Are you lucky enough to spend a few days in New York? Be sure to visit the Whitney Museum of American Art!
New York is well known for its museums, including the MET, MoMA and the Guggenheim. The Whitney Museum of American Art, commonly known as The Whitney, is not the best-known of New York’s museums. It’s probably not on your list of things to see in New York. And yet, at the foot of the High Line, it’s well worth a visit.
The immense permanent collection houses 21,000 works by over 3,000 artists! Along the way, visitors discover the influences on American art since 1900 through paintings, sculptures, prints, films and photographs.
A must-see, the Whitney Museum has become a classic cultural stopover during a stay in the Big Apple. To make you want to visit the Whitney Museum of American Art, we’ve compiled all the essential information in a mini-guide: history, must-see attractions, directions, opening hours and prices. Follow the guide!
History of the Whitney Museum in New York
Photo credit: Shutterstock / Brian Logan Photography
A historical legacy
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was a relatively renowned sculptor and a discerning collector. In the early 20th century, she noticed that innovative American artists had difficulty exhibiting or selling their work. She began buying and exhibiting their work, becoming the leading patron of American art. In 1914, Mrs. Whitney founded the Whitney Studio club in Greenwich Village, a cultural space where she exhibited the works of avant-garde and totally unknown American artists.
Gertrude Whitney collected over five hundred pieces and in 1929 decided to donate them to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which declined. At the same time, the sculptor noticed that the newly opened Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) favored modern art from Europe. She therefore set about creating her own institution devoted exclusively to American art and artists. Two years later, in 1931, Gertrude Whitney inaugurated her museum on 8th Street in Greenwich Village, in a large three-block building.
8 floors, 19,000 m² of floor space
As the museum’s collection grew, so did its size. This forced the Whitney Museum to move to larger and larger premises. In 1954, it moved to 54th Street, behind the MoMa. It was used to house and protect the works of the great New York museum when the MoMa burned down in April 1958. In 1963, the museum relocated once again to the Upper East Side, southeast of Madison Avenue. For more than fifty years, the Whitney Museum tried to find ways to make more space available, either by opening several branches or by considering an extension to the main museum.
On May 1, 2015, the new museum was inaugurated, rising 8 storeys and covering 19,000 m². It is now installed in its definitive home, in the West Village district, just a few meters from Chelsea Market. For the record, the current building is… French! It was designed by Renzo Piano, architect of the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris.
What to see and do at the Whitney Museum in New York?
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The new Whitney Museum has 8 floors. It includes a theater, education center, library, reading rooms and exhibition halls. Nearly 5,000 m² are dedicated to the interior galleries, including 1,700 m² for the huge permanent exhibition hall. To this must be added 1200 m² of outdoor space used for exhibiting works and offering visitors a moment of relaxation. Terraces offer breathtaking views of High Line Park and the Hudson River, including the 8th-floor bar-restaurant.
From ground to third floor
On the first floor (Floor 1), you’ll find the reception, the ticket office, a store where you can buy a few souvenirs and the Untitled restaurant. On the first and second floors, visitors can admire the permanent collection. The third floor is home to the Education Center, with a theater hosting events, lectures and shows.
From ground to third floor
From the fifth to the eighth floor, there are four large exhibition galleries. Each floor has its own theme: 1965 to the present (fifth floor), 1950-1975 (sixth floor), 1925-1960 (seventh floor), 1910-1940 (eighth floor).
On the fifth floor, television screens, vacuum cleaners, a wall of plush toys and sculpted cigarette butts replace painting as a form of expression. On the sixth floor, visitors enter the world of Pop Art. Extravagant works by artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Keith Haring are on display.
Then head for the seventh floor, where you’ll discover the world of American show business, as told through Alexander Calder’s circus and Willem de Kooning’s expressionist canvases. Finally, Max Weber and Georgia O’Keeffe line the walls of the eighth floor with their colorful abstract canvases. Here too, visitors can enjoy a rooftop with a stunning panorama of the Meatpacking District, the High Line, the Empire State Building and the One World Trade Center tower.
How to get to the Whitney Museum in New York?
- On foot: 99 Gansevoort Street, New York, NY 10014.
- By metro: you can choose between lines A, C, E and L. Get off at the 14th Street stop and walk up 14th Street to the junction with Washington Street. Turn left onto Washington Street. Head south for three blocks and turn right onto Gansevoort Street to reach the museum.
- By bus: the Whitney Museum can be reached by a number of bus routes, including M11, M12 and M14A. Stops are located on 14th Street.
- By car: note that street parking near the Whitney Museum is limited.Apple Parking, located at 332 West 11th Street, offers a $10 discount to Museum visitors who park for more than an hour.
Opening hours and admission fees of the Whitney Museum in New York
Photo credit: Shutterstock / David Garcia
SCHEDULES
The Whitney Museum is open every day from 10.30am to 6pm, except Tuesdays, which are closed weekly. On Fridays, the museum closes at 10 pm.
RATES
You can buy your ticket directly at the museum entrance or reserve it online. Admission is free for New York Pass holders.
Museum entrance fees vary according to age:
- Children 18 and under: free
- Adults aged 19 to 64: $25
- Student: $18
- Seniors 65 and over: $18
GOOD TO KNOW
-Start your visit on the eighth floor, then continue downstairs, floor by floor. You’ll see the different movements in chronological order that have left their mark on American art.
– Watch out for false friends! The « first floor » is the first floor and the « second floor » is the second floor.
– Service dogs are allowed at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
– The Whitney Museum of American Art is accessible to people with reduced mobility.
– Pay-What-You-Wish tickets are available at the museum box office on Fridays, from 7 pm to 9:30 pm. Visitors pay the amount they wish to enter the museum. Tickets cannot be purchased in advance.