MoMA Exhibitions | NYC | Past Exhibitions, Now Showing, Upcoming Shows
One of the most remarkable and iconic landmarks in New York, MoMA aka Museum of Modern Art is one of the world’s most popular museums dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Home to hundreds and thousands of priceless artwork from the 1800s, MoMA is literally a Disneyland for contemporary and modern art lovers. From their virtual exhibitions to a sneak peek into their collection, this page explores the significance of this historic space.
What is NYC MoMA?
Parking itself in the busy streets of Midtown Manhattan, this 6-floor museum currently houses 200,000 pieces of modern and contemporary art. These include ancient paintings, photographs, sculptures, books, periodicals, and more. The museum opened its doors to the public in November 1929, just nine days after the Wall Street Crash and since then has been housing remarkable and outstanding workpieces from well-known artists and innovators globally.
Fun fact: MoMa also has quite a fan following on social media. As per a survey, MoMA is one of the most followed museums on social media.
MoMA Collection
Housing the world's best and iconic modern & contemporary art, MoMA houses the works of an array of modern artists including Vincent van Gogh, Elizabeth Murray, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol among others. You’ll find approximately 200,000 priceless art pieces including The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso, The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí and Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. Movie lovers, you’ll find approximately 22,000 films and 4 million film stills enveloped within the four walls of this building. MoMA’s library and archives include a whopping 300,000 books and periodicals.
MoMA Exhibits
Past Exhibitions
MoMA’s first exhibition that was held on November 7, 1929, displayed the artwork of the four most celebrated European painters — Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat, and Van Gogh.
Since then till today, this modern art space has hosted 3500+ exhibitions featuring the artwork of global artists and painters including Charles Burchfield, Toulouse-Lautrec, Diego Rivera, Walker Evans, etc.
Some of the most celebrated works that have made their way to the walls of this gallery include the 1931 Henri Matisse show, the first-ever MoMA exhibition devoted to a single artist; a 1939 retrospective of Pablo Picasso, which displayed Guernica, his most famous painting, and the 1955's “The Family of Man,” which brought together images by photographers from around the world.
Currently Showing
Reuse, Renew, Recycle: On display on Floor 1, 1 South, the exhibition explores China’s construction boom since the past 3 decades.
Automania: A collection that examines automobiles as modern industrial products and style icons. The cars are on display at The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden and the gallery portion is on display at Floor 3, 3 North.
Neelon Crawford: a multimedia filmmaker whose 9 pieces on climate change and sustainability can be viewed at The Debra and Leon Black Family Film Center.
Adam Pendleton: Who Is Queen?: On display at The Donald and Catherine Marron Family Atrium, the work is a monumental floor-to-ceiling installation that explores blackness, abstraction and the Avant-Garde.
Apart from these, there’s Wanna Be Well, Stage, Liquid Reality, Modern From The Start, A Raft and more.
Upcoming Displays
- Living Abstraction: by Sophie Taeuber-Arp [from Nov 2021 - March 2022]
- What I Saw by Joseph E. Yoakum’s [from Nov 2021 - March 2022]
- Lost Tune by Reetu Sattar [Dates to be announced]
- May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth by Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme [Dates to be announced]
- The Red Studio by Henri Matisse [May 1–Sep 11, 2022]
- Just Above Midtown: 1974 to the Present [Oct 9, 2022–Feb 18, 2023]
- Meret Oppenheim My Exhibition [Oct 30, 2022–Mar 4, 2023]
Artwork in public spaces
After opening its doors in October 2019, MoMA displayed six of its artworks on view in public spaces to celebrate its reopening. These include Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Lobby, Café 2, the Louise Reinhardt Smith Gallery, the Carroll and Milton Petrie Terrace Café, and the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building. You can explore artwork and collections from artists like the German visual artist Kerstin Brätsch, Japanese multimedia artist Yoko Ono, French artist Philippe Parreno, Polish artist Goshka Macuga and the Israeli-American artist Haim Steinbach.
Film exhibitions
The MoMA museum's film department handpicks films from their collection and even from the latest releases so that visitors can experience the world cinema, dive into the history of cinema, and discover the next great director. MoMA has also started streaming films virtually, so you can enjoy the various films at home.
MoMA Digital Archive
In 2016, MoMA made a landmark digital move by making all its past exhibitions from its inception in 1929 available accessible online as a part of their digital archives. Which means, researchers, historians, students and any modern art lover can glance through all the exhibitions and artwork right from their homes. The digital archives include at least 3500+ exhibitions, installation photographs, catalogues, press releases and more. The best part? It’s absolutely free of cost! This goes well with their mission of encouraging a deeper understanding of modern and contemporary art.
Virtual Exhibitions
Well, if you can’t make it all the way to New York, they’re bringing the experience to your home through their series of virtual exhibitions. These highlight the artworks of some of the most talented artists around the world including paintings, video stories, audiobooks and more. Some of the virtual exhibitions include Neri Oxman’s Material Ecology, Amy Sillman’s The Shape Of Shape and more. Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver’s Cinematic Illumination and more. You can also explore topics like NY’s iconic sculpture gardens, Gordon park, New York, Open City etc.
All Your Questions About MoMA Exhibitions Answered
A. Reuse, Renew, Recycle, Automania, Adam Pendleton: Who Is Queen?,Liquid Reality, Modern From The Start, and A Raft are some of the shows on display at the MoMA currently.
A. No, the tickets to MoMA include admission to all galleries and special exhibitions. You can purchase tickets to MoMA here.
A. MoMA is famous globally for housing some of the world’s best modern and contemporary artwork, paintings, photographs and more.
A. MoMA is located at 11 W 53rd St, New York.
A. With its 2019 renovation, MoMA added 47,000 square feet of gallery space. Its total floor area is 708,000 square feet. It currently houses 200,000+ modern and contemporary artwork.