Background
She was born Marjorie Acker in Bourbon, Indiana.
She was born Marjorie Acker in Bourbon, Indiana.
She began attending the Art Students League in 1915 and graduated in 1918. She studied under Boardman Robinson. She attended an art exhibition for Duncan Phillips at the Century Association in January, 1921.
She was the sister to six other siblings. Her parents were Charles Ernest Acker and Alice Beal. She was raised in Ossining, New New York
Phillips started drawing as a child.
Her uncles were Reynolds Beal and Gifford Beal. Both men noticed Phillips artistic ability and suggested she pursue art as a career pathological
Marjorie Phillips has the unmistakable style of the born painter. - Duncan Phillips
Phillips is quoted as stating that she "didn"t want to paint depressing pictures." She painted primarily landscapes and still life works. studio.
Fine art, family and the Phillips Collection
She met Duncan, and the two married in October of that year.
Phillips moved to Washington, District of Columbia and into Duncan"s Dupont Circle mansion. Duncan"s mother also lived at the mansion. While visiting France in 1923, Phillips became interested in Impressionism.
She found inspiration in the work of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne.
She didn"t only find inspiration in their work, but the couple began collecting their work. During that 1923 trip, they purchased Renoir"s Luncheon of the Boating Party for $125,000.
In 1930, the couple had collected so much artwork that they had to leave the mansion, with the art, and move into a nearby house in the Foxhall neighborhood. The house was named "Dunmarlin".
The couple had a summer home in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.
lieutenant was called Ormsby Lodge and Carriage House. Duncan died in 1966. In total, the couple had collected over 2,500 works of art, many which were on display at the museum. In 1971 she curated a retrospective about Paul Cézanne and published the book, Duncan Phillips and His Collection.
Phillips retired in 1972.
Her son, Laughlin Phillips, became Director of the Phillips Collection. Phillips donated a piece of property, in Martha"s Vineyard, to the Sheriff"s Meadow Foundation in 1980.
The property, which today is a nature conservancy, was named Phillips Preserve. She died in 1985 of pulmonary failure.
The Phillips family papers are held in the collection of the Heinz History Center.
The Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library has a holding of archival materials of Phillips". Solo show, 1925, Phillips Collection, Washington, District of Columbia
Strawberry Picnic, ca. 1924, Phillips Collection, Washington, District of Columbia Bohemian Glass Vase, 1939, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts.