Artist Talk Magazine - issue 11

EXHIBITIONS
Since its inception in 1931,
the Whitney has championed
American art and artists by
assembling a rich permanent
collection and featuring a rigorous
and varied schedule of exhibition
programs. Emphasizing seminal
artists and artworks from the
twentieth and twenty-first
centuries, the Museum organizes
important exhibitions both from its
holdings and from the collections
of individuals and institutions
worldwide. Exhibitions range from
historical surveys and in-depth
retrospectives of major twentiethcentury
and contemporary artists
to group shows introducing young
or relatively unknown artists to
a larger public. The Biennial, an
invitational show of work produced
in the preceding two years, was
introduced by Gertrude Vanderbilt
Whitney in 1932. It is the longestrunning
series of exhibitions to
survey recent developments in
American art. The Whitney also has
presented acclaimed exhibitions
of film and video, architecture,
photography, and new media.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN, SHIPBOARD GIRL © ESTATE OF ROY LICHTENSTEIN
ROY LICHTENSTEIN STUDY
COLLECTION
June 2018 The Whitney Museum
of American Art made the
announcement that they had
received a remarkable promised
gift of over 400 works by Roy
Lichtenstein (1923–1997). The
Museum and the Roy Lichtenstein
Foundation have forged an
agreement that will bring the
two organizations into a close
and ongoing partnership and will
make the Whitney a locus for
Lichtenstein scholarship with the
creation of the Roy Lichtenstein
Study Collection. Through this
gift, and an expanded relationship
with the Foundation, the Whitney
will hold the world’s largest study
collection of Lichtenstein’s work,
opening up exceptional possibilities
for the Museum in terms of
exhibition, scholarship, and
conservation.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN,
STILL LIFE WITH PORTRAIT
© ESTATE OF ROY LICHTENSTEIN
MUSEUM DIRECTORS
Upon the founding of the Museum,
Juliana Force, a close associate of
Mrs. Whitney, was named director.
Her curatorial staff was composed
of three artists: Edmund Archer,
Karl Free, and Hermon More.
After Force’s retirement in 1948,
Hermon More was appointed
director and served until his
retirement in 1958, when Lloyd
Goodrich assumed the position.
John I. H. Baur was appointed
director in 1968, following
Goodrich, and upon the former’s
retirement in 1974, Thomas N.
Armstrong III became director.
David A. Ross was director from
1991 to 1998, and Maxwell L.
Anderson assumed the role from
1998 to 2003. Adam D. Weinberg
is the current Alice Pratt Brown
Director of the Whitney Museum.
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