The Museum of Modern Art has shaped how the world thinks about modern art since 1929. The permanent collection contains many of the 20th century's most famous paintings — Van Gogh's Starry Night, Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon, Monet's Water Lilies, Matisse, Warhol, Pollock. The 2019 expansion doubled gallery space and added strong rotating contemporary programming. UNIQLO Free Friday Nights (Mondays through Fridays 4-8 PM) offer free admission.
The Museum of Modern Art opened in 1929, three months before the Wall Street crash, with the radical mission of treating modern art as a serious discipline equal to the established old-master traditions. A century later, its collection contains many of the 20th century's most canonized paintings — Van Gogh's Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Monet's Water Lilies, Matisse's Dance, Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans, Pollock's drip paintings, Hopper's Gas, Magritte's The Lovers.
The 2019 expansion (designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro) added 40,000 square feet of gallery space and significantly improved the museum's flow. The Marron Family Atrium is the central organizing space. The David Geffen Wing hosts the rotating contemporary program; the original Goodwin/Stone building still holds the canonical collection. The sculpture garden (designed by Philip Johnson) is the rare quiet outdoor space in Midtown.
Highly-rated focus areas for first-time visitors: the 5th floor (Starry Night, Picasso, Matisse, the canonical modernist core), the 4th floor (Pollock, Rothko, mid-century American abstract expressionism), and the 6th-floor rotating contemporary exhibitions. The film program (multiple daily screenings) is one of the city's best repertory venues.
UNIQLO Free Friday Nights — every Friday 4-8 PM — offer free general admission, which makes MoMA accessible without paying the relatively expensive standard rate. Get there before 4 to queue.
What to expect
The experience
Self-paced. Pick the floors that match your interest. Audio guides available.
Best time
Weekday mornings. UNIQLO Free Friday Nights (4-8 PM Fridays) are free but crowded — get there before 4 to queue.
How long
2-4 hours minimum. Full day for serious art lovers.
Tips
Skip the gift shop on the way in; budget for it on the way out. The sculpture garden is the underrated mid-visit break. The film program is one of the city's best repertory venues — check the daily schedule.
Quick picks
- Best for
- Visitors who care about 20th-century painting and design.
- Families
- Older kids who've encountered modern art in school do well; younger kids may find the collection more challenging than the Met.
- Couples
- A Friday evening Free Friday visit followed by dinner in Midtown is a classic NYC date.
- Pair with
- Pair with the Whitney for a modern/contemporary day, or with the Met for an art-survey day. Either combination is heavy.
- Time needed
- Half-day minimum.
Good questions
Is Starry Night actually here?+
Yes — on the 5th floor, where it's been for most of MoMA's history. Plan for a queue to see it; this is the museum's most-visited single object.
When is admission free?+
UNIQLO Free Friday Nights, every Friday 4-8 PM. Plan to arrive before 4 to queue; the line moves quickly but stretches.
How long should I spend?+
2-4 hours for the highlights. Half-day for serious art lovers.
Is the sculpture garden free?+
Free with museum admission. It's one of Midtown's rare quiet outdoor spaces and worth seeing.
Can I see the main highlights quickly?+
Yes, the fifth-floor collection galleries hold the best-known paintings, and focusing on them takes about ninety minutes.
