1000 Museums

Marjorie Acker Phillips was an American Impressionist painter and art collector. She was born in Bourbon, Indiana, and was interested in art from a young age. Her family encouraged her talents and helped her attend the Arts Student League of New York in 1915. On a trip to Europe with her husband, Duncan Phillips, her interest in modern and Impressionist art was sparked through studying the works of artists such as Cézanne, Matisse, and Renoir. Phillip’s works mostly consisted of landscapes and still life. Her artistic goal was to celebrate the wonder of the world through luminous, rhythmical landscapes, and objects. Her work has been shown at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Durlacher Gallery, the Phillips Collection, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Phillips also played an integral role in developing The Phillips Collection, in which she helped establish and manage America’s first museum of modern art.