The Whitney Museum of American Art’s new Renzo Piano-designed building in Manhattan’s meatpacking district is to open on May 1.
Adam D. Weinberg, the director of the Whitney, delivered the news at the museum’s annual gala on Wednesday night, where 600 guests gathered to honor the many artists whose works have been shown in the landmark Marcel Breuer building on Madison Avenue and 75th Street. Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Chuck Close and Frank Stella were expected to attend. It was the last of the Whitney’s big parties to be held in the Breuer building.
The Whitney’s new downtown home, at 99 Gansevoort Street between Washington and West Streets, will have outdoor as well as uninterrupted indoor galleries, with about twice the exhibition space of its old home.
The old Breuer building won’t be empty for long. In 2016 it will become a satellite of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for at least the next eight years.