, photographs, pamphlets, publications, scrapbooks, texts of lectures and speeches, an audio cassette, an oral history, and other materials documenting the life of Duncan Phillips. The records contain substantial information on the holdings of the museum, documented through inventories and acquisitions. This collection was used extensively in creating The Eye of Duncan Phillips. This collection is complete.
Guide to the records of the Board of Trustees
The Records of the Board of Trustees consist of materials dated from 1920 to 2010 and include materials documenting the interaction between the Office of the Director and The Phillips Collection Board of Trustees and committees. The records contain trustee biographies, correspondence and memorandums, committee meeting agendas and minutes, directives and resolutions, reports, and information on acquisitions. As records are being added to on a regular basis, please contact the library to access records later than 2010.
Guide to the record of the Phillips Properties, Incorporated
The Records of the Phillips Properties, Incorporated consist of materials dated from 1919 to 1967 and include materials from the corporation that operated from 1919 to 1967, formed by Duncan Phillips and a small number of incorporators and stockholders to manage the company’s stocks and bonds. Included are meeting minutes, articles of incorporation, by-laws, legal filings, and financial data. This collection is complete.
Gifts to the Archives
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