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The Museum of Modern Art (known simply as MoMA) is one of the best art museums in New York City. Considering the standard of galleries in New York, that’s quite the accomplishment. Naturally a visit to MoMA is essential for any art enthusiast heading to the Big Apple. I wouldn’t consider myself a part of that category, but visiting MoMA is fun even for those that can’t distinguish their Picassos from their Pollocks. Thanks to an excellent audio guide, I felt that I was able to learn a lot on my trip to MoMA. With over 200,000 pieces in its collection, there’s a lot to see, which can make things a bit overwhelming. Rather than try to see everything, I recommend checking out some of the highlights on a short trip. In this post I’ll cover some of those highlights.
The Museum of Modern Art is the premier gallery for modern artwork in New York City. While today its a massive six levelled building, its roots go back to a meagre collection of 9 pieces – eight prints and one drawing – in the early 20th century. At the time, New York didn’t have any contemporary art galleries. The collection was launched by collectors Lillie P Bliss, Mary Quinn Sullivan and socialite Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, with the small gallery opening in the Heckscher Building in 1929.
Over time, the collection expanded, thanks to numerous bequests, gifts and sales of contemporary pieces from various benefactors. It wasn’t long before the old site wasn’t large enough to house the collection any longer. After shifting between various rented spaces, MoMA finally opened at its current site in 1939. As acquisitions continued over the decades, the Museum grew and grew – major renovations and expansions were carried out in 1984 and 2019 respectively. Today, MoMA is recognised as one of the leading modern art museums in the world.
The Museum of Modern Art is an excellent indoor activity during a visit to New York. If there’s any days when the weather isn’t going to be the best during your stay, MoMA is a good way to get indoors for a few hours. Naturally a lot of people will have the same idea, so expect crowds. The Museum of Modern Art is extremely popular. I recommend trying to arrive about 15 minutes before opening so that you’ll be able to experience some of the galleries with relatively few people before things really fill up. I spent around 2 hours at MoMA. Unless you’re a super art enthusiast, I think that’s a decent amount of time to dedicate to the Museum.
You should book your tickets online to save having to queue up for this when you arrive. You can purchase tickets on the Museum’s website. Admission to MoMA is also included as part of the New York Sightseeing Pass (its not part of the CityPass though). Depending on how much you plan on seeing in New York, this great multi-attraction pass can save you money in the long run. You can find more details on the Sightseeing Pass website.
MoMA’s permanent exhibits cover 4 floors of the Museum, and chronicle the evolution of Modern Art from the 1880s to the current day. I think the best way to experience the Museum is to go through historically. The permanent collection begins on the fifth floor of the Museum and continues through to the 2nd floor. I didn’t spend any time in the Museum’s temporary exhibits as I found this to be enough art for the day.
The permanent collection at MoMA is broken down broadly into 3 main sections: 1880s – 1940s (5th floor), 1940s-1970s (4th floor) and 1970s-present (2nd floor). Rather than try to cover everything in each of these collections, I want to instead pick out 10 pieces that caught my eye from the collection. Hopefully this will give you some examples of the works you’ll see on your visit.
Also, when you arrive, collect an audio guide (or download it from the Museum’s app). You’ll learn a lot about the artwork you’re looking at (and it can also help you find the most important pieces in the collection).
Van Gogh’s Starry Night is probably the most famous piece of art in the entire MoMA collection. Even I knew about this painting, having studied it in high school art class. Naturally, its one of the most popular pieces, making it a good choice to see early on. In his painting, the Dutch born artist depicts a vibrant night sky, filled with exploding stars, over a quiet village. Some say the intensely vibrant sky depicts van Gogh’s own mindset at the time the work was created, as he was confined to a mental asylum in Saint Remy prior to his death a year after the painting’s completion.
One of Picasso’s earliest works in the MoMA collection, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon depicts five naked prostitutes in a brothel. Rather than the women being painted realistically, their figures are comprised of flat and splintered designs, and are completely asymmetrical. The faces of the women are influenced by African tribal masks. While Picasso became known for numerous works (many of which are also in MoMA), he described this piece as his “first exorcism painting”. In any event, it was a massive breakaway from the traditional composition of art at the time.
One of the many artworks in MoMA’s collection by the Frenchman Henry Matisse, Dance (I) was actually completed in less than a week. Despite this, its another hugely popular piece, and is said to evoke feelings of joy and energy. The painting depicts simplistic humans dancing in a mythical landscape. Criticised at the time for his presentations of the dancers as being basic and crude, Matisse’s view was that dance was all about capturing life and rhythm. The painting actually went on to serve as a prototype for his later Dance (II), a more colourful and vibrant work which is displayed in the Russian Hemitage Museum.
We have another painting by Matisse up next. Another quote by the French artist was that “modern art spreads joy around it by its colour, which calms us”. That’s something of a theme in The Red Studio, which displays a vibrantly red version of Matisse’s own studio, filled with other decorative elements. Apparently he changed the colours in the painting until they seemed right to him, with earlier layers of yellow and blue beneath the overwhelming amount of red.
One of the largest paintings in the collection, Monet is well known for his Water Lillies. The French artist built a large studio in the town of Giverny, north-west of Paris, where he spent years of his life painting numerous works that he referred to as his grandes decorations. Each of these works depicted the elaborate lily pond and gardens that his studio overlooked. In total, he created over 40 large panels depicting the lilies, and numerous smaller paintings related to these. In 1955, MoMA became the first museum in the United States to acquire some of those panels, which are on display and a favourite in the collection today. The panels are displayed in the way Monet intended – adjacent to one another to encompass viewers in an immersive space, creating the illusion of being on the river bank.
Far from only containing paintings, modern art encompasses all kinds of objects. You’ll see a myriad of weird and wacky objects throughout the galleries, but one that really stood out to me was Oppenheim’s Object (La dejeuner en fourrure) – literally lunch in fur. As you’ll see, its a fur covered cup and saucer. Apparently its creation stems from a conversation between Oppenheim and Picasso at a Parisian cafe. After admiring Oppenheim’s fur covered bracelets, the eccentric Picasso declared just about anything could be covered with fur. The rest was history, with Oppenheim responding “even this cup and saucer”. Some say the work embodies the contrast of senses – with fur normally being pleasant to touch, but the idea of drinking from it is repulsive!
Broadway Boogie Woogie is an incredibly vibrant and colourful piece of work created by the Dutch migrant Piet Mondrian. Mondrian fled Europe to New York in order to escape World War II and instantly fell in love with the city and its music. Extremely abstract in its focus (and much more colourful than his earlier works), it is claimed that the numerous bars of colour are broken up into blocks that represent the pulsing rhythm of the streets and intersections throughout the city. To me, it looked like a bunch of colourful lines and dots, but after hearing that, I can kind of see it!
Speaking of abstract work, one of the most striking examples of this that I saw in MoMA’s collection was Newman’s Vir Heroicus Sublimis. This massive painting literally is made up of a red canvass, interrupted asymmetrically by only five vertical lines. The title of the painting is Latin for “Man: Heroic and Sublime”. Newman was one of the abstract expressionists of the era. Coming out of the Depression and War, they created a new genre of modern art, focusing on broad expanses of colour, rather than clearly defined subject matter. I can’t say that this wasn’t very different to the great masterpieces before his time.
The abstract expressionist period saw all kinds of techniques applied to art beyond traditional painting. One example of that is the drip pouring technique famously applied by Jackson Pollock in many of his works. The American artist created many of his paintings, including the massive One piece displayed by MoMA, by laying a canvass on the floor and flinging ropes of pant across its surface. The result is a chaotic mess of paint strings covering the canvass, seemingly at random. Without a single idea or focus to the work, it is said that the position of paint from drip art techniques says something about the speed and force with which it was applied.
The last piece I’m going to highlight is one of the defining works of the American artist Andy Warhol. While his famous Soup Cans weren’t on display during my visit to MoMA, this is another famous piece. After all, everyone knows the legendary Marilyn Monroe. Following her tragic suicide in 1962, Warhol used her image in countless works, painting the canvass a single colour before placing her face on top. Ultimately it was the golden background that stood out and made its way into the Museum’s collection. Just like his Soup Cans, the Gold Marilyn Monroe is another example of Warhol’s mantra that art should be for everyone, hence his use of recognisable objects in his works.
There’s a lot more that you could see at MoMA than just the main galleries if you’re an art enthusiast. The Museum offers rotating exhibits throughout the year. Personally, I wouldn’t try to tackle those as well if you’re a first time visitor, but if you’re inclined to do so, the Museum’s website will tell you what’s on. The Museum also contains a sculpture garden, which is a good place to relax outdoors afterwards. The MoMA PS1 in Queens is also filled with even more modern art (though I’ve never been).
There’s obviously much more to see in MoMA than the collection of artworks that I’ve covered in this post. While it would be impossible to cover (or even remember them) all, part of the fun is wandering through the halls not knowing what you’re going to see next. While this post has covered some of the Museum’s most famous pieces, you should go through and look at the ones that draw you in. If you’ve been to MoMA and have a favourite piece from the collection, let me know!
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