The Museum of Modern Art is located in New York on 53rd Street.
Between 5th and 6th Avenues. The original idea of a modern art museum was developed in 1928 mainly by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (wife of John D. Rockefeller) and two of her friends. They rented a rather modest building and opened it to the public on November 7, 1929. It was one of the first US museums to be devoted entirely to modern art and the European avant-garde. On November 7, 1929, it was held the first successful exhibition in which works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Seurat were exhibited. In 1937 the MOMA moved its offices and its gallery to the Time & Life Building inside the Rockefeller Center which then became the current headquarters, obtained and redesigned according to ‘international style’. On May 10, 1939, 6000 guests attended the inauguration. The official opening was given by radio from the White House by then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
In 1958 David Rockefeller (son of Abby Aldrich and John D.R.) commissioned architect Philip Johnson to redesign the museum garden in honor of his mother. From 2001 to 2004 the building was redesigned by the Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi. The renovation has almost doubled the rooms available to almost 58,000 square meters. Another renovation took place in 2019. In this case, the exhibition area increased by another 30% of the total. The three-storey extension houses the story, the tales of the artists. The MOMA collection to today (2020) includes 150,000 works, 22,000 films, 4 million still images.
It currently receives around 2,800,000 visitors every year.
Between 5th and 6th Avenues. The original idea of a modern art museum was developed in 1928 mainly by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (wife of John D. Rockefeller) and two of her friends. They rented a rather modest building and opened it to the public on November 7, 1929. It was one of the first US museums to be devoted entirely to modern art and the European avant-garde. On November 7, 1929, it was held the first successful exhibition in which works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Seurat were exhibited. In 1937 the MOMA moved its offices and its gallery to the Time & Life Building inside the Rockefeller Center which then became the current headquarters, obtained and redesigned according to ‘international style’. On May 10, 1939, 6000 guests attended the inauguration. The official opening was given by radio from the White House by then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
In 1958 David Rockefeller (son of Abby Aldrich and John D.R.) commissioned architect Philip Johnson to redesign the museum garden in honor of his mother. From 2001 to 2004 the building was redesigned by the Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi. The renovation has almost doubled the rooms available to almost 58,000 square meters. Another renovation took place in 2019. In this case, the exhibition area increased by another 30% of the total. The three-storey extension houses the story, the tales of the artists. The MOMA collection to today (2020) includes 150,000 works, 22,000 films, 4 million still images.
It currently receives around 2,800,000 visitors every year.
