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 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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  • Large mixed-media collage with colorful drips and textures and a sculpted bird perched on top.
    Large mixed-media collage with colorful drips and textures and a sculpted bird perched on top.

    Robert Rauschenberg, Satellite, 1955. Oil, fabric, paper and wood on canvas with taxidermied pheasant, overall: 79 3/8 × 43 5/16 × 5 5/8 in. (201.6 × 110 × 14.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Claire B. Zeisler and purchase with funds from the Mrs. Percy Uris Purchase Fund 91.85. © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

  • A wall with a portrait of a Black woman, with additional portraits and hands holding a vase of lillies surrounding her.
    A wall with a portrait of a Black woman, with additional portraits and hands holding a vase of lillies surrounding her.

    Toyin Ojih Odutola, Wall of Ambassadors, 2017. Charcoal, pastel, and pencil on paper, sheet (sight): 38 1/2 × 29 7/8 in. (97.8 × 75.9 cm) Image (sight): 38 1/2 × 29 7/8 in. (97.8 × 75.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the O’Grady Foundation 2018.101. © Toyin Ojih Odutola, courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

  • A woman in a vintage suit and hat walks along a cobblestone street, looking to her right.
    A woman in a vintage suit and hat walks along a cobblestone street, looking to her right.

    Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #23, 1978. Gelatin silver print, sheet: 8 × 9 15/16 in. (20.3 × 25.2 cm) Image: 7 1/2 × 9 7/16 in. (19.1 × 24 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Thea Westreich Wagner and Ethan Wagner 2010.221. © Cindy Sherman, courtesy the artist and Metro Pictures

  • A small teddy bear stands on a wooden floor looking at its reflections in two mirrors.
    A small teddy bear stands on a wooden floor looking at its reflections in two mirrors.

    Juan Antonio Olivares, Moléculas, 2017. Video, color, sound, 10 min., aspect Ratio: 16:9. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Film, Video, and New Media Committee 2017.185. © Juan Antonio Olivares, courtesy Off Vendome, New York

  • Abstract artwork with a large central black oval and various textured shapes and holes.
    Abstract artwork with a large central black oval and various textured shapes and holes.

    Lee Bontecou, Untitled, 1961, 1961. Welded steel, canvas, wire and rope, overall: 72 1/2 × 66 × 24 3/4 in. (184.2 × 167.6 × 62.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 61.41. © Lee Bontecou; Courtesy Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, N.Y.

  • Three nude figures sit with their backs to the camera, the left person resting an arm on a round sculpture.
    Three nude figures sit with their backs to the camera, the left person resting an arm on a round sculpture.

    Yvonne Rainer, Five Easy Pieces, 1966–1969. 8mm and 16mm film, black-and-white, silent, 48 min., transferred to video, aspect Ratio: 4:3. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo in honor of Ron Clark and The Independent Study Program 2011.91. © Yvonne Rainer

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.