Whitney Museum Reinstalls Collection with 120 Works Spanning 1900-1965

The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York has reinstalled its permanent collection with 120 works spanning 1900 to 1965, offering a historical re-reading of 20th-century American art. The new installation, curated by David Breslin, Margaret Kross, and Roxanne Smith, begins with a gallery dedicated to the museum's founding collection, including works by George Bellows, Stuart Davis, and Catherine Schmidt, alongside photographs by Charles Sheeler documenting the original 1931 building on West 8th Street. The exhibition proceeds thematically and chronologically, featuring galleries on urban and rural landscapes, Alexander Calder's Circus (with over 70 miniature figures and 30 musical instruments), a dedicated Edward Hopper room, Jacob Lawrence's War series (14 tempera paintings from 1946-47), and sections on Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. Notable works include Norman Lewis's American Totem (1960), a recent acquisition exploring the Civil Rights movement, and Marisol's Women and Dog (1963-64). The installation highlights lesser-known artists alongside major figures like Pollock, de Kooning, Warhol, and Lichtenstein. The museum, founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and first directed by Juliana Force, aimed to support living American artists when U.S. institutions focused on European art. The exhibition has no closing date.