73. Patricia Phillips

Patricia Phillips was born in New York and attended Atelier 17 in 1945 and 1946, when it was affiliated with the New School for Social Research. Between 1933 and 1937 Phillips was enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied with Kurt Roesch.¹ Roesch, who was an Atelier 17 member himself, made similar introductions for other students from Sarah Lawrence to work at the studio. Based on a listing of known works made at the time of her death, Phillips made at least seven intaglio plates during her affiliation.² One titled Ecstatic Dance, formerly in the collection of Stanley William Hayter, conveys her semiabstract style and desire to communicate universal ideas and experiences in forms that would be understandable to viewers. During her short lifetime, Phillips received four solo shows—one at Bonestell Gallery (1941) and three at the Pinacotheca (1943, 1944, and 1945)—which received favorable reviews for her color-filled and emotionally charged canvases.

Selected bibliography

Breuning, Margaret. “Emotional Abstractions.” Art Digest 19 (November 15, 1944): 18.

“Making Haste Slowly.” Art Digest 20 (February 1, 1946): 11.

“Patricia Phillips.” Art Digest 18 (January 15, 1944): 19, 26.

Patricia Phillips: 1915-1946. New York: The Pinacotheca, 1947.

Reed, Judith Kaye. “End of a Promise.” Art Digest 22, no. 3 (November 1, 1947): 21.

Notes