Original works of art

Born in New York City, Margaret McDonald Phillips studied at Hunter College, Grand Central School of Art, with the Wayman Adams School of Portraiture; with Eric Pape, Frank Schwartz and Edmund Graecen. She also studied at the University of Paris and received a Ph.D. from St. Andrew's College in Scotland.

Phillips was best known for her portraits, which included such subjects as Indira Gandhi, later president of India, and former President Richard M. Nixon. A longtime staff member of the New York Phoenix School of Design, she eventually became the head of its portrait-painting department. She was also known for her portraits of cats, many commissioned by friends.

Phillips accumulated many awards during her art career, including the Nancy Ashton Prize at Hunter College, and the 1969 Woman of the Year citation from the Greater New York Citizens Society. She was also the founder and president of the Fifty American Artists, an honorary society of traditional painters, and was a fellow of the Royal Society of Art in London.