Norman Lewis, American Totem, 1960. Oil on canvas, 73 1/2 × 44 7/8 in. (186.7 × 114 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund in memory of Preston Robert and Joan Tisch, the Painting and Sculpture Committee, Director’s Discretionary Fund, Adolph Gottlieb, by exchange, and Sami and Hala Mnaymneh 2018.141. © Norman Lewis. Courtesy Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965
Jun 28, 2019–May 2022
Norman Lewis, American Totem, 1960. Oil on canvas, 73 1/2 × 44 7/8 in. (186.7 × 114 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund in memory of Preston Robert and Joan Tisch, the Painting and Sculpture Committee, Director’s Discretionary Fund, Adolph Gottlieb, by exchange, and Sami and Hala Mnaymneh 2018.141. © Norman Lewis. Courtesy Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
This exhibition of more than 120 works, drawn entirely from the Whitney’s collection, is inspired by the founding history of the Museum. The Whitney was established in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, a sculptor and patron, to champion the work of living American artists. Mrs. Whitney recognized both the importance of contemporary American art and the need to support the artists who made it. The collection she assembled foregrounded how artists uniquely reveal the complexity and beauty of American life.
The exhibition begins with a gallery devoted to selections from the Museum’s founding collection, followed by galleries that weave their way through major art historical movements and genres. Key achievements by individual figures, including Georgia O’Keeffe and Jacob Lawrence, are interspersed throughout the show. Icons of the collection such as Calder’s Circus and the work of Edward Hopper are featured as well as more recent acquisitions—in particular, Norman Lewis’s American Totem (1960), a painting made at the height of the civil rights movement by an under-appreciated protagonist in the story of Abstract Expressionism. Such additions demonstrate that the Whitney’s collection is a dynamic cultural resource that allows us to continually reframe the history of American life and artistic production.
This exhibition is organized by David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of the Collection, with Margaret Kross, Senior Curatorial Assistant, and Roxanne Smith, Curatorial Assistant.
The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 is sponsored by
Major support is provided by the Barbara Haskell American Fellows Legacy Fund.
Generous support is provided by the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation.
Audio Guides
“I think that’s what our collection aims to be—to really ground people in the work of the particular moment, but also to show how historical work can have new resonance in our contemporary moment.”
—David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of the Collection
Hear from a range of artists, curators, and scholars speaking about works on view.
Installation Photography
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). Left wall: Six photographs by Charles Sheeler, (No title), 1933. Center of room: Gaston Lachaise, Standing Woman, 1912-27. Right wall, left to right, top to bottom: Madeline Shiff, Wiltz at Work, 1932; Anne Goldthwaite, Rebecca, c. 1925; John Steuart Curry, Baptism in Kansas, 1928; John D. Graham, Head of a Woman, 1926; Thomas Hart Benton, The Lord is my Shepherd, 1926; George Bellows, Dempsey and Firpo, 1924; Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Landscape, 1924; Katherine Schmidt, The Snake, 1932; Oscar Bluemner, Last Evening of the Year, c. 1929; Stuart Davis, Early American Landscape, 1925; Rockwell Kent, The Trapper, 1921; George C. Ault, Hudson Street, 1932; Charles Burchfield, Winter Twilight, 1930. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Charles Demuth, Buildings, Lancaster, 1930; Charles Demuth, My Egypt, 1927; Charles Sheeler, River Rouge Plant, 1932; Elsie Driggs, Pittsburgh, 1927. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Florine Stettheimer, New York/Liberty, 1918-19; John Storrs, Forms in Space, c. 1924; Johns Storrs, Forms in Space #1, c. 1924; Man Ray, New York, 1917/1966; John Storrs, Composition Around Two Voids, c. 1934; Joseph Stella, The Brooklyn Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme, 1939; Margaret Bourke-White, Dam at Fort Peck, Montana, 1936, printed c. 1970; Andreas Feininger, West Side Highway, New York, 1940; Ilse Bing, Dead End II (Smokestacks, Queensborough Bridge), 1936. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Andreas Feininger, Gathering Machine, Book Binding, n.d.; Alice Neel, Pat Whalen, 1935; Georgia O’Keeffe, Flower Abstraction, 1924; Georgia O’Keeffe, The White Calico Flower, 1931; Marsden Hartley, Robin Hood Cove, Georgetown, Maine, 1938; Florine Stettheimer, New York/Liberty, 1918-19. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Horace Pippin, The Buffalo Hunt, 1933; Herbert W. Gleason, White Pond—Blue Flag Along Shore, 1908; Herbert W. Gleason, Partridge’s Nest, Near Brister’s Spring, 1908; Margaret Bourke-White, Dam at Fort Peck, Montana, 1936, printed c. 1970; Andreas Feininger, West Side Highway, New York, 1940; Ilse Bing, Dead End II (Smokestakcs, Queensborough Bridge), 1936. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Edward Hopper, (Self-Portrait), 1925-30; Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning, 1930; Edward Hopper, New York Interior, c. 1921; Georgia O’Keeffe, Summer Days, 1936; Edward Hopper, Seven A.M., 1948; Edward Hopper, A Woman in the Sun, 1961. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Georgia O’Keeffe, Music, Pink and Blue No. 2, 1918; Georgia O’Keeffe, Flower Abstraction, 1924; Georgia O’Keeffe, The White Calico Flower, 1931. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Charles Demuth, Buildings, Lancaster, 1930; Charles Demuth, My Egypt, 1927; Andrew Wyeth, Winter Fields, 1942. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). Top to bottom: Carlos Vilardebo, Le Cirque Calder, 1961; Alexander Calder, Calder’s Circus, 1926-31. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). Alexander Calder, Calder’s Circus, 1926-31. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). Alexander Calder, Calder’s Circus, 1926-31. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). Alexander Calder, Calder’s Circus, 1926-31. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Georgia O’Keeffe, Music, Pink and Blue No. 2, 1918; Georgia O’Keeffe, Flower Abstraction, 1924; Georgia O’Keeffe, The White Calico Flower, 1931; Edward Hopper, Soir Bleu, 1914; Andrew Wyeth, Winter Field, 1942. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Edward Hopper, Soir Bleu, 1914; Edward Hopper, Self-Portrait, 1925-30; Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning, 1930. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Edward Hopper, Seven A.M., 1948; Edward Hopper, A Woman in the Sun, 1961. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning, 1930; Edward Hopper, New York Interior, c. 1921; Edward Hopper, Railroad Sunset, 1929. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). Clockwise, from top left: Jared French, State Park, 1946; George Tooker, The Subway, 1950; Yves Tanguy, The Wish, 1949; Man Ray, La Fortune, 1938; Kay Sage, No Passing, 1954; Federico Castellón, The Dark Figure, 1938; Paul Cadmus, Fantasia on a Theme by Dr. S., 1946; Paul Cadmus, Sailors and Floosies, 1938; Robert Vickrey, The Labyrinth, 1951; Peter Blume, Light of the World, 1932. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Jacob Lawrence, War Series: Another Patrol, 1946; Jacob Lawrence, War Series: Alert, 1947; Jacob Lawrence, War Series: Docking – Cigarette, Joe?, 1947; Jacob Lawrence, War Series: On Leave, 1947; Jacob Lawrence, War Series: The Letter, 1946; Jacob Lawrence, War Series: Beachhead, 1947; Jacob Lawrence, War Series: How Long?, 1947; Jacob Lawrence, War Series: Purple Hearts, 1947; Jacob Lawrence, War Series: Casualty – The Secretary of War Regrets, 1947. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Archibald John Motley, Jr., Gettin’ Religion, 1948; Franz Kline, Mahoning, 1956; Henry Koerner, Mirror of Life, 1946. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Jay DeFeo, The Rose, 1958-66; Norman Lewis, American Totem, 1960; Franz Kline, Mahoning, 1956. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). Tom Wesselmann, Still Life Number 36, 1964. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Roy Lichtenstein, Little Big Painting, 1965; Marisol, Women and Dog, 1963-64; Rosalyn Drexler, Marilyn Pursued by Death, 1963. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Rosalyn Drexler, Marilyn Pursued by Death, 1963; Jackson Pollock, Number 27, 1950, 1950; Edward Clark, Winter Bitch, 1959; Andy Warhol, Elvis 2 Times, 1963. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Jasper Johns, Three Flags, 1958; Allan D’Arcangelo, Madonna and Child, 1963. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). Nick Mauss, Images in Mind, 2018. Hanging: Alexander Calder, Hanging Spider, c. 1940. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
