Al pari di San Francisco e Los Angeles, New York è riconosciuta come una delle principali capitali dell'arte degli Stati Uniti. Per molti anni, viaggiatori curiosi hanno affollato la città per visitare le rinomate strutture culturali che ospitano alcune delle collezioni d'arte più significative e vaste del paese. Che tu voglia ammirare capolavori contemporanei in spazi meravigliosi o in piccoli e stravaganti depositi, ci pensiamo noi con il meglio che la zona ha da offrire. Quindi, se stai pianificando un viaggio nella Grande Mela, leggi la nostra lista delle migliori gallerie d'arte da visitare durante il tuo soggiorno! Ti promettiamo che non ne rimarrai deluso.
Scopri i classici
Non potevamo scrivere un articolo sui migliori musei d'arte di New York senza menzionare il the Guggenheim. Famoso per la sua struttura quasi quanto per la sua collezione, l'audace edificio a spirale fu progettato da Frank Lloyd Wright nel 1959 e rappresenta un simbolo emblematico della città. All'entrata, i visitatori possono ammirare mostre speciali di opere impressioniste, post-impressioniste, moderne e contemporanee di artisti provenienti da tutto il mondo. Presentando capolavori di fama mondiale in uno spazio meraviglioso, questa istituzione di fama internazionale offre un'esperienza culturale profonda per tu e i tuoi cari.
Se l'arte moderna non fa per te, allora dirigiti verso il the Cloisters per fare un affascinante viaggio indietro nel tempo. Parte del Metropolitan Museum of Art, questo rinomato istituto di lunga data mira a esporre l'arte e l'architettura medievale europea in tutto il suo splendore. I visitatori possono ammirare splendide sculture, maestose vetrate colorate e intricati arazzi, il tutto ospitato in uno spazio di ispirazione medievale che si affaccia sull'Hudson River. Vieni per le magnifiche opere d'arte e riparti con una comprensione più profonda di come si è formato il mondo che ti circonda. Un'altra delle nostre gallerie d'arte preferite in città è il El Museo del Barrio. Dalla sua fondazione nel 1969 in un'aula di una scuola pubblica a Spanish Harlem, il museo è cresciuto fino a diventare una delle principali istituzioni culturali latine degli Stati Uniti. Distinguendosi tra le altre istituzioni d'élite della città, il museo è specializzato in arte latinoamericana, caraibica e portoricana. Rimarrai senz'altro a bocca aperta davanti all'impressionante collezione permanente dell'istituto, che comprende oltre 10.000 dipinti, sculture, fotografie e molto altro. Attraverso l'interpretazione di opere di culture diverse, il museo offre un'esperienza educativa e visiva unica per persone di tutte le età.
Arricchisci la tua cultura
New York deve il suo sviluppo e il suo celebre patrimonio a generazioni di creativi influenti e a distintivi aspetti sociali, tutti esposti nelle migliori gallerie della città. Unendo arte e cultura, the Africa Center documenta l'esperienza africana contemporanea attraverso una serie di eccezionali mostre, eventi e conferenze. All'entrata, i visitatori possono ammirare dipinti suggestivi e mostre di moda, arredamento, ceramica e molto altro. La cosa che amiamo di più di questo posto è che è praticamente impossibile andarsene senza aver imparato qualcosa di nuovo. Una delle cose più belle di New York è che offre una gamma così fantastica di cose da vedere, indipendentemente dai tuoi interessi. Situato nell'Upper West Side di Manhattan, the American Folk Art Museum mira a conservare, presentare e interpretare le opere d'arte di artisti autodidatti contemporanei provenienti dall'America e dall'estero. Passeggiando per l'istituzione, i visitatori possono ammirare una collezione di prim'ordine di oltre 8.000 oggetti che coprono più di 300 anni. È senza dubbio una delle esperienze più uniche e interessanti che la città possa offrire.
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art è uno dei posti migliori da visitare a New York per i tipi creativi. Situato a Downtown Manhattan, l'istituto si dedica a raccogliere, conservare e mettere in risalto l'arte che riguarda temi, questioni e persone LGBTQ+. Unico museo al mondo nel suo genere, espone un'eccezionale collezione di 22.000 opere. Tuttavia, l'attrazione principale della struttura è la sua fantastica collezione permanente, che comprende opere di David Hockney, Andy Warhol e Berenice Abbott. Il modo perfetto per trascorrere un pomeriggio tranquillo, questo spazio offre un'esperienza visiva unica e ineguagliabile.
Prova qualcosa di nuovo
Mentre molti dei principali musei della città si concentrano su opere statiche, il Museum of the Moving Image esplora l'arte, la storia, la tecnica e la tecnologia dei media digitali in tutte le loro sfaccettature. Il sogno di ogni cinefilo , l'istituto presenta una vasta gamma di temi, coprendo ogni fase dello sviluppo, della promozione e della proiezione delle immagini in movimento. Attraverso mostre interattive, postazioni di animazione e un programma completo di proiezioni, i visitatori possono scoprire di più sull'impatto trasformativo delle tecnologie dell'immagine e del suono sulla nostra vita. Con un'ampia collezione di attrezzature tecniche, pellicole cinematografiche e costumi, questo luogo ti lascerà incantato per ore.
La città presenta un'impressionante ricchezza di istituzioni culturali in tutte le espressioni creative. Dalla sua fondazione nel 1974, il International Center of Photography è diventato noto come la principale istituzione al mondo per gli amanti della cultura visiva e della luce catturata. I visitatori rimarranno senz'altro affascinati dai vari stili di fotografia conservati nel museo, che spaziano da opere in bianco e nero e fotogrammi d'epoca a scatti di paparazzi e caricamenti sui social media. Inoltre, l'istituto offre vari corsi e workshop per chi è interessato a imparare a usare la macchina fotografica. Tanto stimolante quanto affascinante, l'istituto offre uno sguardo completo sulla storia e lo sviluppo di questa particolare forma d'arte. Chi cerca qualcosa di un po' diverso potrebbe voler visitare il Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum. Parte integrante del Museum Mile dell'Upper East Side, l'istituto si distingue come l'unico deposito d'America dedicato esclusivamente al design storico e contemporaneo. Il museo offre un'esperienza divertente e affascinante con la sua straordinaria collezione di oltre 210.000 oggetti di design che abbracciano più di trenta secoli. Con così tanto da vedere e da imparare, trascorrere qui un'intera giornata non è certamente fuori discussione. New York è ampiamente riconosciuta per la sua scena creativa vivace e inimitabile. Che tu sia interessato a vedere intagli medievali, sculture contemporanee o fotogrammi d'epoca, le istituzioni culturali più venerate e le gemme nascoste della città ti terranno occupato per ore e ore. Scegli tra un'ampia gamma di spazi diversi per massimizzare il tuo senso di scoperta e meraviglia. E ora non devi perderti nulla: per ottenere il massimo dal tuo viaggio, prova il Pass Tutto Incluso o il Pass Explorer di Go City®. Se vuoi saperne di più, connettiti con noi su Instagram e Facebook.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim or, if you like, ‘the Gugg’ requires little introduction. There’s that iconic geometric Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, for starters – all spiraling atriums and bright, open spaces – that make the building just as much a piece of art as anything you’ll find inside. As for the collection, it’s all about quality over quantity here, with around 8,000 (mostly) European paintings and sculptures to ogle. We’re talking Picasso and Pissarro; Koons and Klee; Manet, Monet, Miró and Modigliani, to name just a few.
Where to find it: Museum Mile, on the Upper East Side, at the edge of Central Park.
Don’t miss: Vasily Kandinsky’s abstract masterpieces, including the bold colors and shapes of his ‘Composition 8’ from 1923.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
The Museum of Modern Art – MoMA to its friends – delivers yet more manna for modern art mavens (the clue here is very much in the name). This Midtown art mecca really sets the gold standard, with every room showcasing the ways in which art has shaped the world over the past 150 years (give or take). Here’s where you can tick off some of the most recognizable pieces of art on the planet – think the celestial beauty of van Gogh’s Starry Night, the riot of red that is Matisse’s Red Studio, Dalí’s nightmarish Persistence of Memory, and Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans, Double Elvis and Gold Marilyn Monroe.
Where to find it: Midtown, a short wander from multiple other NYC highlights, including Top of The Rock, Central Park and Fifth Avenue.
Don’t miss: We love the energy – and sheer scale – of Jackson Pollock’s drip-tastic Abstract Expressionist masterpiece ‘One: Number 31’.
MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1
The vibe at MoMA PS1, MoMA’s Long Island City outpost, is more contemporary than that of its more famous sibling, with rotating exhibitions and installations that run the gamut from prints and paintings to mixed media, sound art and beyond. The exhibits change frequently, so there’ll always be something fresh to eyeball on subsequent visits, but there’s a fair old variety of stalwart pieces here, too, some of which – like Pipilotti Rist’s ‘Selbstlos im Lavabad (Selfless in the Bath of Lava) video installation and Sol LeWitt’s ‘Crayola Square’ – have been resident here for decades.
Where to find it: Jackson Avenue, in Long Island City.
Don’t miss: James Turrell’s permanent ‘Meeting’ installation. Part of Turrell’s renowned Skyspace series, it's a room with an unobstructed opening in the ceiling, which is way more interesting to look at than we’ve just made it sound.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
You don’t need to spend very long inside The Met to grasp what makes it one of the most revered cultural institutions on the planet. It’s very much a case of choose-your-own-adventure here, where ancient Egyptian temples (yes, there’s an actual temple here, shipped brick by brick from the banks of the Nile), share space with delicate Asian ceramics, Greco-Roman statuary, masterpieces by Rembrandt, Monet, van Gogh and Jackson Pollock, and many more wild, weird and wonderful works from the entire history of human artistic endeavor.
Where to find it: The lynchpin of Museum Mile sits inside Central Park, with its grand entrance on Fifth Avenue.
Don’t miss: Like duh… the magnificent Temple of Dendur. But also Emanuel Lutze’s imposing 1851 oil painting depicting George Washington crossing the Delaware River, on display in the American Wing.
The Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art
Tucked away in the Meatpacking District, at the southern end of the High Line walkway, the Whitney – like its old pal the Guggenheim – is art contained inside architectural art. Designed by Renzo Piano, the building’s gleaming white facade and tumbling terraces provide the hors d'oeuvres to the veritable treasure trove of American art within. But this isn’t just any old American art. Far from it: we’re talking works by genuine legends – Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, Georgia O'Keeffe and Edward Hopper – alongside the superstars of tomorrow, represented in the gallery’s rotating exhibitions of contemporary artists. Step outside to the terraces to take in equally pleasing vistas of the Hudson and the High Line.
Where to find it: In the Meatpacking District, sandwiched between the High Line, 10th Avenue and Gansevoort Street.
Don’t miss: The world’s largest collection of pieces by Edward Hopper, including his masterful New York Interior, Early Sunday Morning and Second Story Sunlight.
The Met Cloisters
The Met Cloisters
The Met Cloisters is an offshoot of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (as if it wasn’t big enough already), specializing in European art and architecture of the Middle Ages, with a primary focus on Gothic and Romanesque eye candy. We’re talking medieval religious artifacts like reliquaries filled with sacred relics, plus idols, panel paintings and frescoes by the bucketload. The collection of around 5,000 pieces spans the 12th to 15th centuries and is presented in bona fide European monastic settings with cloisters that were painstakingly transported from France to New York in the early 20th Century. Take in the surroundings, including a picturesque medieval-style garden overlooking the Hudson, then dive into Nativity altarpieces, intricately carved crosses, tapestries, saintly statues and so much more.
Where to find it: Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan.
Don’t miss: Robert Campin's 15th-century Mérode Altarpiece, a triptych of panel paintings in the Early Netherlandish style, depicting Mary and Joseph in domestic settings.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Part of New York’s fabled Museum Mile, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is America’s only institute that’s devoted solely to historic and contemporary design. Inside, it delivers a fun and fascinating experience with a quite extraordinary collection of over 200,000 design objects spanning over thirty centuries. Yes, that’s 3,000 years of human artistic endeavour, including everything from rare Michelangelo sketches and Tiepolo paintings to a chair used by Abraham Lincoln and modern 3D-printed objects. Take it all in, and be sure to spend some time enjoying the garden, with its colorful cherry trees, rockeries and rhododendrons while you’re there.
Where to find it: At the magnificent Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Museum Mile, sandwiched between the Jewish Museum and the Guggenheim.
Don’t miss: The series of chalk and crayon sketches by Italian maestro Michelangelo is one of the stars of the show here.
El Museo del Barrio
Another one of our favorite NYC art galleries, El Museo del Barrio was founded in a public-school classroom in Spanish Harlem in 1969, and has since grown to become one of the leading Latin cultural institutions in the United States. The museum specializes in Latin American, Caribbean and Puerto Rican art, with a permanent collection that spans more than 800 years and includes more than 10,000 paintings, sculptures, photographs and other artistic treasures like carnival masks and documentary films.
Where to find it: Also on Museum Mile. You’ll find it at the northern end, just beyond the Museum of the City of New York.
Don’t miss: Handcrafted Taino statuettes from Puerto Rico.
Museum of the Moving Image
Museum of the Moving Image
A cinephile's dream ticket, the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria explores the art, history, technique and technology of digital media in all its forms. But this is no ordinary look-but-don’t touch kinda place. Instead, you’ll get a fully hands-on immersion in film, television and digital art. Think flipbooks that let you bring animations to life, green-screen experiences that land you on faraway planets, and original props, puppets and costumes from TV and movie classics (lookin’ at you, Muppets).
Permanent exhibitions showcase how moving images shaped our world, while rotating exhibits often spotlight emerging directors. You can even catch a cult classic or foreign film in the gorgeous movie theater, with its pindrop-clear sound and plush blue seats.
Where to find it: It’s located in a former Astoria Studios building in Astoria, Queens.
Don’t miss: Iconic horror movie pieces like Freddie Krueger’s striped sweater and the puppet used in The Exorcist are particularly gasp-inducing.
Museum of the City of New York
The history of NYC in a nutshell (or apple core?), the Museum of the City of New York is an essential intro to the greatest city on earth. Step into the past, present and future of New York through groundbreaking exhibitions that explore the Big Apple’s unique character. We’re talking paintings, drawings, prints, textiles, furniture, antique toys, photographs and more, the majority of which date from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Where to find it: This one’s right at the top of Museum Mile, just beyond El Museo del Barrio.
Don’t miss: A 17th-century chair that’s said to have belonged to Sarah Rapelje, the first child born of European parents in the State of New York.
Museum of Arts and Design
Exhibitions across the four floors of the Museum of Arts & Design – aka MAD – rotate frequently. But come any time and you’re sure to encounter just about every form of art and design you can think of; an ever-evolving love letter to innovation in craft, art, and design across the ages, if you will. Furniture, ceramics, jewelry, clothing, sculpture, film, sound and performance… MAD has the lot, and then some. Previous exhibitions here have showcased Vera Neumann’s bold textile prints and British artist Brian Clarke’s eye-popping stained glass creations, which should give you some idea of what you can expect.
Where to find it: It’s in the heart of Columbus Circle at Central Park’s southwest corner.
Don’t miss: Free guided tours of the museum with MAD docents, each one of them a veritable walking encyclopaedia of art and design knowledge.
International Center of Photography
International Center of Photography
Since its founding in 1974, the International Center of Photography has become known as the world’s leading establishment in its field. There’s a dazzling collection of different photography styles held here, ranging from antique black-and-white photos and vintage film stills to paparazzi snaps and social media uploads. As a result, there’s absolutely stacks to see here, including early daguerreotypes, tintypes and photo-illustrated wartime magazines like Lilliput, Life and Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung. There’s also a fine collection of 20th-century documentary photography here, including significant pieces by Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Inspired to pick up a camera by what you’ve seen? Good news: the institute also offers photography classes and workshops.
Where to find it: You’ll find this one on Essex Street in the Lower East Side.
Don’t miss: Robert Capa’s images documenting the Spanish Civil War are absolutely essential.
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art
Last but not least in our rundown of New York’s best galleries, the Leslie Lohman-Museum of Art is currently the only institute in NYC that’s wholly dedicated to art that documents the LGBTQ+ experience. You’ll find it in the hipper-than-thou enclave of SoHo, where its Wooster Street address promises some 30,000 artworks, ranging from contemporary installation and video pieces to paintings and sculptures. Highlights include works by Warhol, Hockney and Bernice Abbott, while rotating exhibitions showcase the best of the rest in contemporary LGBTQ+ art from NYC and beyond.
Where to find it: On Wooster Street in trendy SoHo.
Don’t miss: Screen prints from Andy Warhol’s landmark Sex Parts series.
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