Hi friends, welcome back! After living in NYC for almost five years, I finally made it to the Museum of Modern Art. I’m not sure what we were thinking, but Jon and I decided to go on a chilly Saturday afternoon, and clearly everyone else had the same idea. We didn’t have any issue getting tickets or have to wait in any lines, but each gallery room was packed! I naively thought the crowds would wind down in the afternoon and we also decided to wing it, so it was kind of an interesting experience.
The Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1929 and its “collection has grown to approximately 200,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, media and performance art works, architectural models and drawings, design objects, and films.” There was a huge variety of items to view and also film clips being shown by projectors. You can visit the museum 10:30am – 5:30pm daily and Saturdays are open until 7pm. Tickets are $25 for adults, but NYC residents can visit free from 4pm – 8pm on the first Friday of every month.
Jon and I walked in with no game plan or idea of what the most popular pieces were. We decided to start on the fifth floor and make our way down. After exiting the elevator we immediately saw huge crowds and as we got closer we realized it was the famous Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. I almost wished it had a line like at the Mona Lisa so it would be more organized.
We continued on seeing very interesting pieces and then decided we better do a little research so we didn’t miss anything important. We collected ourselves and were on the lookout for the famous pieces.
This one made me laugh because my sister used to draw people with legs and arms coming out of their bodies. Maybe she missed her calling…
One of the most famous is this Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali. We had seen this picture so many times, but the actual painting wasn’t much larger than a piece of paper.
Self Portrait with Cropped Hair By Frida Kahlo.
Campbell Soup by Andy Warhol.
The Dream by Henri Rousseau.
I did love the Water Lilies by Claude Monet. We didn’t get to visit the famous Water Lilies room at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, so this made up for it a bit.
I realized that modern art just isn’t my jam, I much prefer the art at the Met. Some things were just very out there for me. It also felt a lot more compact and crowded than the Met. I was worried I would accidentally knock something over with all the crowds and people not looking where they were walking. Jon also didn’t love the museum, but we are glad we visited it and can cross it off our list. If you like modern art you’d enjoy the museum, but if you’re debating museums on a trip to NYC I’d recommend sticking to the Met. Have you visited the MoMa?
