On this day in 1939 David Whitney (1939-2005) was born in Worcester, MA.
David Grainger Whitney (1939-2005) was an accomplished curator and editor, an avid art collector and gardener, a loyal friend to many artists, an art adviser to New York’s powerful elite, and an advocate of contemporary art. In contrast to his outspoken partner of forty-five years, Philip Johnson, Whitney was an éminence grise, an art world insider who preferred to maintain his privacy. Whitney’s circle of friends included Modern masters such as Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Frank Gehry, Frank Stella, Ken Price, among others. Whitney described the development of these relationships simply as “I became close to these people who are now all gods. But they weren’t then.” However, from a historical perspective, this attests to his keen eye for emerging talent, as well as his deep understanding of and appreciation for the creative mind and artistic expression.
Read more of the first-ever David Whitney biography on our website at http://philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/history/bios/whitney.
Filed under: About The Philip Johnson Glass House, In the News, Andy Warhol, biography, Birthday, Claes Oldenburg, Cy Twombly, David Grainger Whitney, David Whitney, Frank Gehry, Frank Stella, Jasper Johns, Ken Price, Philip Johnson, Robert Rauschenberg
