Through archival materials, Associate Curator Renée Maurer explores the rich relationship between The Phillips Collection and Barnett Aden Gallery. The groundbreaking Barnett Aden Gallery, the first Black-owned commercial art gallery in the United States, opened at 127 Randolph Place NW on October 16, 1943. It was founded in the private home of James V. Herring, […]

Associate Curator Renée Maurer on Lillian Evanti’s performance at The Phillips Collection in 1942. Lillian Evans Tibbs, a Paris trained, internationally renowned soprano, with an ability to sing in several languages, traveled the world as Madame Evanti, the first African American opera singer to perform with a major European company. She held concerts at her […]

Through archival materials, Associate Curator Renée Maurer explores the rich relationships among Duncan Phillips and American University students and faculty, including Robert Gates and Alma Thomas. Robert Gates and the American University art faculty who taught Alma Thomas between 1952-1957 were closely associated with The Phillips Collection, and its former art school, managed by C. […]