iWhitney Museum of American Art · Meatpacking District
Andy Warhol Family Album
This exhibition has ended.
A collection of Polaroid photographs Andy Warhol shot in 1972–73, drawn from the personal "family albums" he kept documenting collaborators, celebrities, friends and daily life.
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Jed Johnson stands bare-chested in a balcony doorway, half in shadow, with calm water behind him and Archie the dachshund at his side. Warhol's Polaroid of his partner is dated November 1, 1973, and titled "Jed brought the sun".
It is one of 732 Polaroids from 1972 and 1973, all from one of six Holson albums Warhol kept as a private archive and named after the brand's product line, the "family album". You move from Fellini, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld to meals, his Montauk house and trips to Europe. Curator Roxanne Smith says some are gorgeous photographs and "some are basically outtakes".
In Gay City News, Nicholas Boston saw an "aesthetics of aspiration" and counted only five pictures of Black people, all from one 1973 reception for the Broadway musical Raisin. It hangs on the seventh floor and closes October 19. Admission is $30, free for visitors 25 and under and on Friday nights from 5 to 10pm. The Whitney is closed Tuesdays.
Look for
"Jed brought the sun" (1973)
Jed Johnson, Warhol's partner of 12 years, bare-chested and half in silhouette in a balcony doorway above calm water, with Archie beside him.
Andy Warhol and Archie
Warhol posing with his dachshund in a 1973 Polaroid, the picture the Whitney chose to front the show.
The Raisin reception
Polaroids from a 1973 reception for the Broadway musical Raisin, including lead actress Virginia Capers and 12-year-old Ralph Carter, later of Good Times.
Bianca Jagger, several times over
A run of portraits Boston calls striking, among them Jagger posed with the actor Helmut Berger.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- Locals Who've Seen It All
Skip if
You want Warhol's silkscreens: nearly everything here is a four-inch Polaroid.
With kids
Free for visitors 25 and under, so only adults pay.
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Image credits
8
- Whitney Museum of American ArtBeyond My Ken, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Anna Maria Maiolino. ANNA—And the Infinite LineCourtesy of Hauser & Wirth
- David Lamelas: The MachineJoeyvandernaald, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- David Byrne: Stairwell DrawingsDavid Byrne / Pace Gallery
- David ZwirnerCourtesy David Zwirner
- Hauser & WirthJim.henderson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Dia ChelseaFound5dollar, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Pace GalleryPace Gallery