Whitney Biennial 1973: Contemporary American Art

Jan 10–Mar 18, 1973

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Installation photography

Installation view of the 1973 Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Art (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 10–March 18, 1973). Photograph by Sandak, Inc.
Installation view of the 1973 Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 10–March 18, 1973). From left to right: Clement Meadmore, Dervish; Ronald Bladen, Untitled; center: Forest Myers, Smoke in Grass; Alice Adams, Long Wall; Jack Sonenberg, Perimeter II. Photograph by Sandak, Inc.
Installation view of the 1973 Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 10–March 18, 1973). From left to right: Ellsworth Kelly, Two Panels: White/Black; Sylvia Stone, Crystal Palace (1971–72).
Installation view of the 1973 Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 10–March 18, 1973). From left to right: Joan Mitchell, Bonjour Julie; Tony Smith, Untitled; Randy Hardy, Crackerjacks. Photograph by Sandak, Inc.
Installation view of the 1973 Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 10–March 18, 1973). Photograph by Sandak, Inc.
Installation view of the 1973 Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 10–March 18, 1973). Raphael Ferrera, House. Photograph by Sandak, Inc.

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In the News

“The old Whitney annuals used to alternate between painting and sculpture on alternate years, but the new art styles employing new media [. . .] do not permit such hard-and-fast categorization.” —The New York Times

“The Whitney, ever yearning to get with it, has tried to give us a playground—that is exactly what the biennial suggests, a kind of mail-order jungle gym—but we’ve outgrown it.” —The New York Times

“. . . the entire exhibition space is now filled to the top with the works of art, near-art, non-art, anti-art, pseudo-art and you-name-it that make up this survey of what is going on just now.” —The New York Times

“. . . an energetic attempt to encompass a broad spectrum of styles and methods and ideas—particularly the new ideas—that now determine the forms that art is given, and the exhibition does succeed in embracing a great diversity of statement.” —The New York Times

“We should not be surprised [. . .] that the Whitney show—which fills all five floors of the museum—takes a sort of liberal, all-things-to-all-men attitude toward the current art scene.” —The New York Times

More from this series

Learn more about the Whitney Biennial, the longest-running survey of American art.