This landmark show, featuring masterworks by over 63 artists, traces American art from the birth of the modernist spirit at the end of the 19th century through postwar American painting in the mid-20th century. To See as Artists See is the first large-scale, traveling presentation of The Phillips’ celebrated collection of American art, chronicling the broad scope and richness of its holdings from 1850 to 1960.

Founded by Duncan Phillips in 1918, The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., opened to the public in 1921 as America’s first museum of modern art. An astute collector, Phillips assembled much of his collection by patronizing contemporary artists, often buying a representative selection of their work. With the collection’s growth, in 1930 Phillips chose to give over the entire 1896 house built by his parents to the museum, allowing visitors to encounter the art within the intimate spaces of his boyhood home.

The major paintings included in To See as Artists See celebrate the very best of late 19th-and 20th-century American art and draw fascinating parallels to the Carter’s permanent collection. Carter visitors will find familiar names among the artists in the exhibition, including Alexander Calder, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Thomas Eakins, Marsden Hartley, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, John Marin, and Georgia O’Keeffe.