Treasures by Arthur Hall Smith

A plate from Arthur's handmade book for the Phillipses showing visiting nuns admiring Matisse's Studio, Quai Saint-Michel, 1916.

A plate from Arthur’s handmade book for the Phillips’s showing visiting nuns admiring Matisse’s Studio, Quai Saint-Michel. The Phillips Collection Archives, Washington D.C.

Arthur Hall Smith was a beloved employee during his tenure at The Phillips Collection, from 1960-1974. In 1960, the Phillips expanded into an annex which generated the need for more staff. In an oral history, Smith recalled interviewing for the job: “I bought a new pair of shoes and I went out to the Phillips’s house for the interview… they showed me a model of the new building and where they wanted to place me, which was the second floor because it had the Renoir, the Bonnards–really the ‘high rent place’ and he [Duncan Phillips] thought I would be a good welcoming presence there.” Arthur’s welcoming presence and French speaking ability made him a frequent guest at the home of Duncan and Marjorie Phillips, and unofficial translator for tours and foreign visitors to the museum.

Arthur made the Phillips’s a miniature book for Christmas one year, with depictions of the Phillips house with people, including two nuns, looking at paintings in the collection. During the major Cézanne exhibition in 1971, Smith went to a nearby “head shop” which sold pipes and other drug paraphernalia. The store also sold all kinds of buttons, so Smith got thirty of them and painted them ochre with a hand-painted Braque bird and the word “Staff,” and finished them with a heavy lacquer.

Handmade staff buttons

Handmade staff buttons. The Phillips Collection Archives, Washington D.C.

Arthur died in February of 2013 in Paris, France, where he lived for many years. A transcript of his oral history interview is available in the library.

Concluding the 2012/2013 season of Sunday Concerts

We would like to take the opportunity to thank all the performers, volunteers, Concertmasters, supporters, and audience members for making a successful 2012/2013 concert season. See you in October! In the meantime, you can find podcasts of our recordings on iTunes.

Music Team 2013

From left to right: Ed Kelly, Caroline Mousset, Alexandre Mousset, Roberto Alcaraz, Jeremy Ney. Photo Credit: Kathryn Zaremba.

Women’s History at the Phillips: Minnie Byers

Minnie Byers. Photo: courtesy Byers Family

Minnie Byers. Photo: courtesy Byers Family

Strong-willed Minnie Byers left her home in Ellenboro, North Carolina, when she was eighteen. With very little money, Byers found her way, attending business school in Richmond, learning secretarial skills, and studying the stock market. The financial knowledge she acquired made her invaluable to the Phillips family. Minnie Byers worked for the Phillipses from 1923 to 1960. Byers was initially assistant to museum treasurer Dwight Clark and became treasurer herself in 1927. Her financial acumen saved Phillips from the crash of 1929 by advising him to put his stock market holdings in real estate. Minnie was close to Duncan Phillips’s mother and administered her estate. Mrs. Phillips left Minnie a good sum of money, which she invested  and which became her nest egg.

Minnie Byers was a powerful executive before women played that role. In Byers’s day, working in finance was a man’s world. Once, Duncan Phillips took Byers to a board meeting with financiers and industrial people, all men. They told Phillips, “No women allowed, you can’t bring her in.” Phillips replied, “If she can’t come, I won’t be there.” “OK, bring her in.”

Minnie confided to one of her relatives, “I have a problem with Duncan.” He replied, “What is it?” She answered, “I can’t tell him how much money we have. He’ll go and spend it on works of art.” Minnie was protective of Phillips and his money. She began to educate herself about art. She’d say, “I don’t think it’s worth that, Duncan,” and he listened to her. “I invested their money wisely,” said Minnie.

Minnie Byers’s house in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, just three blocks from The Phillips Collection. Now the building is the Embassy of Mozambique. Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid at en.wikipedia

Minnie raised four nieces and nephews, providing them with the best education possible and a wide array of cultural experiences. To her many nieces and nephews, Minnie was a source of enchantment. She called and asked what they wanted for a birthday, and lo and behold, it would appear. Visiting Minnie was a magical affair, she took them to Woodward and Lothrop, and they got to ride the escalators and choose which clothes they wanted. Minnie had a cook and a maid. Her dining room table seated 12 and was always laden with food, a big banquet.

As a token of his esteem for Byers, Duncan Phillips gave her paintings by Walter Griffin, Lilian Westcott Hale, Henri Le Sidaner, and Helen Turner, and Marjorie Phillips gave her works of art as well.

Byers’s former home at 1525 New Hampshire Avenue is currently the Embassy of Mozambique.