Originally known as the Philip Morris branch, the Whitney Museum of American Art branch at Altria operated for twenty-five years, from April 1983-January 2008. Housed within the 26-story international headquarters of the Altria Group (known until 2003 as Philip Morris), the space included a 5200-square-foot, street-level plaza/sculpture court and an 1100-square-foot gallery that was specifically designed by architect Ulrich Franzen to house the Whitney branch. The branch was located at 120 Park Avenue and was accessible via its own entrances on Park Avenue and 42nd Street. Describing the branch in the forward to “Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria: 25 years,” Adam D. Weinberg writes, “…while it maximized benefit for the company's employees and burnished the corporation's image as a cultural leader, it must be acknowledged that the creation of a museum branch also provided the corporation with certain zoning and tax benefits.”
The Whitney at Altria operated as a self-contained, semi-autonomous unit with a director/curator, educator, and support staff who had their offices onsite. Exhibitions primarily focused on site-specific projects where invited artists produced new installations in the gallery or the sculpture court. The gallery also housed exhibitions curated by students of the ISP (Independent Study Program). The sizable space of the Altria branch sculpture court, which was unmatched at the Whitney Breuer building uptown, also became the main space for presenting performance. Each spring, the Whitney at Altria presented new works and works-in-progress in its Performance on 42nd series, which ran from 1984-1999. Admission to the museum, performances, and education programs were always free-of-charge to the public.
Bibliography
Weinberg, Adam D.,and Shamim M. Momin. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria: 25 years. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2008. https://archive.org/details/whitneymuseumofa1922whit
Partial branch staff history:
Lisa Phillips. Associate Curator and Head, Branch Museums, 1983-1985
Thelma Golden. Branch Director 1990-1993; Associate Curator and Branch Director 1994-1997; Curator and Director of Branches 1997-1999
Eugenie Tsai. Associate Curator and Curator of Branches 1997-1998; Senior Curator and Curator of Branches 1998-1999
Susan Lubowsky. Branch Manager 1982-1984; Branch Director 1985-1987
Jeanette Vuocolo. Branch Manager 1985-1987
Dina Helal. Gallery Assistant 1990-1992; Coordinator Family and Community Programs 1992-1996
Shamim M. Momin. Gallery Assistant, Exhibition Programs, 1996-1997; Assistant Curator and Manager, Branch Programs 1999-2000
Deb Singer. Branch Manager 1997-1999; Branch Curator 1999-2000; Branch Manager 1997-1999
Allison Smith. Gallery Assistant, Educations Programs 1995-1996, Senior Gallery Assistant, Education Programs 1996-1997
Howie Chen. Gallery/Curatorial Assistant 2001-2002; Gallery/Curatorial Coordinator 2002-2003; Branch Manager 2004-2007; Senior Curatorial Coordinator 2006-2008
Whitney Museum at Philip Morris. Exhibition History: April 1983 - January 2002
20th Century Sculpture: Process and Presence. April 8 - May 11, 1983
The Forum Exhibition: Selections and Additions (ISP). May 18 - June 22, 1983
Reginald Marsh's New York. June 29 - August 24, 1983
Three American Families: A Tradition of Artistic Pursuit. September 8 - October 26 1983
Still Life: Hollywood Photographs. November 2 - December 30, 1983
Raymond Hood: City of Towers. January 7 - March 7, 1984
Flowers in Folk Art. March 15 - May 9, 1984
Calder: Selections from the Permanent Collection (PC). May 18 - July 11, 1984
The Art of Music: American Paintings and Musical Instruments, 1770-1910. July 19 - September 19, 1984
On 42nd Street: Artists' Visions. September 26 - December 5, 1984
Modern Masks. December 13, 1984 - February 7, 1985
The Box Transformed (ISP). February 15 - April 25, 1985
The Surreal City: 1930s - 1950s. May 3 - July 11, 1985
Art for the Masses 1911-1917: A Radical Magazine and Its Graphics. July 19 - October 3, 1985
Modern Machines: Recent Kinetic Sculpture. October 11 - December 5, 1985
The Photography of Imogen Cunningham: A Centennial Selection. December 13, 1985 - January 30, 1986
Urban Pleasures: New York 1900-1940 (PC). February 7 - April 3, 1986
Yasuo Kuniyoshi. April 11 - June 19, 1986
The Changing Likeness: 20th-Century Portrait Drawings (PC). June 27 - September 4, 1986
Walter Murch. September 12 - November 18, 1986
Contemporary Cutouts. November 26, 1986 - February 17, 1987
Monotypes by Maurice Prendergast. February 26 - April 22, 1987
The Viewer as Voyeur (ISP). April 30 - July 8, 1987
The Social Graces: 1905-1944. Prints and Drawings from the Permanent Collection (PC). July 16 - September 24, 1987
Stuart Davis: An American in Paris. October 2 - December 10, 1987
Elements: Five Installations. December 18, 1987 - February 18, 1988. Peter Shelton's work remained on view in the Sculpture Court through September 17, 1988
Precisionist Perspectives: Prints and Drawings. March 2 - April 28, 1988
Real Faces. May 6 - September 22, 1988
The gallery was closed from September 23 to November 16, 1988 for renovation
Urban Figures. Gallery: November 17, 1988 - February 15, 1989. Sculpture Court: November 17, 1988 - November 26, 1989
From the Model (PC). February 24 - May 3, 1989
Straphangers. May 12 - July 22, 1989
Miniature Environments. August 2 - September 27, 1989
Isamu Noguchi: Portrait Sculpture. October 6 - December 6, 1989
Out of Wood: Recent Sculpture. Gallery: December 15, 1989 - February 20, 1990. Sculpture Court: December 15, 1989 - December 5, 1990
Cadmus, French, and Tooker: The Early Years. March 1 - May 5, 1990
The (Un)Making of Nature: Installations by Michael Paha (ISP). May 16 - July 11, 1990
With The Grain: Contemporary Panel Painting. July 25 - September 26, 1990
Abstract Expressionism: Other Dimensions. October 5 - December 5, 1990
Painted Forms: Recent Metal Sculpture. Gallery: December 19, 1990 - February 20, 1991. Sculpture Court: December 19, 1990 - December 4, 1991
Abstraction Before 1930: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art (PC). March 1 - June 1, 1991
Drawing Acquisitions, 1980-1991: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art (PC). June 12 - September 5, 1991
Immaterial Objects (PC). September 14 - November 16, 1991
Ellen Driscoll: The Loophole of Retreat. December 4, 1991 - February 8, 1992
Alison Saar: Slow Boat. February 20 - April 18, 1992
Judith Shea: Monuments and Statues. Sculpture Court: February 20 - June 20, 1992
Gary Simmons: The Garden of Hate. May 7 - July 2, 1992
David Chung: Turtle Boat Head
July 17 - September 25, 1992
Glenn Ligon: Good Mirrors Art Not Cheap. Sculpture Court: July 17 - December 31, 1992
Suzanne McClelland: Painting. October 12 - December 31, 1992
Amalia Mesa-Bains: Venus Envy Chapter One.... January 19 - April 2, 1993
Maren Hassinger: Window Boxes. Sculpture Court: January 19 - July 30, 1993
Expanding the Collection: Biennial Acquisitions (PC). May 3 - September 3, 1993
Sylvia Plachy: The Call of the Street, Photographs of NYC. September 28 - December 31, 1993
Lorna Simpson: Standing in the Water. January 19 - March 25, 1994
Sam Gilliam: Golden Elements Inside Gold. Sculpture Court: January 20 - July 1, 1994 (might have been extended)
Leone and Macdonald: Double Foolscap. April 8 - July 1, 1994
Works on Paper: Selections from the Permanent Collection. July 13 - October 14, 1994
Photographs: Selections from the Permanent Collection. October 20 - December 30, 1994
Jacob Lawrence: War Series. January 6 - March 31, 1995
Double Take: Views of Modern Life by Stuart Davis and Reginald Marsh. April 10 - July 7, 1995
Carmen Lomas Garza. July 18 - September 22, 1995
Altered and Irrational: Selections from the Permanent Collection. October 12, 1995 - January 5, 1996
Terry Adkins: Firmament Rhea. Sculpture Court: October 18, 1995 - March 29, 1996
Matthew McCaslin: Harnessing Nature. January 17 - March 29, 1996
Jane Dickson: Paradise Alley. April 10 - June 28, 1996
Ik-Joong Kang: 8490 Days of Memory. July 12 - September 27, 1996
Permanent Collection. Sculpture Court: April 10 - June 28, 1996
Beverly Semmes: She Moves. October 17, 1996 - January 4, 1997
Romare Bearden in Black-and-White: Photomontage Projections 1964. January 17 - March 20, 1997
Quicker Than A Wink: The Photographs of Harold Edgerton. March 31 - June 27, 1997
Tunnel Visions: Photographs by Accra Shepp. July 11 - October 10, 1997
Pictures at an Exhibition: An Installation by Christian Marclay. October 24, 1997 - January 25, 1998
Garden of Qian by Ming Fay. February 6 - April 17, 1998
Who What When Where: An Installation by Carrie Mae Weems. May 1 - July 10, 1998
Hope Sandrow: Water Life. July 24 - October 9, 1998
Shirin Neshat: Turbulent. October 23, 1998 - January 15, 1999
The Long Twilight: An Installation by Lynne Yamamoto. January 29 - April 23, 1999
Whitney Philip Morris: Wall Drawings by Byron Kim. May 7 - July 16, 1999
Jeanne Silverthorne: The Studio Stripped Bare, Again. July 30 - October 15, 1999
Fred Tomaselli: Big Painting. October 29, 1999 - January 7, 2000
Lee Boroson: Underpass. October 29, 1999 - March 17, 2000
Correspondences: Isamu Noguchi & Ellsworth Kelly (PC). January 21 - April 7, 2000
Shahzia Sikander: Acts of Balance. April 21- July 7, 2000
Expanding Horizons: Landscape Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art (PC). July 21 - October 6, 2000
Pastoral Pop!. Sculpture Court: July 21 - December 15, 2000
Sowon Kwon: Two or Three Corridors. October 20, 2000 - January 5, 2001
A Way with Words: Selections from the Whitney Museum of American Art (PC). January 19 - March 30, 2001
Do-Ho Suh: Some/One. April 19 - June 29, 2001
Miranda Lichtenstein: Sanctuary for a Wild Child. July 13 - September 21, 2001
Alex Katz: Small Paintings. October 5, 2001 - January 4, 2002
E.V. Day: G-Force. October 5, 2001 - January 4, 2002
Jane Hammond: Backstage. January 18 - April 5, 2002
Lucky DeBellevue: Khlysty, the Owls, and the Others. January 18 - April 5, 2002
Ellen Harvey: A Whitney for the Whitney at Altria. January 23-April 4, 2003. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Shamim Momin
Dario Robleto: Say Goodbye to Substance. April 17-July 3, 2003. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Shamim Momin
Mark Bradford: Very Powerful Lords. July 24-October 24, 2003. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Shamim Momin
Katie Grinnan: Adventures in Delusional Idealism. July 24, 2003-January 4, 2004. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Sculpture Court. Shamim Momin
Luis Gispert: Urban Myths Part II (Return of the Hypenaholics). November 6, 2003-March 12, 2004. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Shamim M. Momin
Architecture By Numbers. March 25-July 9, 2004. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Michael Hays
Hubbard and Birchler: Single Wide. July 22-October 22, 2004. The Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Shamim M. Momin. Fight or Flight. November 4, 2004 - February 18, 2005. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Curated by Shamim M. Momin
Sue de Beer: Black Sun. March 3 - June 17, 2005. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Curated by Shamim M. Momin
Past Presence: Childhood and Memory. July 7 - October 13, 2005. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Curated by Carter Foster
Rob Fischer. October 27, 2005 - January 22, 2006. Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria. Curated by Shamim M. Momin.
**Key: PC = Permanent Collection; ISP = Curated by Independent Study Program participants
