MoMA: The Museum of Modern Art in New York

What You Need to Know About MoMA New York

• The Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA, is a New York museum dedicated entirely to modern art. The museum opened in November 1929 on 53rd Street, between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas, in the heart of Manhattan, in New York. The Museum of Modern Art’s mission: to bring together the finest works of contemporary art.
• MoMA ranks among New York’s most visited museums. The Museum of Modern Art welcomed nearly 2.8 million visitors in 2025. The museum is most often called by its affectionate nickname, MoMA.
• While MoMA still occupies its original location, the museum you visit today looks very different from its early days. The first major renovation was led by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi. The work required the museum to close completely from 2004 to 2006.
• Another transformation came in 2019 with an expansion that also closed the museum to the public for several months. Today’s museum is twice the size of the original!

What to See at the Museum of Modern Art

MoMA’s collection is wonderfully diverse: painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, and even video. As the museum notes, MoMA “celebrates creativity, openness, tolerance, and generosity.” The museum’s manageable size means you can see everything in a single visit. Here are the major works you shouldn’t miss:

• “The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh. This painting draws more visitors than any other. You won’t escape the crowds and photographers!
• “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso.
• “Dance (I)” by French painter Henri Matisse.
• “Bird in Space” by sculptor Constantin Brancusi.
• “The Persistence of Memory” by Salvador Dalí. This painting is also known as “The Soft Watches.”
• “The Large Bathers” by Paul Cézanne.
• Another major work: Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans series, the famous soup cans painted in 1962. “It is the defining work of the artist’s career and a masterpiece of MoMA,” the museum explains. With Campbell’s Soup, Warhol pioneered his principle of reproducing and repeating everyday objects. This key idea of pop art was later applied to his multiplied portraits of Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.

MoMA also houses works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Jean Dubuffet, André Derain, Piet Mondrian, Jackson Pollock, and Georges Braque. In total, the collection includes more than 150,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, and objects. An incredible collection! Plus regular, world-class temporary exhibitions.

Visiting the Museum of Modern Art

• Address: 11 West 53rd Street, New York. The museum is located between Fifth Avenue and 6th Avenue.
• Subway: 5 Av/53 S (E and M lines).
• Hours: MoMA is open daily from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm (until 8:30 pm on Saturday). The museum is closed only on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, December 25.
• Admission: $30 for adults, $20 for seniors (65+), $15 for students. Free for children under 16. Note that the museum no longer offers free Friday evening admission for non-New York residents. All visitors must now pay admission.
• Skip-the-line tickets: you can buy tickets in advance with skip-the-line access via MoMA’s ticket reservation module. MoMA tickets also include entry to MoMA PS1, the museum’s location in Queens. The PS1 ticket must be used the same day.
• Tip: MoMA admission is included in the New York Explorer Pass and the New York Pass.

Frequently Asked Questions

Reviews of the Museum of Modern Art in New York

• Karine E. : “As an art enthusiast, I loved the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This museum houses works by Lichtenstein, Picasso, Warhol, and Pollock. A must for art lovers.”
• Isabelle L. : “I love it.”
• Marc B. : “Excellent!!!!”
• Melissa L.-G. : “I really enjoyed this museum.”
• Vincent Petit-Romero : “Interesting, but if you’re not an art expert like me, you won’t need to spend 3 hours here. Still worth a visit if your schedule allows.”
• Carmen Z. : “I love this museum and the diversity of its collections.”
• Valentine B. : “I loved the outdoor ground floor and the impressionist gallery. I came specifically for that. I would have stayed longer, but it was -12°C (10°F) in August! Americans are crazy with their air conditioning!”
• Céline M. : “You can’t help but be moved by the greatest masterpieces of contemporary art.”
• Guillaume A. : “I visited it… Hmm… For me, maybe 5% could be considered modern art. The rest… No comment.”
• Alex D. : “I’m not a fan of modern art to begin with. Except for a van Gogh and a Picasso, I really didn’t like it at all. But this museum was included in the CityPASS, so… If I could have done the 9/11 Memorial instead, I would have preferred that. This museum isn’t for everyone, as the works are quite particular.”
• Sandrine M. : “I went out of curiosity, but contemporary art really isn’t for everyone…”
• Adrien Dbvs : “Worth seeing, but if you’re not well-versed in art, you’ll get bored fairly quickly.”
• Alice W. : “I’m not necessarily a fan of contemporary art, but the museum is worth a visit. Plus, there’s a charming garden—a real oasis in the middle of Manhattan…”

Reviews of the Museum of Modern Art from our Destination New York Facebook group

MoMA in Photos

Map to the Museum of Modern Art