Art: No Marriage

Manhattan’s massive Metropolitan Museum, which takes the long view of art, has always been a little shortsighted about contemporary U.S. artists. The pioneering Whitney Museum, four miles away in Greenwich Village, specializes in the contemporary. It seemed a good idea for the two museums to get together, and for the past five years they had been planning to do it: the Whitney was to quit its downtown quarters, move into a new wing at ,he well-heeled Metropolitan. But last week the deal was called off. Both sides issued explanations.

Said the Whitney: “It has become increasingly apparent that there were serious divergences . . . especially with respect to the showing of advanced trends in the art of today. This disagreement . . . raised grave doubts [that the Whitney’s] liberal tradition could be preserved after the coalition.”

Said the Metropolitan’s Director Francis Henry Taylor: “The Whitney Museum trustees have decided to maintain an independent, experimental gallery.” The Metropolitan, he added, would still take “an active part in the collection and exhibition of contemporary American art.”