Copyright 2006 Stamps Howard
Art Museums
There are four GREAT art museums in New York City:
One can easily spend a day in each of the above art museums. To assist you in choosing which (if any) to visit, I've included a short synopsis of each:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Home of blockbuster after blockbuster, the Metropolitan Museum of Art attracts some five million people a year, more than any other spot in New York City. And it's no wonder -- this place is magnificent. At 1.6 million square feet, this is the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere. Nearly all the world's cultures are on display through the ages -- from Egyptian mummies to ancient Greek statuary to Islamic carvings to Renaissance paintings to Native American masks to 20th-century decorative arts -- and masterpieces are the rule. You could go once a week for a lifetime and still find something new on each visit.
So unless you plan on spending your entire vacation in the museum (some people do), you cannot see the entire collection. My recommendation is to give it a good half day (that was the most we could do when we visited last year -- it get overwhelming after that). On Friday and Saturday evenings, the Met remains open late not only for art viewing but also for cocktails in the Great Hall Balcony Bar (5-8pm) and classical music from a string ensemble.
Museum of Modern Art
The newer, larger MoMA, after a 2-year renovation, is almost twice the space of the original. The renovation, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, highlights space and light, with open rooms, high ceilings, and gardens -- a beautiful work of architecture and a perfect complement to the art within. This is where you'll find van Gogh's Starry Night, Cezanne's Bather, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, and the great sculpture by Rodin, Monument to Balzac.
When we visited last year, after viewing all the stunning impressionist and post-impressionist art, my daughters (Alicia and Caroline) had a fabulous time with all the so-called modern art (e.g. red triangles, blue squares, blank canvases, etc.) that were great multi-million dollar art... Allow 2-3 hours.
Whitney Museum of American Art
What is arguably the finest collection of 20th-century American art in the world belongs to the Whitney thanks to the efforts of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. A sculptor herself, Whitney organized exhibitions by American artists shunned by traditional academies, assembled a sizable personal collection, and founded the museum in 1930 in Greenwich Village.
The permanent collection consists of an intelligent selection of major works by Edward Hopper, George Bellows, Georgia O'Keeffe, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, and other significant artists. A second-floor space is devoted exclusively to works from its permanent collection from 1900 to 1950, while the rest is dedicated to rotating exhibits. Allow 2-3 hours.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Frank Lloyd Wright's only New York building, completed in 1959, is best summed up as a brilliant work of architecture -- so consistently brilliant that it competes with the art for your attention. If you're looking for the city's best modern art, head to MoMA or the Whitney first; come to the Guggenheim to see the house. Though you might not see much except scaffolding; the exterior of the museum is undergoing a $29-million restoration with a completion date scheduled for mid-2008 (but still not completed when I visited in July 2008).
The museum's spiraling rotunda circles over a slowly inclined ramp that leads you past changing exhibits that, in the past, have ranged from "Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle" to "Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People," said to be the most comprehensive exhibit ever of the beloved painter's works. Allow 2-3 hours.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art ("the Met")
- The Museum of Modern Art ("MoMA")
- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- The Whitney Museum of American Art
One can easily spend a day in each of the above art museums. To assist you in choosing which (if any) to visit, I've included a short synopsis of each:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Home of blockbuster after blockbuster, the Metropolitan Museum of Art attracts some five million people a year, more than any other spot in New York City. And it's no wonder -- this place is magnificent. At 1.6 million square feet, this is the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere. Nearly all the world's cultures are on display through the ages -- from Egyptian mummies to ancient Greek statuary to Islamic carvings to Renaissance paintings to Native American masks to 20th-century decorative arts -- and masterpieces are the rule. You could go once a week for a lifetime and still find something new on each visit.
So unless you plan on spending your entire vacation in the museum (some people do), you cannot see the entire collection. My recommendation is to give it a good half day (that was the most we could do when we visited last year -- it get overwhelming after that). On Friday and Saturday evenings, the Met remains open late not only for art viewing but also for cocktails in the Great Hall Balcony Bar (5-8pm) and classical music from a string ensemble.
Museum of Modern Art
The newer, larger MoMA, after a 2-year renovation, is almost twice the space of the original. The renovation, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, highlights space and light, with open rooms, high ceilings, and gardens -- a beautiful work of architecture and a perfect complement to the art within. This is where you'll find van Gogh's Starry Night, Cezanne's Bather, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, and the great sculpture by Rodin, Monument to Balzac.
When we visited last year, after viewing all the stunning impressionist and post-impressionist art, my daughters (Alicia and Caroline) had a fabulous time with all the so-called modern art (e.g. red triangles, blue squares, blank canvases, etc.) that were great multi-million dollar art... Allow 2-3 hours.
Whitney Museum of American Art
What is arguably the finest collection of 20th-century American art in the world belongs to the Whitney thanks to the efforts of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. A sculptor herself, Whitney organized exhibitions by American artists shunned by traditional academies, assembled a sizable personal collection, and founded the museum in 1930 in Greenwich Village.
The permanent collection consists of an intelligent selection of major works by Edward Hopper, George Bellows, Georgia O'Keeffe, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, and other significant artists. A second-floor space is devoted exclusively to works from its permanent collection from 1900 to 1950, while the rest is dedicated to rotating exhibits. Allow 2-3 hours.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Frank Lloyd Wright's only New York building, completed in 1959, is best summed up as a brilliant work of architecture -- so consistently brilliant that it competes with the art for your attention. If you're looking for the city's best modern art, head to MoMA or the Whitney first; come to the Guggenheim to see the house. Though you might not see much except scaffolding; the exterior of the museum is undergoing a $29-million restoration with a completion date scheduled for mid-2008 (but still not completed when I visited in July 2008).
The museum's spiraling rotunda circles over a slowly inclined ramp that leads you past changing exhibits that, in the past, have ranged from "Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle" to "Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People," said to be the most comprehensive exhibit ever of the beloved painter's works. Allow 2-3 hours.
