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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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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  • A hand uses pliers to cut barbed wire in front of a tall watchtower.
    A hand uses pliers to cut barbed wire in front of a tall watchtower.

    Toyo Miyatake, Untitled (Opening Image from Valediction), 1944. Gelatin silver print mounted on board, sheet: 9 7/16 × 7 5/16 in. (24 × 18.6 cm) Image: 9 3/8 × 7 1/4 in. (23.8 × 18.4 cm) Mount: 17 × 13 15/16 × 1/16 in. (43.2 × 35.4 × 0.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee 2014.243. © Toyo Miyatake Studio

  • A background of blue obscured almost completely by bright red streaks running up and down the canvas.
    A background of blue obscured almost completely by bright red streaks running up and down the canvas.

    Alma Thomas, Mars Dust, 1972. Acrylic on canvas, overall: 69 1/4 × 57 1/8 in. (175.9 × 145.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from The Hament Corporation 72.58. © Estate of Alma Thomas (Courtesy of the Hart Family)/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  • Large abstract painting with layered horizontal color bands including pink cloud, green hills, and deep blue foreground.
    Large abstract painting with layered horizontal color bands including pink cloud, green hills, and deep blue foreground.

    Helen Frankenthaler, Flood, 1967. Acrylic on canvas, overall: 124 1/4 × 140 1/2 in. (315.6 × 356.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art 68.12. © Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  • Small CRT monitor with blue screen showing clouds mounted on a white gallery wall with cord.
    Small CRT monitor with blue screen showing clouds mounted on a white gallery wall with cord.

    Cory Arcangel, Super Mario Clouds, 2002. Handmade hacked Super Mario Brothers cartridge and Nintendo NES video game system, dimensions variable. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2005.10. © Cory Arcangel. Courtesy of the artist

  • A portrait bust of a Black woman, her face lifted slightly towards the sky
    A portrait bust of a Black woman, her face lifted slightly towards the sky

    Elizabeth Catlett, Head, 1947. Terracotta, overall: 10 3/4 × 6 1/2 × 8 3/4 in. (27.3 × 16.5 × 22.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Jack E. Chachkes Purchase Fund, the +6
    Schmidt Shubert Purchase Fund, and the Wilfred P. and Rose J. Cohen Purchase Fund in memory of Cecil Joseph Weekes 2013.103. © Catlett Mora Family Trust / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  • Faceless mother and child with yellow halos, mother wearing red dress and pearls.
    Faceless mother and child with yellow halos, mother wearing red dress and pearls.

    Allan D'Arcangelo, Madonna and Child, 1963. Acrylic and gesso on canvas, overall: 68 1/2 × 60 1/8 in. (174 × 152.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2013.2. © Estate of Allan D'Arcangelo / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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.