BackOne of the best parts about New York City are the countless art museums and cultural institutions. There's a vast array of options for art lovers, collectors, and tourists alike. As tempting as it may be to try to see everything, those with limited time to spare should focus on only a couple of museums, or even just one. To help you select which establishment to prioritize, here is our list of top 10 best museums to visit in Manhattan during your next trip to the Big Apple no matter what season it is.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art
Recognized as one of the most significant modern art museums in the world, The Museum of Modern Art, as known as the ‘MoMA’ is a must-visit, with galleries spanning the five-story central atrium and an outdoor sculpture garden accessible only from within the museum. Until March 12, 2022, you can visit Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889–1943) exhibition on the third floor showcasing 300 applied art objects, furniture, paintings, textiles, interior and architectural designs, sculptures, works on paper, and photographs from the most talented and innovative modern artists. | Website: www.moma.org
The Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is in a stunning mansion on the Upper East Side, the former home of the late fine art and collector, Henry Clay Frick, displaying inspiring world-class art to explore. It's refreshing to see the delicate, rare, and renowned works in a more intimate setting as opposed to the larger public museums. The opulent and elegant residence will host the upcoming exhibition Propagazioni: Giuseppe Penone at Sèvres from March 17 to August 28, 2022, an impressive installation by Giuseppe Penone (b. 1947), a key figure in the Arte Povera movement. | Website: www.frick.org
The Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is the third-largest museum in NYC, housed in an 1897 Beaux-Art building that has period rooms, Ancient Egyptian and African Art, modern sculpture and contemporary paintings. The current Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition traces the groundbreaking history and legacy of the House of Dior until February 20th. You can then view the Andy Warhol: Revelation and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: A Crack in the Hourglass, An Ongoing COVID-19 Memorial exhibitions until June, and Baseera Khan: I Am an Archive until July 10, 2022. | Website: www.brooklynmuseum.org
Fotografiska
The original Fotografiska gallery is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden with a New York Branch in the heart of the Flatiron District featuring three floors of exhibition space with multidimensional displays of photography. Until March 5th, 2022, you can view Jerry Schatzberg 25th & Park exhibition to see some of the most iconic and extraordinary 60s portraits. | Website: www.fotografiska.com/nyc/
International Centre of Photography
The International Center of Photography is a visual storytelling institution that offers stellar exhibitions and a library containing back issues of photography magazines with thousands of biographical files. You can visit A Trillion Sunsets: A Century of Image Overload and Actual Size!: Photography at Life Scale until May 2nd, as well as Southern Rites until June 20th by American photographer, filmmaker, and the 21st century visual activist Gillian Laub (b. 1975). | Website: www.icp.org/facilities/museum
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Founded in 1897 by the Hewitt sisters, granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper, Cooper Hewitt is one of two NYC Smithsonian museums, dedicated to housing objects that span 3,000 years. You can now view Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer, the largest-ever graphic design retrospective exhibition organized chronologically in 10 sections until April 10th, 2022. and Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics exhibition, curated by MASS Design Group and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, until February 20th, 2023. | Website: www.cooperhewitt.org
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the iconic Guggenheim building in 1959, attracting millions of visitors yearly to the Upper East Side to witness surreal abstract art collections. Currently on display is Vasily Kandinsky: Around the Circle along the spiral ramp until September 5th, Thannhauser Collection and Gillian Wearing: Wearing Masks until June 13th, 2022. | Website: www.guggenheim.org
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum located in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, a wealthy and prominent American socialite. Jennifer Packer: The Eye Is Not Satisfied With Seeing paintings, photography, and drawings will be on display until April 17th, 2022 while Labyrinth of Forms: Women and Abstraction will be exhibited until March 13th, 2022.| Website: https://whitney.org
Museum of Arts & Design
The mission of the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) is to collect, display, and interpret objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design to celebrate the creative process. You can now explore 45 Stories in Jewelry: 1947 to Now until April 10th, 2022 showcasing mid-century art jewelry selected by an advisory committee and Story Makers: Burke Prize featuring 16 winners of the contemporary art award until March 20th, 2022 | Website: www.madmuseum.org
Luckily, our exclusive luxury Manhattan property listings are located very close to each of the Museum listed above.