WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

Description

Essentials about the Whitney Museum of American Art in brief

Lovers of modern American art have had a new place to go in New York City since 2015, when the Whitney Museum of American Art took up residence in its new building designed by star architect Renzo Piano in the trendy Meatpacking District on the banks of the Hudson River. With a collection of over 20,000 works of art by more than 3,000 artists, the Whitney Museum represents one of the most important collections of American art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The history of the Whitney Museum of American Art

The museum was founded in 1931 by U.S. sculptor and art patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney with approximately 700 works of art from her own estate. Since then, the Whitney Museum’s mission has been to “collect, explore, explain, and interrogate” American art with a focus on living, contemporary working artists.

The museum changed locations several times in the past before moving to its spectacular new home in 2015. By the way, from the museum’s multi-story terrace you have a great view of the Meatpacking District, the High Line, the Hudson River and One World Trade Center.

The collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art

The museum exhibits paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, installations, video art and photographs. The list of artists on display reads like a who’s who of modern American art: Keith Herring, Edward Hopper, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock, Maurice Prendergast, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol are just a few of the many big names represented here. The Whitney Museum of American Art is best known for its world’s largest collections of works by Edward Hopper and Roy Lichtenstein. The museum preserves the entire estate of Edward Hopper’s widow, with over 3,100 works. In 2018, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation gave about half of its holdings to the Whitney Museum, with about 400 works by the Pop artist.

Every two years, the Whitney Biennial provides information on the current state of the American art scene in a large-scale exhibition that attracts international attention. The focus of the Biennial is primarily on young and lesser-known American artists.