Description: Recently I had the opportunity to go to the Whitney Museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I've always said that the MoMA is one of my most favorite museums in the world - with my interest in modern art. But a good friend of mine, after hearing me say this, challenged me to check out the Whitney as he said it was one of the best modern art collections out there.
Unlike the MoMA, the Whitney caters to American modern art, and is also more transient in the collection on display. Located off Madison Avenue and 75th Street, the Whitney is an attractive building of modern architecture and offers ever-changing exhibitions from present and past American artists.
The permanent collection contains over 18,000 pieces, including pieces from artists like Gorky, Hopper, Jasper Johns, Motherwell, de Kooning, and Warhol - just to name a few. I was excited to see what awaited, but have to say that I definitely wasn't as impressed with the exhibitions as I'd hoped. (Of course, this can happen at any museum depending on the pieces on display at the time of visit - and I feel like I'll give the Whitney another shot in the future).
There are several floors of a pretty straight-forward arrangement of curation. There were a few special exhibitions of interest, and on the Friday night that we visited, there was a live folk band playing in the lower level.
One thing that wasn't very "museum-like" in my mind and very much took away from the experience, was the loud live music in the non-acoustically pleasant lobby. It just felt like a big hectic mayhem of people and noise when we entered and even still while trying to view the first floor exhibitions. Quickly we ran toward the elevators just to rise above the chaos.
If you're a modern art lover, I definitely say to make a stop at the Whitney, and perhaps a time other than a Friday night would be more of a calming experience!
Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10021
(212) 570-3600
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