Museum of Modern Art

The galleries of MoMA include a Who's Who of modern-art giants, including Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rothko, Pollock, and Bourgeois. The museum has gathered a spectacular collection of about 200,000 artworks since its foundation in 1929, representing both the rising creative ideas and movements of the late nineteenth century as well as the ideas bursting through today.

It's New York's Valhalla for art lovers, and an exhilarating crash course on all that is lovely and addicting about art for the uninitiated. It's unsurprising that it's one of the most popular things to do in New York, and the gallery can become rather crowded. A visit early in the morning, before the crowds arrive, is the ideal way to admire the collection in relative solitude.

The gallery grew in size as the collection grew, thanks to fresh gifts, bequests, and purchases, until settling on its current location in 1939. In 1984, architect Cesar Pelli quadrupled the gallery area, and in 2019, a huge remodeling added additional 40,000 square feet (3716 square meters) of gallery space, including the new Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio for performance and other experimental work on the fourth floor.

Location: 11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019

Website: moma.org