Wikipedia

Stanley Whitney

Stanley Whitney (born 1946) is an American artist who primarily works in abstract painting and printmaking.

Stanley Whitney
Born (1946-11-11) November 11, 1946 (age 78)
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
NationalityAmerican
EducationKansas City Art Institute (B.A.)
Yale University (M.F.A)
Occupation(s)Painter, printmaker

Biography

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Stanley Whitney was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania on November 11, 1946.[1][2] The third of four children, his father was a real estate agent and accountant, and his mother worked for the board of education in nearby Philadelphia. The family were part of Bryn Mawr's small, working-class black community, and lived in an apartment above a store owned by his father.[3][4]

In 1964, Whitney enrolled in art school at the Columbus College of Art and Design and then transferred to the Kansas City Art Institute, where he completed his undergraduate degree in 1968. He also spent time studying at Skidmore College, where Philip Guston befriended and served as an early mentor to Whitney, and in an exchange program at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.[4][5] Avoiding Vietnam War draft eligibility due to asthma, he continued to graduate school at the Yale School of Art.[6]

As an art student in Kansas City, Whitney chose not to involve himself with the Black Panther Party, and resisted pressure for African-American artists to make overtly political work about black identity and experience.[6][7]

After graduating from Yale, Whitney became an instructor of painting and drawing, teaching at the University of Rhode Island, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley before joining Temple University's Tyler School of Art and Architecture, where he remained on the faculty for at least twenty years.[4][6][8]

He is married to the artist Marina Adams (b. 1960), with whom he shares one son, William. The couple previously lived in Rome and in a loft overlooking Cooper Square in New York City.[9][10] As of 2024, they live between homes in Bridgehampton, New York and Solignano, Italy.[10][11]

Work and approach

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An exhibition of Stanley Whitney's paintings at documenta 14 in Kassel, Germany (2017)

Painting

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Whitney has engaged in abstraction since early in his career, and is best known for his paintings which take the form of "grids" of color, arranged in four rows. He arrived at this mode while working in Italy in the 1990s, after the sights of stone blocks in ancient monuments and closely-stacked funeral urns at the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci led Whitney to reconcile his concepts of space and color in painting: “When I understood that, I felt I had the last piece of the puzzle. Space is in the color – boom, I’ve got it."[5][12] Other influences cited by Whitney have included artworks by Paul Cézanne, Piet Mondrian, Agnes Martin, and the quilters of Gee's Bend.[13][14]

In a 2015 interview, Whitney considered: "I never think about the structure as a grid—though it is a grid, really. I’m a real New York City painter, if you know what I mean. My paintings are just the way New York is. I want that kind of simplicity, which is also the madness of New York, because of the color. So you have this contradiction, in a sense. There’s the grid, which should be very orderly, and then you put the color, and it throws the whole thing off."[4] In a given work, he will begin painting with a single stripe of color beginning at the top-left corner of his canvas, and then paint along and down in square forms using a method inspired by jazz improvisation: “Once I’ve got one color down, it will tell me what the next color will be.”[5]

Other media

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Whitney has also worked in monotype and in drawing, and premiered his first work in stained glass in 2022. Created to fulfill a commission by the Baltimore Museum of Art for permanent installation in their Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies, Whitney's suite of stained glass windows were inspired by Henri Matisse's work at the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence.[15][16]

Recognition

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Whitney worked in "relative obscurity" for the majority of his career, often failing to sell paintings; he did not stage an exhibition in a public institution until he was 68 years old.[17][18] He began to receive public acclaim in the early 21st century after adopting what became his signature style. A 2015 New York Times review praised his work for having "quietly and firmly expanded abstraction’s possibilities."[19] By 2023, The Guardian had named Whitney "the greatest Black abstract artist in America."[5]

Whitney was inducted as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2017.[20] Other honors awarded to Whitney have included the inaugural Robert de Niro Sr. Prize (2011);[21] a Pollock-Krasner Foundation fellowship;[22] and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1996).[23]

Art market

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Whitney has been represented by Gagosian Gallery since 2022, having previously staged his first exhibition with Gagosian at the gallery's Rome location in 2020.[24] At previous phases of his career, he was represented by and staged solo exhibitions with Lisson Gallery, Galerie Nordenhake [sv], Matthew Marks Gallery, Team Gallery, Galerie Christine König, and Albert Baronian.[4][14]

In 2022, his painting Forward to Black (1996) sold for over US$2.3 million at Sotheby's in New York, setting a record for the artist.[25][26] In 2024, two of Whitney's paintings became the subject of multimillion-dollar legal filings between art dealer Gary Tatintsian and art collector Andrey Isaev.[27]

Exhibitions

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Museum exhibitions focused on Whitney's work have included Stanley Whitney: Dance the Orange (2015) at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York;[3] FOCUS: Stanley Whitney (2017) at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth;[28] Stanley Whitney: Dance with Me Henri (2022) at the Baltimore Museum of Art;[15] and Stanley Whitney: The Italian Paintings (2022), which was presented by the Buffalo AKG Art Museum at Palazzo Tiepolo Passi during the 59th Venice Biennale.[9][29]

A first major museum retrospective of Whitney's work, Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon (2024), was organized by and premiered at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, where the exhibition was curated by Cathleen Chaffee. The exhibition also travelled to the Walker Art Center and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.[30]

His paintings have also broadly appeared in group shows, notably including Quiet as it's Kept (2002), an influential exhibition of black American abstract artists which was curated by David Hammons and staged at Christine König Gallery in Vienna.[31][32] His paintings were also shown at the 50th Venice Biennale (2003) and as part of documenta 14 (2017).[30][33]

Collections

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References

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  1. ^ "Stanley Whitney". Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  2. ^ @gagosian (11 November 2023). "Wishing a happy birthday to Stanley Whitney (@stanley.whitney), who was born on this day, November 11, in Philadelphia! To celebrate, we're highlighting 'Stanley Whitney: There Will Be Song,' a new catalogue published on the occasion of the artist's exhibition at Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London, earlier this year. The exhibition presented vibrant, lyrical paintings made by Whitney in 2022 and 2023 that have emerged from his ongoing investigation of color and composition. The book is available with four different covers illustrating details from the paintings 'Bridge,' 'Color Memories,' 'Stay Song 106,' and 'There Will Be Song.' Tap the image to order a copy from Gagosian Shop (@shopgagosian)! __________ #StanleyWhitney #GagosianShop #Gagosian (1) Stanley Whitney in his studio, New York, 2023. Photo: Aundre Larrow (@aundre); (2) 'Stanley Whitney: There Will Be Song' (Gagosian, 2023)". Retrieved 8 December 2024 – via Instagram.
  3. ^ a b Schjeldahl, Peter (3 August 2015). "Shapes and Colors". The New Yorker. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Gumby, Alteronce (21 April 2015). "An Oral History with Stanley Whitney by Alteronce Gumby". BOMB. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Ashby, Chloë (30 March 2023). "'I'm staying at Larry Gagosian's place' – Stanley Whitney's long journey from rat-infested New York". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Cohen, Alina (13 December 2018). "How Stanley Whitney Became an Icon of Contemporary Abstraction in His Seventies". Artsy. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  7. ^ Sheets, Hilarie M. (29 October 2021). "Stanley Whitney Dances With Matisse". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Stanley Whitney - Kansas City Art Institute". Kansas City Art Institute. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  9. ^ a b Crow, Kelly (13 April 2022). "Artist Stanley Whitney's Triumphant Return". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  10. ^ a b Newell-Hanson, Alice (18 March 2024). "For Two Color-Obsessed Artists, a White-Walled Home". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  11. ^ Gnyp, Marta (2 January 2022). "'I Was on My Own': Stanley Whitney on Finding His Way Through Erasure in the White Art World and Competition Among Black Artists". Artnet. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  12. ^ Imam, James (11 April 2022). "'Placing colour at the centre of things': Venice exhibition brings together Stanley Whitney's Italian-inspired paintings". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  13. ^ Neri, Louise (10 April 2020). "The Space Is In the Color: Stanley Whitney". Gagosian Gallery. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  14. ^ a b Conner, Allison (22 March 2021). "Stanley Whitney's Improvisatory Approach to Abstraction". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  15. ^ a b c "Baltimore Museum of Art Presents Stanley Whitney: Dance With Me Henri". Baltimore Museum of Art. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  16. ^ Gershon, Livia (22 December 2021). "Why Baltimore Is Poised to Become a Major Hub for Henri Matisse Fans". Smithsonian (magazine). Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  17. ^ Luke, Ben (18 March 2024). "Being 'discovered' late in life can be maddening—but it can have advantages". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  18. ^ Dafoe, Taylor (18 February 2024). "Stanley Whitney Doesn't Like to Look Back, Even on the Eve of His First-Ever Retrospective". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  19. ^ Smith, Roberta (16 July 2015). "Review: Stanley Whitney's Paintings Reinvent the Grid". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  20. ^ "Stanley Whitney inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters". Lisson Gallery. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  21. ^ Duray, Dan (17 November 2011). "Stanley Whitney Wins Inaugural Robert De Niro Sr. Prize". The New York Observer. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  22. ^ "POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES JULY 2022 – JUNE 2023 GRANTS AMOUNTING TO NEARLY $2.7 MILLION". Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  23. ^ "Stanley Whitney". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  24. ^ Sutton, Benjamin (14 June 2022). "Stanley Whitney, revered painter of lyrical colour grids, goes to Gagosian". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  25. ^ Dozier, Ayanna (27 September 2022). "Stanley Whitney's Latest Vivid Abstraction Speaks to Contemporary Social Injustices". Artsy. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  26. ^ "Forward to Black The Now Evening Auction 2021 Sotheby's". Sotheby's. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  27. ^ Solomon, Tessa (2 April 2024). "New York Gallery Seeks Settlement with Russian Collector in Dispute Over Missing Stanley Whitney Paintings". ARTnews. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  28. ^ Brettell, Rick (5 January 2017). "Another African-American artist (finally) gets his local due with colorful show at Fort Worth Modern". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  29. ^ Abrams, Amah-Rose (6 October 2022). "Stanley Whitney's Italian paintings reveal an art practice in transition". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  30. ^ a b "Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon". Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  31. ^ Marius, Marley (2 April 2022). "A Glimpse Into This Year's Whitney Biennial". Vogue. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  32. ^ "curated by DAVID HAMMONS Quiet as it's kept". Christine König Galerie. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  33. ^ Michalska, Julia (12 June 2017). "What is the market for Documenta 14 artists?". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  34. ^ "Search the Collection - Addison Gallery". Addison Gallery of American Art. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  35. ^ "Allison Kemmerer named director of Andover's Addison Gallery". The Boston Globe. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  36. ^ "Just like Ornette, 2010 by Stanley Whitney". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  37. ^ "Untitled". Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  38. ^ "Untitled". Birmingham Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  39. ^ "Untitled". Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  40. ^ "Recent Acquisition Spotlight: Stanley Whitney's Endless Time". Buffalo AKG Art Museum. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  41. ^ "Untitled #1 State proof unsigned". Harvard Art Museums. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  42. ^ @hemartmuseum (12 August 2021). "'Night Café Deux' by Stanley Whitney, an HEM collection, is surrounded by natural light in the museum. #hem #hemartmuseum #stanleywhitney #artmuseum #artwork #art #artpiece #oilpainting #painting #contemporaryart #minimalism #colorfield #tadaoando #museum Photo by Liu Xiangli". Retrieved 8 December 2024 – via Instagram.
  43. ^ "Indian Country". High Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  44. ^ "Untitled - McNay Art Museum". McNay Art Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  45. ^ "Fly the Wild". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  46. ^ "Good Trouble — Works — eMuseum". Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  47. ^ "Off Square - Results - Search Objects - Moderna Museet". Moderna Museet. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  48. ^ "Stanley Whitney". Morgan Library & Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  49. ^ "Untitled (7)". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  50. ^ "Untitled". Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  51. ^ "Untitled". Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  52. ^ "Among the Trees". National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  53. ^ "Upstate". Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  54. ^ "Marti and Tony Oppenheimer". Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  55. ^ "Modern & Contemporary Art". Palm Springs Art Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  56. ^ "[Painting]". Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  57. ^ "Alfond Collection: Artists W-Z". Rollins Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  58. ^ "Out into the Open". Saint Louis Art Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  59. ^ "eMuseumPlus - Red". Sheldon Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  60. ^ "Untitled". Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  61. ^ "Stanley Whitney (b. 1946)". Studio Museum in Harlem. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  62. ^ "Stanley Whitney 1946-". Whitney Museum. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  63. ^ "Untitled #1". Yale University Art Gallery. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
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