Occupying pride of place on Manhattan’s 53rd Street nestled between trendy Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue lies a museum that is considered by many to be the foremost authority on modern art, the aptly named MOMA or the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Reputed to own and display some of the finest modern art pieces in the globe, the Museum of Modern Art reportedly houses the best assortment of modern masterpieces in the world. This illustrious collection includes over 150,000 individual art works, 4 million film stills and a whopping 22,000 films. Drawing an equally impressive 2.5 million visitors annually the institution is home to some of the world’s most famous art pieces created by the hands of grand masters the likes of Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Salvador Dalí and countless more.
Highlights in the museum’s prolific paintings collection include The Sleeping Gypsy, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso, The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, The Dream by Henri Rousseau and The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí. Other notable works on display at the Museum of Modern Art include I and the Village by Marc Chagall, Water Lilies triptych by Claude Monet, The Seed of the Areoi by Paul Gauguin and The Bather by Paul Cézanne. Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans and Francis Bacon’s Painting (1946) and Mexican great Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair also deck the halls of the museum which is a treasure trove for all art connoisseurs.
MOMA also lays claim to 10,000 paper works which also encompasses charcoal, pencil, ink drawings and watercolours, collages and gouaches. The photography department of MOMA holds nearly 25,000 works which is considered one of the most significant collections of modern and contemporary photography anywhere in the globe.
The Department of Media and Performance Art in the museum is another reason to stopover at this modern art institution as it focuses on film installations, motion- and sound-based pieces, images and video installations that are designed to be shown in a gallery environment. The Film Library is another engaging section of the museum which houses the most comprehensive film collection in the United States which encompasses all genres and periods of time. The world’s biggest collection of D. W. Griffith films is also part of the museum’s holdings while architecture and design buffs will relish the opportunity to explore MOMA’s extensive design collection which stocks works from iconic designers the likes of Isamu Noguchi, Paul László, George Nelson and Eameses.
Travellers on the lookout for Manhattan 4 star hotels in the heart of Times Square should look no further than The Premier Hotel. Ideally located within a stone’s throw of Fifth Avenue and the finest theatres on Broadway, this stylish rest is undoubtedly one of the most conveniently located New York City luxury hotels.