1.Metropolitan Museum of Art
It would take weeks to take in all the treasures of this mammoth, ever-changing museum that includes a collection of more than 3,000 European paintings. The Greek, Roman, Cypriot, and Asian halls attract a substantial number of the museum’s visitors, and the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography is also well attended (for further details see Metropolitan Museum of Art).
2.Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St • Open 10:30am–5:30pm Wed–Mon (to 8pm Fri) • Admission charge • www.moma.org The renovation of MoMA for the museum’s 75th anniversary in 2004 cost $425 million and doubled the capacity of the building. MoMA has one of the most comprehensive collections of modern art in the world, including works by Picasso, Van Gogh, and Warhol.
Museum of Modern Art
3.American Museum of Natural History
Exhibiting everything from dinosaurs to Chinese costumes and rare gems, this is the largest museum of its kind in the world. In addition to the planetarium show in the Rose Center, there are films screened in a giant IMAX theater (for further details see American Museum of Natural History).
4.Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim has expanded its collection with several major donations, including Justin Thannhauser’s Impressionist masters, Peggy Guggenheim’s Cubist, Surrealist, and Abstract Expressionist works, a collection of American Minimalist and Conceptual art, and the most extensive collection of Kandinsky’s works in the US (for further details see Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum).
5.Whitney Museum of American Art
99 Gansevoort St • Open 10:30am–6pm Sun, Mon, Wed; 10:30am–10pm Thu, Fri, Sat • 1-800- WHITNEY • Adm (7–10pm Fri is pay-what-you-wish) • www.whitney.org The entire range of 20th-century American art can be seen in the permanent collection in this striking Renzo Piano building, along with changing contemporary exhibitions.
6.Frick Collection
1 East 70th St at 5th Ave • Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sat, 11am–5pm Sun • Admission charge • www.frick.org The mansion of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, with an indoor garden court and fountain, is the setting for his exceptional collection of Old Masters, French furniture, and Limoges enamels. You can view works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Hals in the West Gallery, with ones by Holbein, Titian, and Bellini on display in the Living Hall.
7.Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn • Subway 2, 3 to Eastern Pkwy • Open 10am–5pm Wed–Fri, 11am–6pm Sat & Sun, 11am–11pm first Sat of month (except Sep) • Admission charge • www.brooklynmuseum.org Housed in a fine Beaux Arts building, this museum presents a wide range of special exhibitions alongside its permanent collections of Asian, Egyptian, African, and American art. The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art is the first public space of its kind in the country.
Egyptian exhibit, Brooklyn Museum
8.Morgan Library and Museum
225 Madison Ave at 36th St • Open 10:30am–5pm Tue–Thu, 10:30am– 9pm Fri, 10am–6pm Sat, 11am–6pm Sun • Admission charge • www.themorgan.org This Italian Renaissance-style palazzo was designed in 1902 to hold the collection of billionaire J. Pierpont Morgan – an extraordinary assemblage of rare manuscripts, books, prints, drawings, and ancient artifacts. Morgan’s original opulent study and library are highlights. There are also galleries with changing exhibitions.
9.Museum of the City of New York
1220 5th Ave at 103rd St • Open 10am–6pm daily • Admission charge • www.mcny.org The toy collection is a highlight and rotating exhibitions explore fashion, architecture, entertainment, cultural identity, ethnic traditions, and social history. A film documenting the evolution of the city is featured.
Museum of the City of New York
10.American Folk Art Museum
2 Lincoln Square (Columbus Ave at 66th St) • Open noon–7:30pm Tue–Sat, noon–6pm Sun • Free • www.folkartmuseum.org The first New York museum built from the ground up has critiqued the country’s cultural history since opening in 1961. The eight-level, innovative structure shows off a collection of whimsical, all-American paintings, sculptures, quilts, and furniture.
American Folk Art Museum
