The private guided tour at the Whitney

Why it is on the list

The Whitney holds more than 25,000 works by more than 3,500 American artists, from the late nineteenth century to now, and is the largest repository of Edward Hopper's work and papers anywhere.¹ Two of the eight floors of Renzo Piano's building on Gansevoort Street, opened in May 2015, are given to the permanent collection, and the museum stages the Whitney Biennial every two years.¹ The tour is the museum's own: an hour with one of its guides, for your party alone.²

It is the wrong choice for a party of two or three, since the museum sells a ten-ticket minimum for any guided tour.² For one artist's own rooms rather than a collection, take the guided visit to 101 Spring Street, where Donald Judd lived and worked.

How to get it

Send the Private Guided Tours request form on the Group visits page, or write to grouptours@whitney.org, three weeks ahead; the group team answers within three to five business days.² Tickets are $50 for adults, $45 for seniors and university students, and $28 for visitors 25 and under and Whitney members, with ten tickets at least.² For something beyond the standard hour, the same page takes requests for a tour shaped by the Group Sales Team, who call back to settle it.² The museum is open 10:30 am to 6 pm, to 10 pm on Fridays, and closed on Tuesdays.³

Discretion

Admission is free every Friday from 5 to 10 pm and on the second Sunday of each month, so those hours carry the most visitors.³ Every bag is inspected at the door; large bags and backpacks go to the coat check on Floor -1, and luggage of any kind is refused.⁴ Photography for personal use is allowed in the galleries without flash, and the museum asks that staff are not photographed without their consent.⁴ Visitors may themselves be photographed or filmed by the museum.⁴ Cars and taxis can drop off at the front door on Gansevoort Street.³