Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts

July 17–Oct 19, 2014

A watercolor of a gas station in primary colors by Ed Ruscha.

From the Whitney Museum’s inception in 1930, its permanent collection has grown primarily through the generosity of individual donors, beginning with Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s founding gift of more than five hundred works of art. In the five decades since Marcel Breuer designed the Whitney’s current building, the collection has expanded dramatically—from about 2,300 objects to more than 21,000 works—in large part due to donations from Museum trustees, collectors, foundations, and artists. Today, gifts comprise nearly two-thirds of the Museum’s holdings, including many works now considered to be icons. While representing only a small portion of the gifts received during the last fifty years, this exhibition honors all of the benefactors who have understood that a museum’s collection is its foundation.

Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts focuses on artists who came to the fore between 1940 and 1990, an extraordinarily dynamic period in American art. It is impossible to imagine contemporary art without the precedents set by the artists in this presentation, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Agnes Martin, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. On the eve of the Whitney’s move downtown, this exhibition provides a small indication of the collection’s depth, soon to be seen in the Museum's new, larger homestarting in the spring of 2015.

Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts is organized by Dana Miller, Curator of the Permanent Collection.

Artworks

Andy Warhol, Untitled (Cyclist), c. 1976. Four gelatin silver prints stitched with thread, 27 3/8 × 21 5/8 in. (69.6 × 54.9 cm) overall. Unique. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and purchase with funds from the Photography Committee 94.125
© 2009 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Jasper Johns, Three Flags, 1958. Encaustic on canvas (three panels), 30 7/8 × 45 3/4 in. (78.4 × 116.2 cm) overall. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Gilman Foundation, Inc., The Lauder Foundation, A. Alfred Taubman, Laura-Lee Whittier Woods, Howard Lipman, and Ed Downe in honor of the Museum’s 50th Anniversary 80.32. © 2021 Jasper Johns / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Claes Oldenburg, Giant BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich), 1963. Vinyl, kapok fibers, painted wood, and wood, 32 × 39 × 29 in. (81.3 × 99.1 × 73.7cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President 2002.255a-s
James Rosenquist, Fahrenheit 1982 Degrees, 1982. Colored ink on frosted mylar, 33 1/8 × 71 1/2 in. (84.1 × 181.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the John I. H. Baur Purchase Fund, the Mr. and Mrs. M. Anthony Fisher Purchase Fund, and The Lauder Foundation—Drawing Fund 82.35
Art © James Rosenquist / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Edward Ruscha, Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas, 1962, from Twentysix Gasoline Stations, 1963. Gelatin silver print, 4 15/16 × 5 1/16 in. (12.5 × 12.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from The Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Foundation, and Diane and Thomas Tuft 2004.461
© Ed Ruscha
Edward Ruscha, Phillips 66, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1962, from Twentysix Gasoline Stations, 1963. Gelatin silver print, 4 11/16 × 4 11/16 in. (11.9 × 11.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from The Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Foundation, and Diane and Thomas Tuft 2004.467
Edward Ruscha, Texaco, Vega, Texas, 1962, from Twentysix Gasoline Stations, 1963. Gelatin silver print, 4 11/16 × 5 in. (11.9 × 12.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from The Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Foundation, and Diane and Thomas Tuft 2004.476
Edward Ruscha, Twentysix Gasoline Stations Slant, 1963. Graphite, colored pencil, pen, and ink on paper, 14 × 11 1/16 in. (35.6 × 28.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President 2005.44
© Ed Ruscha
Andy Warhol, Green Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962. Silkscreen ink, acrylic, and graphite on canvas, 82 3/4 × 57 1/8 in. (210.2 × 145.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art 68.25. © 2018 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Brice Marden, Bridge Study, 1991. Ink, wash, and gouache on paper, 26 × 34 3/8 in. (66 × 87.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Drawing Committee and The Norman and Rosita Winston Foundation Inc. 92.27
© 2009 Brice Marden / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Barnett Newman, The Promise, 1949. Oil on canvas, 51 1/2 × 68 1/8 in. (130.8 × 173 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Adriana and Robert Mnuchin 2000.338
© 2009 Barnett Newman Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Jackson Pollock, Number 18, 1951, 1951. Enamel on canvas, 59 1/4 × 55 7/8 in. (150.5 × 141.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President 2002.258
© 2009 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Ad Reinhardt, Abstract Painting, 1960-66 (Installation view, Whitney Museum of American Art). Oil on linen, 60 x 60 1/8 in. (152.4 x 152.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from The Lauder Foundation, Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Fund 98.16.3. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Mark Rothko, Four Darks in Red, 1958. Oil on canvas, 102 × 116 in. (259.1 × 294.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene M. Schwartz, Mrs. Samuel A. Seaver, and Charles Simon 68.9. © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hollywood Africans, 1983. Acrylic and oil stick on canvas, 84 1/16 x 84 in. (213.5 x 213.4 cm). Gift of Douglas S. Cramer 84.23. © 2015 The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/ ADAGP, Paris/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Keith Haring, Untitled, 1981. Vinyl ink on vinyl tarpaulin, 73 3/16 × 71 7/8 in. (185.9 × 182.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of the Lannan Foundation 97.89.2
© Keith Haring Foundation
Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled, 1958. Solvent transfer, graphite, collage, watercolor, gouache, and oil pastel on paper, 24 1/4 × 36 1/8 in. (61.6 × 91.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Friedman 72.2
© Robert Rauschenberg / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Robert Rauschenberg, Blue Eagle, 1961. Mixed media, 84 × 60 × 5 in. (213.4 × 152.4 × 12.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President 2002.259a-d
© Robert Rauschenberg / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled, c. 1951. Oil and newspaper on four canvas panels, 87 × 171 in. (221 × 434.3 cm) overall. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President 2002.260
© Robert Rauschenberg / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Pat Steir, September Evening Waterfall, 1991. Oil on canvas, 114 × 102 3/4 in. (289.6 × 261 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of an anonymous donor 2001.322
© Pat Steir
Bob Thompson, Triumph of Bacchus, 1964. Oil on canvas, 60 1/4 × 72 1/8 in. (153 × 183.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee and The Lauder Foundation, Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Fund 98.19. © Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY

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Installation photography

Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins
Installation view of Shaping a Collection: Five Decades of Gifts (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 17–October 19, 2014). Photograph by Sheldan Collins