Museums of New York City

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, known colloquially as The Met, is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City. The museum stretches over 1/4 mile long and occupies more than 2 million square feet. I highly recommend spending an entire day at the museum, this is not a short visit.


It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, often referred to simply as "the Met", is one of the world's largest art galleries; there is also a much smaller second location in Upper Manhattan, at "The Cloisters", which features medieval art. Represented in the permanent collection are works of art from classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A number of notable interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Met's galleries.



When I was in high school I took art classes as an elective. After learning about Impressionist period, it was then I was truly inspired after seeing a slide show of the works by the great Vincent van Gogh. And he is the main reason for my trip to New York City. Visiting The Met i had the opportunity to see the paintings of Vincent van Gogh. I could sit in the room for hours and stare at his painting, unfortunately I couldn't, but if I could I would!



OK, pop quiz. What do you see? Smiley face? A plate of vegetables? or...?


During my visit to The Met they featured a special exhibit which I was fortunate to attend, Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This landmark exhibition is the first to focus exclusively on works by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) in the Museum's collection. It features three hundred works, including the Museum's complete holdings of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics by Picasso—never before seen in their entirety—as well as a selection of the artist's prints. The Museum's collection reflects the full breadth of the artist's multi-sided genius as it asserted itself over the course of his long and influential career.


The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It has been singularly important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world. The museum's collection offers an unparalleled overview in modern and contemporary art, including works of architecture and design, drawings, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated books and artist's books, film, and electronic media.

Considered by many to have the best collection of modern Western masterpieces in the world, MoMA's holdings include more than 150,000 individual pieces in addition to approximately 22,000 films and 4 million film stills.
MoMA's library and archives hold over 300,000 books, artist books, and periodicals, as well as individual files on more than 70,000 artists. The archives contain primary source material related to the history of modern and contemporary art. It also houses an award-winning fine dining restaurant, The Modern.

Besides my love for art in general, my main reason to visit this msuem was to see in the masterpiece by Vincent Van Gogh. The Starry Night painting depicts the view outside his sanatorium room window at night, although it was painted from memory during the day. Since 1941 it has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Reproduced often, the painting is widely hailed as his magnum opus.




The museum also housed the works of the great Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse...





The American Museum of Natural History located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the Museum comprises 25 interconnected buildings that house 46 permanent exhibition halls, research laboratories, and its renowned library. The collections contain over 32 million specimens, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The Museum has a scientific staff of more than 200, and sponsors over 100 special field expeditions each year.