A small vintage circus dancer puppet in a leaping pose on a red fringe-covered platform.
A small vintage circus dancer puppet in a leaping pose on a red fringe-covered platform.

Alexander Calder, Calder's Circus (detail), 1926-31 (installation view, High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 18, 2025–March 9, 2026). Wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps, dimensions variable. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from a public fundraising campaign in May 1982. One half the funds were contributed by the Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust. Additional major donations were given by The Lauder Foundation; the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc.; the Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc.; an anonymous donor; The T. M. Evans Foundation, Inc.; MacAndrews & Forbes Group, Incorporated; the DeWitt Wallace Fund, Inc.; Martin and Agneta Gruss; Anne Phillips; Mr. and Mrs. Laurance S. Rockefeller; the Simon Foundation, Inc.; Marylou Whitney; Bankers Trust Company; Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth N. Dayton; Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz; Irvin and Kenneth Feld; Flora Whitney Miller. More than 500 individuals from 26 states and abroad also contributed to the campaign 83.36.1-72. © 2026 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Gus Powell

Last chance

High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100
Through Mar 9
Learn more about the exhibition Book Tickets
A large group of people dance together outdoors, raising their arms, while others watch and walk nearby.

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The Whitney Biennial 

The Whitney Biennial is the longest-running survey of American art, and has been a hallmark of the Museum since 1932. The current format—a survey show of work in all media occurring every two years—has been in place since 1973. Mark your calendars for the next iteration, opening March 2026. 

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artport

Check out art that's created specifically for the web on artport—the Whitney's gallery space for Internet and new-media art.

Dive Into Our Collection

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  • A diverse group of women posing together in a living room, some seated and smiling.
    A diverse group of women posing together in a living room, some seated and smiling.

    Sylvia Sleigh, A.I.R. Group Portrait, 1977–1978. Oil on canvas, overall: 75 × 82 in. (190.5 × 208.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of the Estate of Sylvia Sleigh 2016.234. © Whitney Museum of American Art

  • Large black curved shapes dominate the page with the handwritten words 'TOO MUCH FUTURE' above them.
    Large black curved shapes dominate the page with the handwritten words 'TOO MUCH FUTURE' above them.

    Christine Sun Kim, Too Much Future, 2017. Charcoal on paper, sheet: 17 3/16 × 29 1/8 in. (43.7 × 74 cm) Image: 17 3/16 × 28 1/8 in. (43.7 × 71.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Drawing Committee 2018.183. © Christine Sun Kim

  • Andy Warhol sits shirtless on a bench with his eyes closed, his skin pale and his torso scarred. A supportive corset fits snuggly around his waist.
    Andy Warhol sits shirtless on a bench with his eyes closed, his skin pale and his torso scarred. A supportive corset fits snuggly around his waist.

    Alice Neel, Andy Warhol, 1970. Oil and acrylic on linen, overall: 60 × 40 in. (152.4 × 101.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Timothy Collins 80.52. © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel and David Zwirner

  • A pixilated purple-tinted scene of five wolves standing on a low hill in a wooded area
    A pixilated purple-tinted scene of five wolves standing on a low hill in a wooded area

    Alan Michelson, Wolf Nation, 2018. Video, color, sound, 9:59 min., aspect Ratio: 4.014. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Director’s Discretionary Fund 2019.327. © Alan Michelson
    Laura Ortman, sound

  • People in swimsuits sit under a pink umbrella on a beach, with a lifeguard standing nearby.
    People in swimsuits sit under a pink umbrella on a beach, with a lifeguard standing nearby.

    Jared French, State Park, 1946. Tempera on composition board, overall: 24 7/16 × 24 1/2 in. (62.1 × 62.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Donnelley Erdman 65.78

  • Mesh wires shaped into a long, fluid blob, like lava in a lava lamp
    Mesh wires shaped into a long, fluid blob, like lava in a lava lamp

    Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.270, Hanging Six-Lobed, Complex Interlocking Continuous Form within a Form with Two Interior Spheres), 1955, refabricated 1957–1958. Brass and steel wire, overall: 63 7/8 × 14 15/16 × 14 15/16 in. (162.2 × 37.9 × 37.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Howard Lipman 63.38. © 2020 Estate of Ruth Asawa / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy The Estate of Ruth Asawa and David Zwirner

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Frank WANG Yefeng, The Levitating Perils #2

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.