A small vintage circus dancer puppet in a leaping pose on a red fringe-covered platform.
A small vintage circus dancer puppet in a leaping pose on a red fringe-covered platform.

Alexander Calder, Calder's Circus (detail), 1926-31 (installation view, High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 18, 2025–March 9, 2026). Wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps, dimensions variable. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from a public fundraising campaign in May 1982. One half the funds were contributed by the Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust. Additional major donations were given by The Lauder Foundation; the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc.; the Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc.; an anonymous donor; The T. M. Evans Foundation, Inc.; MacAndrews & Forbes Group, Incorporated; the DeWitt Wallace Fund, Inc.; Martin and Agneta Gruss; Anne Phillips; Mr. and Mrs. Laurance S. Rockefeller; the Simon Foundation, Inc.; Marylou Whitney; Bankers Trust Company; Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth N. Dayton; Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz; Irvin and Kenneth Feld; Flora Whitney Miller. More than 500 individuals from 26 states and abroad also contributed to the campaign 83.36.1-72. © 2026 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Gus Powell

Last chance

High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100
Through Mar 9
Learn more about the exhibition Book Tickets
A large group of people dance together outdoors, raising their arms, while others watch and walk nearby.

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The Whitney Biennial is the longest-running survey of American art, and has been a hallmark of the Museum since 1932. The current format—a survey show of work in all media occurring every two years—has been in place since 1973. Mark your calendars for the next iteration, opening March 2026. 

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Child drawing on paper titled "Seven Soothing Sketches" with colorful markers and a pill organizer on a table.

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artport

Check out art that's created specifically for the web on artport—the Whitney's gallery space for Internet and new-media art.

Dive Into Our Collection

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  • Camera on tripod faces a white wall collage showing a person's legs and small photos.
    Camera on tripod faces a white wall collage showing a person's legs and small photos.

    Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Self-Portrait Study with Roses at Night (1709), 2015. Inkjet print, sheet: 87 5/16 × 60 1/16 in. (221.8 × 152.6 cm) Image: 83 7/8 × 59 5/8 in. (213 × 151.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee 2017.59. © Paul Mpagi Sepuya

  • Tangled brown ropes and cords hang suspended from the ceiling forming a loose web in a gallery.
    Tangled brown ropes and cords hang suspended from the ceiling forming a loose web in a gallery.

    Eva Hesse, No title, 1970. Latex, rope, string, and wire, dimensions variable. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Mrs. Percy Uris Purchase Fund, and the Painting and Sculpture Committee 88.17a-b. © The Estate of Eva Hesse. Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth; photograph by Sheldan C. Collins

  • Painted with angular lines and emotionless faces, three suited men gaze over two open caskets, with a courthouse in the background
    Painted with angular lines and emotionless faces, three suited men gaze over two open caskets, with a courthouse in the background

    Ben Shahn, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, 1931–1932. Tempera on canvas mounted on composition board, overall: 84 × 48 in. (213.4 × 121.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Edith and Milton Lowenthal in memory of Juliana Force 49.22. © Estate of Ben Shahn / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  • A Black man wearing a black beret, suit jacket, and slacks sits in a peacock chair. The back of his chair is various shades of grey and features glimpses of newspaper clippings throughout. He holds a spear in his left hand and a rifle in the other. The floor is rust colored with an irregularly shaped zebra print rug. The wall behind him is off-white with rust colored intersecting lines.
    A Black man wearing a black beret, suit jacket, and slacks sits in a peacock chair. The back of his chair is various shades of grey and features glimpses of newspaper clippings throughout. He holds a spear in his left hand and a rifle in the other. The floor is rust colored with an irregularly shaped zebra print rug. The wall behind him is off-white with rust colored intersecting lines.

    Henry Taylor, Huey Newton, 2007. Acrylic and collaged photocopies on canvas, overall: 94 9/16 × 76 1/4 in. (240.2 × 193.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg in honor of Adam D. Weinberg 2016.86. © Henry Taylor

  • Two abstract figures stand side by side, one holding a small object, both with neutral expressions.
    Two abstract figures stand side by side, one holding a small object, both with neutral expressions.

    Arshile Gorky, The Artist and His Mother, 1926–c. 1936. Oil on canvas, overall: 60 × 50 1/4 in. (152.4 × 127.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Julien Levy for Maro and Natasha Gorky in memory of their father 50.17. © The Arshile Gorky Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  • Crowded nighttime street with brass musicians playing while people dance, walk, and watch from porches.
    Crowded nighttime street with brass musicians playing while people dance, walk, and watch from porches.

    Archibald John Motley, Jr., Gettin' Religion, 1948. Oil on linen, overall: 32 × 39 7/16 in. (81.3 × 100.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, Josephine N. Hopper Bequest, by exchange 2016.15. © Valerie Gerrard Browne

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Frank WANG Yefeng, The Levitating Perils #2

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.