Il Museum of Modern Art in New York or better known as MOMA is one of the great museums in the city of New York. Is considered one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world, constituting (in the opinion of many) one of the best collections. The museum houses works such as Picasso's Las Señoritas de Avignon, as well as works by Dalí, Warhol, Van Goth, Chagall, Mondrian and Kandinsky.
Founded in 1929, the museum is located in Midtown in the heart of Manhattan, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Together with the Metropolitan Museum and the American Museum of Natural History, the MOMA is considered one of the three great museums of New York, as well as one of the main attractions of the city.
History of MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1929 by three wealthy collectors, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (wife of John D. Rockefeller Jr), and her friends Lillie P. Bliss e Mary Quinn Sullivan, who wanted to propose a contemporary alternative to the conservatism of the MET (Metropolitan Museum).
Their idea was to exhibit only known modern works of art and to give young artists the opportunity to present their works. Today the museum is one of the most visited institutions in the United States, whose collection of modern and contemporary art is comparable to that of the Georges Pompidou Center (Paris) and the Tate Modern (London).
What to see at MoMA
It is not just a museum of paintings and sculptures. Inside the MoMA there are also important collections of graphic design, industrial design, photography, architecture, cinema and printing.
The MoMA collections are divided into 5 different levels: the higher you go, the further back in time you go. It should be known, however, that the works presented in this museum are not classified chronologically, but according to the artistic trend.
Here's how the Museum of Modern Art is organized:
- Il first and second floor they are dedicated to films and media. Here you can discover more than 1.200 works and videos.
- Il third floor is dedicated to architecture, drawing and photography. You have the opportunity to contemplate over 10.000 drawings made with various techniques and over 25.000
- Il fourth floor is reserved for sculpture and painting. Famous works by artists such as Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Vasily Kandinsky, Ernst Kirchner, René Magritte, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dalí or Marc Chagall are exhibited here.
- Il fifth floor it is reserved for so-called temporary exhibitions. Here you will also have access to a café with a terrace overlooking the sculpture garden.
If this is your first visit to MoMA and you are short on time, we do not recommend that you visit all levels, because the visit will take you all day. We advise you to dwell on 2 levels which are the most interesting, that means:
- Level 4: the works of the 60s
- Level 5: works from 1880 to 50s
This visit of the 2 floors will allow you to see the most beautiful works and the greatest artists of MoMA: Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse, Andy Warhol, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Miro, ...
Tips for visiting MoMA
- Plan your visit to MoMA in the morning. If you arrive at least half an hour before opening, you can enter first. Queues quickly get very long after 11am.
- Take the opportunity to visit the sculpture garden on the ground floor, it is open from 9:30 am.
- Do not take a backpack, they are not accepted in the museum and you will have to leave it at the luggage room wasting a lot of time in line!
- Audio guides and maps are available free of charge at the entrance. If you have a phone with wifi, just connect to the network MOMA - free - to listen to all comments. There are also specially adapted audio guides for children.
Hours and days of opening
Moma is open 7 days on 7 closing on some national holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. L'opening is from 10:30 with closing at 17:30. Only on Friday the closing is at 20:00.
Admission prices
- The entrance ticket for adults costs $ 25
- - elderly over 65 years pay a reduced ticket of $ 18
- For the students the fare is $ 14
- Kids e boys up to 16 years they enter for free
Il Friday from 16:00 to 20:00 the entrance is free for everyone. Discover all the attractions of New York…
Access to MoMA is included in the FreeStyle Pass New York where a stop-and-go counter allows you to skip the line.
How to get to MoMA
If you are in Time Square, the museum is located on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. While from other areas of Manhattan take the E line of the metro and get off at 5th avenue - 53rd street stop.
Around the museum you can see other important attractions of the city of New York such as St. Patrick's Cathedral, Time Square, Trump Tower or Fifth Avenue the street par excellence for shopping and business.
