Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1900–1960

Apr 28, 2017–June 2, 2019

painting of industrial buildings
painting of industrial buildings

Charles Demuth (1883‑1935), Buildings, Lancaster, 1930. Oil and graphite pencil on composition board, 24 1/8 × 20 1/8in. (61.3 × 51.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of an anonymous donor 58.63

Focusing on works made from 1900 to 1960, Where We Are traces how artists have approached the relationships, institutions, and activities that shape our lives. Drawn entirely from the Whitney’s holdings, the exhibition is organized around five themes: family and community, work, home, the spiritual, and the nation. During the six decades covered here, the United States experienced war and peace, economic collapse and recovery, and social discord and progress. American artists responded in complex and diverse ways, and a central aim of the exhibition is to honor each artist’s efforts to create her or his own vision of American life. The artists and their works suggest that our sense of self is composed of our responsibilities, places, and beliefs.

Where We Are, as well as each of its sections, is titled after a phrase in W. H. Auden’s poem “September 1, 1939.” Auden, who was raised in England, wrote the poem in New York shortly after his immigration to the United States and at the very outset of World War II. The title of the poem marks the date Germany invaded Poland. While its subject is the beginning of the war, Auden’s true theme is how the shadow of a global emergency reaches into the far corners of everyday life. Although mournful, the poem concludes by pointing to the individual’s capacity to “show an affirming flame.” Where We Are shares Auden’s guarded optimism, gathering a constellation of artists whose light might lead us forward.

Where We Are is organized by David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of the Collection, with Jennie Goldstein, assistant curator, and Margaret Kross, curatorial assistant.

Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1900–1960 is sponsored by

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In a Euphoric Dream

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George Washington characterized the United States as a “great experiment,” but it also could be described as a collective dream—a gathering of diverse, and sometimes competing, aspirations, beliefs, symbols, and histories. Artists working in this country have looked to these symbols to study the nation’s history and their contemporary moment. Jasper Johns famously disclosed that the idea for painting an American flag came to him in a dream. The emblem remains potent and is part of our collective consciousness. Artists also have rendered the individuals—both unsung and eminent—who have fought for it. Daniel Chester French’s Standing Lincoln (1912) memorializes a figure whose actions during the Civil War guided how the United States might endure. In Herman Trunk Jr.’s 1932 depiction of Washington’s family home, Mount Vernon, the building is pulled apart to reveal another version within its walls. A surreal painting of a real place, it affirms that the dream and the reality of the nation are inseparable.

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Ilse Bing, Play of Sounds, American Flag, 1931

Ilse Bing (1899-1998), Play of Sounds, American Flag, 1931. Gelatin silver print: image, 11 1/8 x 8 3/4 in. (28.3 x 22.2 cm); mount (board), 16 3/8 x 13 5/8 in. (41.6 x 34.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; bequest of Ilse Bing Wolff 2001.396 © Wichita State University Foundation

Installed as part of an earlier version of the exhibition.

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painting of industrial buildings
painting of industrial buildings

Charles Demuth (1883‑1935), Buildings, Lancaster, 1930. Oil and graphite pencil on composition board, 24 1/8 × 20 1/8in. (61.3 × 51.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of an anonymous donor 58.63

Hear directly from artists and curators on selected works from Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1900–1960.

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Explore works from this exhibition
in the Whitney's collection

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In the News

“This stunning installation organized by David Breslin with Jennie Goldstein and Margaret Kross depicts another tumultuous time in American history.”
—The Villager

"The show examines how American artists responded in complex and diverse ways to these events and to simultaneously honor each artist’s efforts to create her or his own vision of American life."
—Artinfo

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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