The Whitney Museum closed the doors on their Marcel Breuer building last fall. Their final show was a retrospective of Jeff Koons which filled four floors.
A light rain wasn't enough to keep the crowds away when John and I visited last October.
The line-up stretched right around the block.
No surprise really. Koons is one of America's most successful artists -- financially at least.
Hard to pass up a chance to see an extensive collection of his work.
I can see from the sign over the elevator that there is Koons art all the way from the lobby to the fourth floor. As is our ritual, we started on the top floor.
That put us amidst highlights from the Whitney's own collection. Myself and another visiter were caught by Pat Steir's September Evening Waterfall, 1991.
John and I are big fans of Brice Marden. Here's 3 Hydra Rocks, 2001-4.
And a detail.
The museum docent, facing us on the left, is explaining the two Ad Reinhardt paintings behind her.
The room featured a gorgeous Rothko. Four Darks in Red, 1958.
Here's the detail John's taking above.
Edward Hopper's fabulous Early Sunday Morning, 1930.
Gregory Crewdson's Untitled (north by northwest), 2004.
We can't resist Claes Oldenburg's drawings. In this proposal for a landscape sculpture the blueberry filling is slipping out of its crust.
On the way to the Koons, John caught this portrait in the Whitney stairwell.
We walked down to the fourth floor and at last entered the Koons Retrospective.
One of Mr Koons wonderful homages to kitsch with admirers.
That's John in the reflection.
We learned that some homages to kitsch are better than others.
We thought this stainless steel balloon rabbit was the best thing in the show.
Whatever else you may think of this image of Michael Jackson, it remains the largest ceramic sculpture ever fired.
We liked these glamorous sculptures. I guess we like the shiny ones.
Made in Heaven was an area of rampant
exhibitionism and vanity. Love the "bouquet" though.
But when Mr Koons is "on", he can really surprise us with creatures like this majestic poodle.
It was fun to see these early works -- vacuum cleaners in glass vitrines.
Early shiny things.
Koons came by his love of inflatables early. These are some of his earliest works.
We'll leave you with this telling early work -- sponges and a mirror.
Oh Koons, is he really an artist, if his hand has never touched the object in its making. Does he ever really give credit to the artists who actually make the stuff for him, does he give credit to the people who originally made the stuff he copies, but slightly adapts in size or material? He may be famous now, and people are working hard to maintain that fame as many people are invested in keeping his prices high, but how will art history look back upon his career?
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