Videos from the Phillips

Art Historian Cornelia Homburg explains the myth of van Gogh as “mad genius”

Art Historian Cornelia Homburg discusses the artists’ friendship and rivalry

Intersections artist John F. Simon Jr. discusses his installation at the Phillips, Points, Lines, and Colors in Succession, on view October 17, 2013 through February 9, 2014.

Inspired by the progression of movement in the natural world, Simon's four-part installation in the Phillips house stairwell incorporates drawing, software, and computer-generated fabrication. The works, evoking meandering lines, steep curves, and improvisation, engage with Wassily Kandinsky's Succession (1935) in the Phillips's permanent collection.

In the first Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) exhibition in DC in 15 years, the Phillips brings together 35 of his celebrated portraits and landscapes from some of the world’s most renowned collections. It features results of more than half a decade of research into the artist’s process, revealing a fascinating picture of his personal life and art. While recognized for the intensity and speed with which he painted, van Gogh also worked with careful deliberation, creating multiple versions of some of his most famous subjects.

In April 2013, the Phillips partnered with the US Department of State to conduct a series of workshops in Pakistan focusing on art and social change. Using Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series (1940–41) as a catalyst for conversation about the power of storytelling through art, emerging artists, middle and high school students, art educators, and museum professionals worked together to create visual narratives about identity, personal struggle, and Pakistani history. The exhibition, presenting 29 works by emerging Pakisani artists and 20 works by students, continues the Phillips’s history of being a leader in international cultural diplomacy.

This collection of videos focuses on the study of four paintings by Braque in The Phillips Collection. Associate Conservator Patricia Favero narrates her findings.

In this video, the painting The Round Table (1929) is examined in visible, raking, and ultraviolet light.

In this video, the painting Lemons and Napkin Ring (1929) is examined in transmitted light and with infrared imaging.

In this video, the painting The Washstand (1944) is examined in specular light, a form of raking light viewed from an angle.

In this video, the paint surface of Pewter Pot and Plate of Fruit (1944) is examined with the stereomicroscope.