Duncan Phillips explicitly described his museum as an 'intimate museum combined with an experiment,' rejecting the coldness of traditional gallery spaces.
The collection was intentionally built around the concept of 'congenial groupings,' placing works of different eras and styles together if they share a visual or spiritual affinity.
The museum's holdings include a significant number of works by Milton Avery, Arthur Dove, and Georgia O'Keeffe, highlighting Phillips' early advocacy for American modernism.
The institution houses the largest collection of works by the painter Arthur Dove in the world.
The building incorporates the historic Phillips family residence, where the living room remains preserved and used as a space for viewing art.
The museum established the 'Phillips Music' series in 1941, which continues to host Sunday afternoon concerts in the music room, a tradition that predates many major national museum performance programs.
The Phillips Collection is America’s first museum of modern art, founded by Duncan Phillips in 1921 within his family's Dupont Circle home. The collection emphasizes a personal approach to curation, focusing on the emotional resonance of art rather than chronological history. It houses a permanent collection of over 3,000 works, ranging from 19th-century Impressionism to contemporary creations. Renoir’s 'Luncheon of the Boating Party' serves as the anchor of the collection. The museum integrates art into a residential setting, utilizing repurposed rooms to display masterpieces alongside smaller, focused exhibits. It features a unique 'Intersections' program, which invites contemporary artists to create site-specific installations that interact with the museum's historic architecture. The facility has expanded over the decades to include the Goh Annex, connected to the original house by a glass bridge. The site remains a private, non-profit institution dedicated to experimental and diverse exhibition strategies.
The glass bridge connecting the original Phillips house to the Goh Annex offers a unique perspective of the courtyard and architectural transition.
Visit the original house section first to experience the art as Duncan Phillips intended it to be displayed in a home.
Check the museum's online calendar for live music performances, which frequently occur in the historic gallery space.
Explore the inner courtyard and garden, a quiet retreat often overlooked by visitors rushing through the galleries.
Do not rush through the smaller, secondary rooms of the original house; these often contain the most interesting juxtapositions of art.
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Refrain from touching any surfaces or artwork, as some galleries are narrow and historic; maintain a conversational volume in the intimate display rooms.
