Who says museum visits are reserved for rainy afternoons? We don’t, and neither does the new Whitney! The Whitney Museum of American Art, is now staying up later than usual three nights a week, keeping their doors open until 10 PM on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. This New York City museum houses an expansive collection of American art from across the United Sates, celebrating twentieth-century and contemporary design. As we briefly harped on The Whitney’s origin in our wanderlust Newport, RI piece, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s passion for the arts started what is now a globally renowned institution. All beginning down in Greenwich Village, the museum has stood in a few locations (most recently on the Upper East Side at E 75th Street), but now calls The Meatpacking District home (tucked right along Gansevoort Street). This beautiful architectural feat only opened in May 2015, is in full swing for this summer. In addition to the impressive collection inside, the new building features a series of terraces jutting out from various facades of the structure. It’s hard not to get a stellar photograph overlooking the city, or across the Hudson; especially as the sun sets… the top floor (by the café) provides quite the lookout! If you find yourself sitting on one of the lower terraces, there’s a good chance you’re actually sitting in one of the museum’s outdoor installations, Mary Heilmann: Sunset. This extends a large group of colorful chairs scattered outside on the lower promenade. Grab a seat before you start your tour, take a quick break during, or congratulate yourself by putting your feet up after completing your visit inside!
There really isn't a bad view from any of the terraces of the Whitney Museum.
We wrapped up our night in one of Heilmann’s chairs, but started off our weekend with a taste of something different, The Whitney’s America Is Hard to See exhibit, which will be on through September 27, 2015. The breathtaking exhibit takes up the majority of the museum’s space at the moment, revisiting the broad representation of American Art from the early twentieth-century through today. Starting on the top floor, are the earliest pieces, and the lower you descend the more recent the work. A very interesting way to design the exhibit; the flow from floor to floor (whether on the elevator or stairs) was very fluid. Some artists capture happier times, whereas other collections shed light on some of our country’s darker histories.
Three Flags, 1958 - Jasper Johns [encaustic on canvas]
Check out some snapshots from our experience in The Whitney below; some of our shots include pieces by: Jasper Johns, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Ansel Adams, Jackson Pollock, Neil Jenney, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Please understand that it’s hard to truly capture the overall magnitude of power The Whitney exudes, so head over to the Meatpacking District one of these summer weekends (or anytime besides Tuesdays – when they’re closed!), and take a walk through America’s deep artistic history over the past one hundred years.
