The Whitney Museum of American Art was established by an American artist, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1931, and is dedicated primarily to the American art of the 20th and the 21st centuries.  Since 2015, it is located in the West Village (on the border with the Meatpacking District), in a very interesting and a specifically designed building, by an accomplished Italian architect Renzo Piano.

Whitney holds an extensive collection of over 20,000 items, including paintings, drawings, photographs, multimedia files, sculptures and many others interesting artifacts.  It’s also one of the main venues that promotes the work of numerous contemporary and emerging American artists, and it continuously runs a number of temporary exhibitions.  It also offers some amazing views over the city from its top balcony, located on the 8th floor.

About the Whitney

As the preeminent institution devoted to the art of the United States, the Whitney Museum of American Art presents the full range of twentieth-century and contemporary American art, with a special focus on works by living artists. The Whitney is dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting American art, and its collection—arguably the finest holdings of twentieth-century American art in the world—is the Museum’s key resource. The Museum’s flagship exhibition, the Biennial, is the country’s leading survey of the most recent developments in American art.

Designed by architect Renzo Piano and situated between the High Line and the Hudson River, the Whitney’s current building vastly increases the Museum’s exhibition and programming space, providing the most expansive view ever of its unsurpassed collection of modern and contemporary American art.

The Building

Designed by architect Renzo Piano and situated between the High Line and the Hudson River, the Whitney’s building in the Meatpacking District offers the most expansive display ever of its unsurpassed collection of modern and contemporary American art.

Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the Whitney’s building in the Meatpacking District includes approximately 50,000 square feet of indoor galleries and 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space and terraces facing the High Line. An expansive gallery for special exhibitions is approximately 18,000 square feet in area, making it the largest column-free museum gallery in New York City. Additional exhibition space includes a lobby gallery (accessible free of charge), two floors for the permanent collection, and a special exhibitions gallery on the top floor.

Mr. Piano remarked in 2011, “The design for the new museum emerges equally from a close study of the Whitney’s needs and from a response to this remarkable site. We wanted to draw on its vitality and at the same time enhance its rich character. The first big gesture, then, is the cantilevered entrance, which transforms the area outside the building into a large, sheltered public space. At this gathering place beneath the High Line, visitors will see through the building entrance and the large windows on the west side to the Hudson River beyond. Here, all at once, you have the water, the park, the powerful industrial structures and the exciting mix of people, brought together and focused by this new building and the experience of art.”

The dramatically cantilevered entrance along Gansevoort Street shelters an 8,500-square-foot outdoor plaza or “largo,” a public gathering space steps away from the southern entrance to the High Line. The building also includes an education center offering state-of-the-art classrooms; a multi-use black box theater for film, video, and performance with an adjacent outdoor gallery; a 170-seat theater with stunning views of the Hudson River; and a Works on Paper Study Center, Conservation Lab, and Library Reading Room.

A retail shop on the ground-floor level contributes to the busy street life of the area. Whitney Cafe, operated by Danny Meyer’s Union Square Events, offers grab-and-go dining to both guests of the museum and the general public. The Studio Bar, located on the eighth floor and extending onto the Thomas H. Lee Family Terrace, offers light refreshments and modern twists on classic American cocktails while visitors can enjoy spectacular views of the New York City skyline.

Mr. Piano’s design takes a strong and strikingly asymmetrical form—one that responds to the industrial character of the neighboring loft buildings and overhead railway while asserting a contemporary, sculptural presence. The upper stories of the building overlook the Hudson River on its west, and step back gracefully from the elevated High Line Park to its east.