Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney’s Collection

Apr 2, 2016–Apr 2, 2017

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New York Portrait

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Throughout its history New York has inspired writers, musicians, and visual artists. As the portraits in this room demonstrate, the city may serve as a stage for intrepid self-invention or as a backdrop that shapes the dreams and fears of its inhabitants and visitors alike. Artists including Susan Hall and Howard Kanovitz use views of the city to impart their subjects with a nearly mythic sense of style and sophistication. Others, such as Nan Goldin and Ryan McGinley, depict tense and gritty realities. Many of these works capture quintessential New York types, from disillusioned commuters to the downtown artists who flocked to the city in search of freedom, community, or the promise of fame. Leidy Churchman's painting of the dazzling view from New York's tallest residential tower presents a portrait not of an individual but of the city itself.

Below is a selection of works from New York Portrait.

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NEW YORK PORTRAIT, 1970

Susan Hall (b. 1943), New York Portrait, 1970. Acrylic and graphite pencil on canvas, 63 7/8 × 56 7/8 in. (162.2 × 144.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Neysa McMein Purchase Award 71.50 © Susan Hall/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

The woman in New York Portraitreclines on an armchair, her posture relaxed and sexually self-assured. The grid pattern appearing throughout the scene coupled with the transparency of her dress and the window create an ambiguous sense of space that makes it difficult to distinguish interior from exterior. Together the skyline prominently visible in the background and the title of the work present the possibility that Susan Hall meant this not as a portrait set in New York but as a portrait of the city itself, or perhaps the city as epitomized by one of its uninhibited, youthful denizens.

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On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

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