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A Collector’s Vision
Duncan
Phillips collection offers more than just beautiful art
By Jericho Parms
“VanGogh’s paint is so thick it just juts from the canvas,”
said Margaret Parlow, a retired schoolteacher from Denver. “We are
standing in the presence of greatness.”
Nearly everyone who has wandered through the Denver Art Museum gallery
within the past month would agree as the world’s most beloved artists
have settled just one hour from Colorado Springs.
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| El Greco, The Repentant St. Peter, ca 1600-05 or later. Oil on canvas. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. |
“El Greco, hanging right next to Goya, such emotion
escapes the paintings, but it is through their subtlety that it hits you,”
said Katherine Wheeler, a student from Colorado Springs, visiting the
exhibit.
“El Greco to Picasso,” a new exhibit of 53 treasures of European
art from the Phillips Collection, includes both paintings and sculptures
from the mid-1800s through the 1930s, as well as the earlier masterpieces
which inspired them.
“This will be one of the most popular exhibits in the history of
the Denver Art Museum,” said Chris Schmones, a student of art history
and an aspiring curator. “Monet, VanGogh, Matisse, Degas, Renoir,
Picasso – it’s all here right now.”
We all know the names, and in Denver, displayed in a six-room gallery
is the artwork that made them legends. Each room is saturated with a diverse
flare of artistic talent. Yet one of the truest artists among them —
the collector — was not represented.
“Every collection of objects says something about its owner,”
said Schmones. Any attempt to understand the collection must focus first
on the background and philosophy of its founder. Perhaps collector Duncan
Phillips was the most inspiring artist, without a single piece on the
wall.
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| Pablo Picasso, Bullfight, 1934. Oil on canvas; The Phillips Collection, Washingon, D.C. |
In the year 1918, Phillips (1886-1966), a steel heir,
experienced the death of both his father and his brother. It was a dark
time for him and for the entire country. World War I had just finally
drawn to an end, and a deadly flu epidemic, the very one that had taken
his brother, was spreading fast.
In 1921, Phillips opened two rooms of his house to the public. The Phillips
Memorial Gallery became the first museum of modern art in the United States.
“I turned to my love of painting for the will to live,” he
wrote of his collection. “I would create a Memorial Collection —
to share with all people who love art and go to it for solace and spiritual
refreshment.”
Now, more than ever, he is a man to learn from.
“If we can share in expression, perhaps we can find a common ground,”
said Louise Welch, an artist visiting the Denver area from the east coast.
“Our sense of common ground is quickly slipping away.”
In a time of upheaval and injustice, in which the world’s boundaries
are constantly being redrawn, and the pain of loss can be felt daily,
Phillips’ message rings especially true.
After every great tragedy, we as a people seem drawn to erecting some
kind of memorial as a way of healing. Phillips has created a memorial
that has the ability to touch people forever.
“We all have a need to memorialize what has been lost,” continues
Welch. “Phillips has pulled together a living, breathing memorial
through his collection of art. We could surely gather a few lessons from
him.”
And the lessons would be in his response to the world around him. It was
a way of renewing a creative voice – a continued effort furthering
the effect of art, as a necessity for peace and solace in a hurtful world.
Phillips was always searching for the right mixture. Seeking to achieve
the perfect combination of diversity and harmony.
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| Vincent van Gogh, The Road Menders, 1889. Oil on canvas. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. |
The collection shows his weakness for color, and his
response to emotion, whether it be in the form of tone or gesture. His
selection shows a dedication to collection as an art in and of itself,
pouring his energy into something great.
“Walking through the exhibit, you can feel how each piece was collected
by an individual, each one somehow relates to the other,” said Wheeler.
“It is very much one personal collection. It is inspiring to think
of the man behind it all.”
Perhaps today, when the world seems full of injustice and violence, we
only involve ourselves in ways that might further such evils. Now, more
than ever, it is important to go see a collection that seeks to restore
beauty.
It’s a collection born out of tragedy, a collection established,
according to Phillips, “as a memorial, a beneficent force in the
community where I live, a joy giving, life-enhancing influence, assisting
people to see beautifully as the artists see.”
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