The Phillips Collects: Vivian Browne

Bini Apron by Vivian Browne is the fourth work by the artist to enter the collection, joining three works on paper gifted by Brenda and Larry Thompson in 2024. This summer, The Phillips Collection will present Vivian Browne: My Kind of Protest—a major retrospective of Browne’s work.

Vivian Browne was an American painter known for her portraits, abstractions and landscapes inspired by her travels and observations. Browne received both a BS and BFA from Hunter College in 1950 and 1959, respectively, and studied at the Art Students League and the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. She had a storied career as both an educator and administrator at Rutgers University in Newark from 1971 to 1992. 

Browne’s 1971 trip to Nigeria precipitated a critical turning point in her career as a painter. She spent six weeks at the University of Ibadan, a historic site for the development of modern African art, and two weeks in Lagos and Ghana. Browne often stated that as a result of her experiences in West Africa, her work shifted from figuration toward a more abstract visual language, one that she would nurture and refine for the remainder of her career. 

While in Nigeria and Ghana, Browne absorbed the multi-sensory experience and translated it into largely abstract paintings, prints, and drawings. She responded to what she called the dissonance of African music in works such as Bini Apron, a work characterized by chromatic tensions between vibrant colors and decentralized compositions. The title likely refers to a coral garment worn by members of the Benin royal court that signifies power and nobility. 

Bini Apron enriches our collection by providing meaningful dialogues with the bold, color-filled works by Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Juan Miró, and Mark Rothko, as well as adding to the growing representation of Black American women.