The Whitney Museum acquires Roy Lichtenstein's last studio. It will become a training ground for artists

Dorothy Lichtenstein, widow of the famous Roy, has donated theartist’s last studio in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The celebrated museum will adapt the space to create the first permanent home of the Whitney’sIndependent Study Program, founded in 1968 to train artists and curators.

“Thanks to Roy,” said Dorothy, “this building has been a place of artistic and intellectual endeavor, both by Roy himself and by the people who have gathered here. I cannot think of a more fitting use for the studio by the Whitney Museum that carries this legacy forward into the future, supporting contemporary art and artists.”

The building at 741/745 Washington Street was built in 1912 as a metalworking shop. Roy Lichtenstein purchased it in 1987 and used it, after renovation, as his residence and studio from 1988 to 1997. In the following years, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation used the building for various activities, such as preparing the archives and creating the catalog raisonné.

The Whitney Museum plans to relocate its Independent Study Program (ISP) to the building in the summer of 2023, in celebration of Roy Lichtenstein’s centennial. When it is not being used for the ISP, the Museum plans to hold educational programs in the building, including residencies, teacher training, and teen programs.

The close relationship between Roy Lichtenstein and the New York museum began in 1965, when his work was included in the annual 1965 exhibition and the exhibition A Decade of American Drawings, 1955-1965, and continued through dozens of exhibitions thereafter. Over the years, the Foundation has donated more than 400 of the artist’s works, including paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, photographs, and studies, to the museum.

Image: Thomas Hoepker/Magnum Photos

The Whitney Museum acquires Roy Lichtenstein's last studio. It will become a training ground for artists

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