Looking for an art history or architecture related place to go in NYC? Take a look down the list!
While it is obvious that none of us can get to a museum or building, most websites have virtual tours and exhibitions. Please check them out.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Met for short, is an art lover's heaven. I have been a few times and I have not even seemed to scratch the surface of their ever-expanding collection of art from all lands and time periods. Not only is its collection extensive, but The Met has many locations including The Met 5th Avenue (this one), The Met Cloisters, and The Met Breuer. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, this building has been added onto many times due to the Met's growing collection. If one looks closely at the front of the original building, they can see many stacked stones on top of the columns. These were meant to be elaborate sculptures, but they simply ran out of money. Therefor, they just stacked them. I love the Met and it is no challenge to become immersed into the collection.
The Met Breuer:
Designed by Marcel Breuer in 1966, the Met Breuer is a brutalist building. When it first opened, it was pouring down rain. Marcel Breuer told the people not to bring umbrellas and to trust him. The way the building is designed, there are three tiers to it. The topmost tier covers anyone coming into the building. So the people coming to the opening would not get wet. The history of the Met Breuer is complex. It originally housed the Whitney Museum. Then in 2016, The Metropolitan Museum of Art decided to rent the building for their modern and contemporary collections. Now after only four years, the Met is removing the collection from the Breuer to the Frick Collection. The Frick Collection will have to undergo a big renovation to be able to accommodate the art. While this renovation is going on, the Breuer will house the Frick's collection. I love this building and highly recommend it!
The Museum of Modern Art or MoMA in NYC is one of my personal favorite. Obvious due to the name, this museum is filled to the brim with the modern art. MoMA is the home of many very famous paintings including Starry Night, The Persistence of Memory, Dance I, and Water Lilies. This International building was designed by modernist architects Philip L. Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone. There is also a wonderful audio app to get at the appstore. I love this museum and the gift shop is wonderful.
Above is a little bit of information about the Whitney, but there is some more in-depth info here.The current building was designed by architect Renzo Piano. “The design for the new museum emerges equally from a close study of the Whitney’s needs and from a response to this remarkable site. We wanted to draw on its vitality and at the same time enhance its rich character. The first big gesture, then, is the cantilevered entrance, which transforms the area outside the building into a large, sheltered public space. At this gathering place beneath the High Line, visitors will see through the building entrance and the large windows on the west side to the Hudson River beyond. Here, all at once, you have the water, the park, the powerful industrial structures and the exciting mix of people, brought together and focused by this new building and the experience of art.” The Whitney has a very rich history. As mentioned briefly above, this is just the current building. The collection was also housed at what is now the Met Breuer. Although I have never had the pleasure of going to The Whitney, I think I would truly enjoy.
The Brooklyn Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums in the USA. It was founded in 1823. It has a huge range of media and time periods. The building itself is 560,000-square-feet. This expansive, Beaux-Arts building was designed by Daniel Chester French. The Brooklyn Museum houses many very famous artworks including The Dinner Party, many works by Kehinde Wiley (including Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps), and many many more. Though I have never been, I truly hope to someday go to the Brooklyn Museum.
The Guggenheim Museum is a modern and contemporary art museum. The building was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1959. The interior of the museum is made up of circular tiers curated as the gallery. The Guggenheim houses lots if contemporary and modern exhibitions from all around the world. I have never been to the Guggenheim, but it is a staple in the New York City art museum scene.
Works Cited
"Brooklyn Museum: The Museum's History." Brooklyn Museum, 2015, www.brooklynmuseum.org/features/building. Accessed 16 July 2020.
Connet, Wendy. Brooklyn Musuem. TimeOut, www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/museums/brooklyn-museum. Accessed 16 July 2020.
"History of the Whitney." Whitney Museum of American Art, whitney.org/About/History. Accessed 15 July 2020.
Kimmelan, Michael. "A New Whitney." New York Tiems. The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/19/arts/artsspecial/new-whitney-museum.html. Accessed 15 July 2020.
McGrath, Katherine. "The Met Is Looking to Leave the Breuer Building After Just Two Years" ["The Met Is Looking to Leave the Breuer Building After Just Two Years"]. Architectural Design, 26 Sept. 2018, www.architecturaldigest.com/story/met-breuer-building-move. Accessed 14 July 2020.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York Times, 21 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/arts/design/the-met-will-use-its-facade-and-great-hall-to-showcase-contemporary-art.html. Accessed 13 July 2020.
Museum of Modern Art. Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/visit/. Accessed 14 July 2020.
Whitney Museum of American Art. Whitney Museum of American Art, 16 Mar. 2017, whitney.org/Events/OpeningReception2017Biennial. Accessed 15 July 2020.
Comment below any other cities that you might like to see!!
