In 1931, before the Whitney Museum of American Art opened to the public, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney made a gift that became the basis of the institution’s holdings of modern art. Her devotion to the work of living artists has defined how the Whitney has developed ever since. This presentation of the permanent collection highlights four broad themes that elucidate key developments of twentieth century art in this country. They include the fragmentation and abstraction of early modernism; the realism that focused on people and society; the aesthetics of industry, city and machine; and, finally, the convergence between mental state and bodily gesture that led to new types of form and abstraction. While these developments are grounded in historical periods, their qualities and ideas also overlap and connect, extending into the work of living artists who found new ways to apply them to creative expression.

Major support for this presentation is provided by the American Fellows of the Whitney Museum of American Art.