Whitney Museum of American Art

The Whitney Museum of American Art, located in New York's Upper East Side, is a modern art museum which focuses on American artists from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney originally founded the museum in 1929, when her gift of 700 works of American art was declined by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was then that Whitney decided to start her own museum.

Originally located on Eighth Street, the museum moved to its current location in 1954 as the collection expanded. Artwork featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art include pieces by Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.

The Whitney is also known for its emphasis on showcasing living artists. In their Biennial display, works by up and coming artists are the highlighted exhibit. The gallery features a gift shop as well as a restaurant. In 2015 the museum is slated to relocate to a space in the trendy Meatpacking District next to the Highline.