New York born and reared, Bert Phillips received formal training at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design, both in New York, NY, then in England and at the Academie Julien, Paris, where he met Joseph Henry Sharp and Ernest Blumenschein. It was Blumenschein and Phillips, age 30, who trekked from Denver, CO, to Taos, NM, in 1898. Phillips was the first the Anglo artist to settle permanently in Taos. At the time he arrived, Phillips had already built a career as an illustrator. A passionate cheerleader who convinced other artists to move to Taos, Phillips was one of the founders of the famed exhibition group called the Taos Society of Artists.