Museum of Modern Art

State: New York. Type: modern and contemporary art museum at 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, New York City. Founded November 7, 1929, by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss, and Mary Quinn Sullivan, opening nine days after the Wall Street Crash. Current building (1939) designed by Philip L. Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone; major 2002-2004 renovation by Yoshio Taniguchi nearly doubled exhibition space to 630,000 sq ft, with further expansions in 2017 and 2019. Collection: over 200,000 works. 2023 attendance: 2.84 million.

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opened in 1929, founded by three private collectors including Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, just days after the stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. It moved into its present Midtown Manhattan building, designed by Philip L. Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone, in 1939, and has been expanded and renovated repeatedly since, most substantially by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi between 2002 and 2004, which nearly doubled exhibition space, with further additions in 2017 and 2019. The museum's collection of more than 200,000 works spans painting, sculpture, photography, film, design, and architecture, and includes some of the most recognizable paintings in the world, among them Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Monet's Water Lilies, and Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans. MoMA draws millions of visitors annually and is one of the anchor cultural institutions of Midtown Manhattan.

MoMA is located at 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in Midtown, a few blocks from Rockefeller Center and Central Park.

New York City has a humid continental climate with hot, humid summers and cold winters with occasional snow. Because MoMA's galleries are entirely indoor and climate-controlled, weather has little bearing on a visit beyond the walk to and from the building.

Weekday mornings tend to be less crowded than weekends and afternoons. Free Friday evenings (5:30-8:30 p.m., for New York residents) draw larger crowds during that specific window, per the museum's own visitor information.

MoMA was established on November 7, 1929, by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss, and Mary Quinn Sullivan, opening to the public just nine days after the Wall Street Crash that triggered the Great Depression. The museum's permanent home at 11 West 53rd Street, designed by Philip L. Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone, opened on May 10, 1939. A 1958 fire on the second floor destroyed an 18-foot Monet painting, one of the more dramatic incidents in the museum's history. The most significant modern expansion came between 2002 and 2004, when Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi's renovation nearly doubled exhibition space to 630,000 square feet; additional expansions followed in 2017 and 2019, further growing gallery space.

Visitors move through galleries covering painting and sculpture, photography, film, architecture and design, and works on paper, encountering landmark works such as The Starry Night and Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. The museum's sculpture garden, film screenings, and rotating special exhibitions add to a standard visit, and MoMA's museum store and on-site dining are popular add-ons.

Permanent-collection galleries holding Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Monet's Water Lilies, and Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans; the museum's design and architecture galleries; and the outdoor sculpture garden are among the most-visited parts of the museum.

MoMA sits in Midtown Manhattan at 11 West 53rd Street, a short walk from Rockefeller Center. Visitors typically arrive via subway to the Fifth Avenue/53rd Street station (E, F trains) directly outside, or by one of several bus lines (M1, M2, M3, M5, M7, M31, M50, M57, Q32) serving the area.

As of research, general admission was priced at $30 for adults, with free admission on Friday evenings from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. for New York State residents, per the museum's own site. Specific daily opening/closing hours were not independently confirmed on a directly fetched official page during this research (the moma.org visit page returned an access error) and should be checked at moma.org before publishing.

General admission is $30 for adults, per the museum's own visitor information; the museum offers a free admission window on Friday evenings (5:30-8:30 p.m.) for New York residents. Senior, student, and child pricing tiers were not independently confirmed on a directly fetched page during this research and should be verified at moma.org/visit before publishing.

Most visitors plan two to four hours to see the main permanent-collection galleries and a special exhibition; art enthusiasts often spend a full day given the size of the collection.

Midtown Manhattan around MoMA is dense with hotels across all price categories, reflecting the neighborhood's position near Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, and Central Park; most visitors choose a Midtown hotel for walkability rather than staying immediately adjacent to the museum itself.

MoMA operates its own on-site dining options, and the surrounding Midtown blocks offer a dense mix of restaurants and cafes typical of central Manhattan, from quick counters to higher-end dining.

Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral are a short walk away, and Central Park and Fifth Avenue shopping are also within easy walking distance, making MoMA a natural stop on a Midtown Manhattan day.

The Fifth Avenue/53rd Street subway station (E, F trains) sits directly outside the museum; multiple bus routes also serve the block. The nearest major airports (LaGuardia, JFK, Newark) are reached by taxi, rideshare, or airport transit connections into Manhattan.

Standard museum and city precautions apply: keep bags secure, follow posted photography and touching restrictions in galleries, and be mindful of crowds during free Friday evening hours. For any emergency, dial 911.

A comfortable pair of walking shoes for a large museum, a phone or camera for permitted photography in galleries, and a valid ID or member card if using a discounted admission category.

Booking timed-entry tickets online in advance is recommended, particularly for weekends and the free Friday evening window, which draws larger crowds. Arriving early on a weekday morning is the best way to see major works like The Starry Night with fewer crowds.

Dial 911 for any emergency in New York City. For visitor questions, contact details are listed on the museum's official site, moma.org, which returned an access error during direct fetch in this research — confirm a current phone number there before publishing.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - https://www.moma.org

This section is being updated and will be available shortly.

This section is being updated and will be available shortly.

This section is being updated and will be available shortly.