1. As with a line, every story needs a beginning.

    — Experimental Jetset

    Check back tomorrow to hear the full story.

  2. It would be much easier to present the history of art as a simplistic line—but that’s not the Whitney.

    — Donna De Salvo, Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Programs

    Work is in progress at the Museum! More soon.

  3. A museum should never be finished, but boundless and ever in motion.

    — Goethe

    Some big changes are afoot at the Whitney. Stay tuned!

  4. On this day in 1918… Mrs. Whitney formally established the Whitney Studio Club where, over the next decade, more than eighty-six exhibitions were held. Among these were the first solo exhibitions of Edward Hopper (1920) and Reginald Marsh (1924). The membership requirements? Simple: Any artist that who was introduced by a member could join. Charles Sheeler, Office Interior, Whitney Studio Club, 10 West 8 Street, c. 1928. Gelatin silver print, 7 1/2 × 9 3/8 in. (19.1 × 23.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 93.24.1

    On this day in 1918… Mrs. Whitney formally established the Whitney Studio Club where, over the next decade, more than eighty-six exhibitions were held. Among these were the first solo exhibitions of Edward Hopper (1920) and Reginald Marsh (1924). The membership requirements? Simple: Any artist that who was introduced by a member could join.


    Charles Sheeler    , Office Interior, Whitney Studio Club, 10 West 8 Street, c. 1928. Gelatin silver print, 7 1/2 × 9 3/8 in. (19.1 × 23.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 93.24.1

  5. Happy Mother’s Day! Betye Saar (b.1926), Mother and Children in Blue, 1998. Watercolor and mixed media collage on paper, 8 5/8 × 6 1/2 in. (21.9 × 16.5 cm) irregular. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Drawing Committee  2000.46. Permission courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, N.Y.

    Happy Mother’s Day!

    Betye Saar (b.1926), Mother and Children in Blue, 1998. Watercolor and mixed media collage on paper, 8 5/8 × 6 1/2 in. (21.9 × 16.5 cm) irregular. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Drawing Committee  2000.46. Permission courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, N.Y.

  6. Art … should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination, and encourages people to go further.

    —Keith Haring, born today in 1958. Haring’s Altar Piece (1990) is on view now in I, YOU, WE.

  7. The 2013 Art Party auction preview and sale closes at 3 pm today. Browse works by artists like Andrea Bowers, Kim McCarty, and Harif Guzman, and then bid on works in person at the Whitney Art Party tomorrow. Proceeds benefit the Whitney’s Independent Study Program and other educational initiatives.

  8. In conjunction with Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective, we’re screening Bruce Conner’s 1967 film THE WHITE ROSE—which captures the removal of DeFeo’s nearly one-ton masterpiece, The Rose, through the window of her second-story studio—through May 12. Bruce Conner (1933–2008), still from THE WHITE ROSE, 1967. 16mm film, black-and-white, sound; 7 minutes. © Conner Famiy Trust. Image courtesy the Conner Family Trust

    In conjunction with Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective, we’re screening Bruce Conner’s 1967 film THE WHITE ROSE—which captures the removal of DeFeo’s nearly one-ton masterpiece, The Rose, through the window of her second-story studio—through May 12.

    Bruce Conner (1933–2008), still from THE WHITE ROSE, 1967. 16mm film, black-and-white, sound; 7 minutes. © Conner Famiy Trust. Image courtesy the Conner Family Trust

  9. An example of artful recycling in honor of Earth Day! To make Tuxedo Junction, Jay DeFeo reused fragments of a 1965 work called The Estocada. The earlier work was partially destroyed when she left her Fillmore Street studio. Jay DeFeo (1929–1989), Tuxedo Junction, 1965/1974. Oil on paper mounted on Masonite (three parts), 48 3/4 × 32 1/2 in. (123.8 × 82.6 cm) each. Private collection. © 2013 The Jay DeFeo Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Image courtesy The Jay DeFeo Trust, Berkeley, CA. Photograph by M. Lee Fatherree

    An example of artful recycling in honor of Earth Day! To make Tuxedo Junction, Jay DeFeo reused fragments of a 1965 work called The Estocada. The earlier work was partially destroyed when she left her Fillmore Street studio.

    Jay DeFeo (1929–1989), Tuxedo Junction, 1965/1974. Oil on paper mounted on Masonite (three parts), 48 3/4 × 32 1/2 in. (123.8 × 82.6 cm) each. Private collection. © 2013 The Jay DeFeo Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Image courtesy The Jay DeFeo Trust, Berkeley, CA. Photograph by M. Lee Fatherree

  10. “Happiness seems to me a retrospective pleasure.” David Hockney answers Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire in the May issue. His first video installation, The Jugglers, June 24th 2012, will premiere at the Whitney on May 23.

    “Happiness seems to me a retrospective pleasure.”

    David Hockney answers Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire in the May issue. His first video installation, The Jugglers, June 24th 2012, will premiere at the Whitney on May 23.

  11. The 2013 Art Party auction preview and sale is now online! Browse works by 2012 Biennial participants Liz Deschenes and Oscar Tuazon, as well as work by renowned artists like Matthew Day Jackson, Liz Magic Laser, and Judith Bernstein, among others. Purchase works online through April 30, or bid on works in person at the Whitney Art Party on May 1. Proceeds benefit the Whitney’s Independent Study Program and other educational initiatives.

    The 2013 Art Party auction preview and sale is now online! Browse works by 2012 Biennial participants Liz Deschenes and Oscar Tuazon, as well as work by renowned artists like Matthew Day Jackson, Liz Magic Laser, and Judith Bernstein, among others.

    Purchase works online through April 30, or bid on works in person at the Whitney Art Party on May 1. Proceeds benefit the Whitney’s Independent Study Program and other educational initiatives.

  12. Artists tour the Whitney’s new building site in downtown Manhattan, which will open in 2015.  From left to right: Whitney chief curator and deputy director for programs Donna De Salvo, Christo, Mark di Suvero, Hendel Teicher, Terry Winters, Jim Hodges, Frank Stella, Barbara Kruger, director Adam D. Weinberg, Lawrence Weiner, curator Carter Foster, Pat Steir, Marilyn Minter, Joost Elffers, T.J. Wilcox, Lauren Wolchik, and Harriet Stella.

    Artists tour the Whitney’s new building site in downtown Manhattan, which will open in 2015. 

    From left to right: Whitney chief curator and deputy director for programs Donna De Salvo, Christo, Mark di Suvero, Hendel Teicher, Terry Winters, Jim Hodges, Frank Stella, Barbara Kruger, director Adam D. Weinberg, Lawrence Weiner, curator Carter Foster, Pat Steir, Marilyn Minter, Joost Elffers, T.J. Wilcox, Lauren Wolchik, and Harriet Stella.

  13. Jay DeFeo was born today in 1929. Explore the full breadth of her work in Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective, on view through June 2.DeFeo in Colorado, c. 1929 (top), and in California, c. 1932 (bottom). Photographs paired and printed by DeFeo in 1973. © 2013 The Jay DeFeo Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

    Jay DeFeo was born today in 1929. Explore the full breadth of her work in Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective, on view through June 2.

    DeFeo in Colorado, c. 1929 (top), and in California, c. 1932 (bottom). Photographs paired and printed by DeFeo in 1973. © 2013 The Jay DeFeo Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  14. The Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective exhibition catalogue—the first comprehensive monograph of her work—is available at the Whitney Shop. The book was recently featured in The New York Times. 

    The Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective exhibition catalogue—the first comprehensive monograph of her work—is available at the Whitney Shop. The book was recently featured in The New York Times. 

  15. In conjunction with his event SYNONYM FOR UNTITLED, artist Andrew Lampert designed a limited-edition set of seven postcards featuring photographs taken behind the scenes at the Whitney. To purchase, visit the Museum Shop while supplies last.