Modern art pioneer in the US capital
As America’s first museum of modern art, this is also one of the world’s most distinguished collections of impressionist works and has superb American and European holdings. The museum was founded in the early 1920s by art collectors Marjorie and Duncan Phillips and occupies a Georgian Revival home, which has subsequently been largely extended. From the start, it presented a bold selection of recent work alongside art of the past, and combined works of different nationalities. Highlights include the much-loved Rothko Room and Renoir’s celebrated painting “Luncheon of the Boating Party.” Artists represented include Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Claude Monet, Honoré Daumier, Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Milton Avery, Jacob Lawrence and Richard Diebenkorn, among others. The museum also regularly organizes acclaimed special exhibitions, many of which travel internationally, and invites contemporary artists to respond to art and spaces within the museum.
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