It’s no secret that New York City has some of the best art galleries anywhere in the world.
One of the best art galleries in NYC? The Museum of Modern Art, commonly known as the MoMA.
The first museum in America dedicated to modern art, the MoMA is today one of the most visited museums in the U.S.
While living in NYC, I was lucky to see several amazing temporary exhibits at the MoMA. But it’s the items in the museum’s permanent collection that kept me – and continues to keep me – coming back over and over again.
Keep reading to find out 12 of the unmissable paintings in the MoMA!
Table of Contents
History of the MoMA
November 7, 1929
MoMA founded
The MoMA opens its doors, a mere nine days after the Wall Street Crash. It was founded on the initiative of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and two of her friends.
Abby’s husband, John D. Rockefeller Jr., hated modern art and initially offered no support to the project (although he later relented and donated the land where the museum now stands).
May 10, 1939
Permanent home
After being housed in several temporary spaces, the museum moves into its permanent International Style building.
April 15, 1958
Fire
A devastating fire kills one worker and destroys Monet’s Water Lilies. The painting now on display is a replacement.
April 9, 1979
Winning an Oscar
The MoMA’s Department of Film wins an honorary Academy Award for its efforts in promoting film as an artistic medium.
November 20, 2004
Major renovation
The museum reopens after a significant renovation project designed by Yoshio Taniguchi.
October 21, 2019
More space
Another major renovation project at the museum is completed, adding 47,000 square feet (4,400 square meters) of gallery space.
1. The Starry Night
Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Year: 1889
About: One of Western art’s most famous paintings, The Starry Night was painted when van Gogh was in an insane asylum in France. The view is that from his bedroom window; while the artist made several paintings of this view, this is the only night version.
The previous year, van Gogh had painted an earlier picture also titled Starry Night (also called Starry Night Over the Rhône), now at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. While both are impressive, the version at the MoMA is, in my opinion, the more stunning, thanks to its vibrant colors, bolder lines, and mesmerizing, swirling sky.
2. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Year: 1907
About: Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon caused a stir when it first came out. Depicting five naked prostitutes in a brothel, the work was considered immoral and controversial and would not be put on exhibit until 1916.
Now regarded as a masterpiece, Les Damoiselles d’Avignon is among the most innovative paintings the world had ever seen. Gone were the beautiful, often enticingly demure women with lush, supple bodies. Instead, Picasso presents unabashedly sexual women on a flat plane and in geometrics shapes. Taking cues from El Greco, Cézanne, Gaugin, and African art, the painting, which falls under the Proto-Cubism movement, changed the art scene forever.
3. The Persistence of Memory
Artist: Salvador Dalí
Year: 1931
About: Dalí was THE artist of the Surrealist movement and the painting that exemplified the Surrealist movement the most was The Persistence of Memory.
Surrealism sought to allow the unconscious to express itself, resulting in dreamlike or absurd scenes. While the meaning of The Persistence of Memory is left up to the viewer, it should at least be obvious why the painting is sometimes also known as The Melting Clocks.
4. Water Lilies
Artist: Claude Monet
Year: c. 1920
About: Monet painted around 250 Water Lilies, which are now found in museum around the world. The MoMA’s version is massive (200 x 1276 cm, or 78.74 x 502.36 inches).
The museum’s original Water Lilies were lost in a fire in 1958; the one on display now is a replacement.
5. Dance (I)
Artist: Henri Matisse
Year: 1909
About: Together with Picasso, Matisse was responsible for the innovations in Western art at the beginning of the 20th century.
Dance (I) was a preliminary study of a painting commissioned by a Russian associate’s of the painter. With photography emerging as an artform that captured the subject in detailed realism, Matisse moved painting in a different direction – conveying emotion through color and basic elements of form.
6. The Sleeping Gypsy
Artist: Henri Rousseau
Year: 1897
About: Rousseau was a self-taught artist who didn’t begin to take painting seriously until he was in his 40s. (It’s never too late for a career change!) He painted in the Post-Impressionist Naïve, or Primitive, style.
Dreams and danger are side-by-side in this painting, which was considered too childish by the mayor of his hometown, to whom Rosseau tried unsuccessfully to sell the painting. It is now one of the most recognizable paintings of modern times.
7. Broadway Boogie Woogie
Artist: Piet Mondrian
Year: 1942 – 1943
About: Dutch artist Mondrian fled Europe in the early years of World War II, settling in New York City. Here he became familiar with the musical style of boogie-woogie, which inspired this painting.
Mondrian is best known for his grid-based paintings. Broadway Boogie Woogie is a slight variation on that; instead of solid lines of black, the painting shows connected, colorful rectangles, mimicking boogie-woogie’s upbeat rhythms.
8. One: Number 31, 1950
Artist: Jackson Pollock
Year: 1950
About: American artist Jackson Pollock was a leading painter of Abstract Expressionism best known for his “drip technique.” Sometimes called “action painting” or “all-over painting,” the technique involved dripping or pouring the paint over the canvas.
The striking black, white, tan, blue, and gray paint collide in this, one of the largest paintings to employ this technique. Applying paint so freely evokes movement and dynamism.
9. Campbell’s Soup Cans
Artist: Andy Warhol
Year: 1961 – 1962
About: American Andy Warhol was a leading artist of the pop art movement. Like many paintings of the movement, Campell’s Soup Cans depicts a commercial product.
In this case, Warhol hand-painted over a printed image that was repeated 32 times. The 32 cans represent the 32 flavors Campbell’s soup sold at the time.
10. I and the Village
Artist: Marc Chagall
Year: 1911
About: Belarusian-French painter Marc Chagall grew up in a Jewish community in what is now Belarus. As such, while Cubist in style, I and the Village incorporates elements of Eastern European and Yiddish folklore and culture while depicting a rural scene that Chagall would have been familiar with from childhood.
11. Street, Berlin
Artist: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Year: 1913
About: I remember learning about this painting in art history class. It was presented as a representation of the increasingly disconnectedness and dissatisfaction among people as a result of modern city living.
A founding member of the art group Die Brücke, Kirchner and his fellow group members were instrumental in the development of German Expressionism. The group disbanded in 1913, shortly before this painted was made.
12. Dynamism of a Soccer Player
Artist: Umberto Boccioni
Year: 1913
About: Coincidentally, I once sat in front of this painting with a semi-professional soccer player friend of mine. We had no idea that the painting depicted a soccer player at the time (so much for reading the labels), but we could admire the kaleidoscope of colors.
While this particular painting shows the influence of Cubism, Boccioni himself helped to influence Futurism, which emphasized youth, speed, and dynamism, as found in this painting.
How to visit the MoMA
Location and how to get there
The MoMA is located at 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019.
The nearest subway stations are:
- 5th Av/53rd St: E and M trains
- 7th Av: E, B, and D trains
Opening times
10:30am – 5:30pm Sunday to Fridays
10:30am – 7:00pm Saturdays
Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas
Ticket prices*
$30 – Adult
$22 – Senior (65 and over with ID)
$22 – Visitors with disabilities (caretakers are free)
$17 – Students (full-times students with ID)
Free – Children 16 and under
Be sure to check the MoMA’s website for the most up-to-date prices.
*Admission may be included with the New York Pass or similar city pass.
Eating at the MoMA
The MoMA has a few cafés and places where you can get some light refreshments, but the real star is its two-Michelin-starred restaurant, The Modern, which overlooks the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden
Yes, the menu is pricey, but the food is oh-so-worth it. If you’re planning to be in New York during the bi-annual Restaurant Week, check to see if The Modern is on the list of restaurants for a limited but more affordable fixed price menu. Make reservations as early as possible.
Other
You will need to go through bag check before entering the museum.
Any other works at the MoMA you love to see? Let me know in the comments!
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