The title of the exhibition, Inheritance, was based on Ephraim Asili’s first feature-length film, a re-enactment of the Black Marxist collective, MOVE. This black liberation organization, founded in 1972, was bombed by the Philadelphia police in 1985 due to numerous complaints in the community. The film is presented in its entirety and serves as an example of how its filmmaker used his subject matter to explore what kind of organization can exist to uphold inherited freedoms within the society at large.

The Whitney is ground zero for promoting and preserving the legacy of this iconic genius. Its holdings comprise 3,100 works and represent 10 percent of the entire collection. The first painting purchased was Early Sunday Morning (1930). It is a study in isolated storefronts, a horizontal view where a barber pole and a fire hydrant seem to be stand-ins for an absent populace. It’s as good a place as any to begin our journey to understand Hopper’s obsession with the city.

Death as a theme has a place in the artist’s obsessions. Later paintings depict skeletons as part of the imagery with a lightheartedness that makes one think the artist at 91 has come to terms with the issue of mortality. One work places the skeleton over an original silhouette of the artist from his own shadow. Another earlier and more somber image is based on a 1965 war photograph by Larry Burrows with Marine corporal James Farley crumpled in grief over the death of a comrade. 

Not surprisingly, when you arrive on the site, you are greeted with “A Message to Our Community.”  The foundation is “creating paths that lead to a more inclusive and diverse museum and workplace.”  Nearly a year ago, it launched a Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion Initiative.  It’s a high order and we can only hope that they can live up to the founding belief that “art can embrace the spirit and transform human behavior.” One example on the website of genius at work is a brief artist’s video profile of Simone Leigh.