Ao lado de San Francisco e Los Angeles, Nova York é reconhecida como uma das principais capitais da arte nos Estados Unidos. Por muitos anos, viajantes curiosos têm visitado a cidade para conhecer os renomados centros culturais que abrigam algumas das coleções de arte mais significativas e extensas do país. Se você quer ver obras-primas contemporâneas em espaços deslumbrantes ou em galerias menores e peculiares, selecionamos o melhor que a região tem a oferecer. Então, se você está planejando uma viagem para a Big Apple, leia nossa lista com algumas das melhores galerias de arte para visitar enquanto estiver por lá! Garantimos que você não vai se arrepender.
Veja os clássicos
Não poderíamos escrever um artigo sobre os melhores museus de arte de Nova York sem mencionar o the Guggenheim. Quase tão famoso por sua estrutura quanto por sua coleção, o ousado edifício em espiral foi projetado por Frank Lloyd Wright em 1959 e permanece como um marco emblemático da cidade. Ao entrar, os visitantes podem desfrutar de exposições especiais de obras impressionistas, pós-impressionistas, modernas e contemporâneas de artistas de todo o mundo. Apresentando obras de arte de classe mundial em um espaço deslumbrante, esta instituição de renome internacional proporciona uma experiência cultural profunda para você e seus acompanhantes.
Se a arte moderna não for a sua praia, vá ao the Cloisters para fazer uma viagem fascinante de volta no tempo. Parte do Metropolitan Museum of Art, este instituto altamente reverenciado e tradicional busca exibir a arte e a arquitetura medieval europeia em toda a sua glória. Os visitantes podem ver belas esculturas, vitrais impressionantes e tapeçarias intrincadas, tudo abrigado em um espaço de inspiração medieval com vista para o Rio Hudson. Venha pelas obras de arte magníficas e saia com uma compreensão mais profunda de como o mundo ao seu redor surgiu. Outra das nossas galerias de arte favoritas na cidade é o El Museo del Barrio. Desde a sua fundação em 1969, em uma sala de aula de escola pública no Spanish Harlem, o museu cresceu para se tornar uma das principais instituições culturais latinas dos Estados Unidos. Destacando-se entre outros estabelecimentos de elite na cidade, o museu é especializado em arte latino-americana, caribenha e porto-riquenha. Não há dúvida de que você ficará impressionado com a incrível coleção permanente do instituto, que apresenta mais de 10.000 pinturas, esculturas, fotografias e muito mais. Ao interpretar obras de diferentes culturas, o museu oferece uma experiência visual e educativa única para pessoas de todas as idades.
Cultura na prática
Nova York deve seu desenvolvimento e herança célebre a gerações de criativos influentes e facetas sociais distintas, todos exibidos nas principais galerias da cidade. Combinando arte com cultura, o the Africa Center documenta a experiência africana contemporânea por meio de uma série de exposições, eventos e palestras excepcionais. Ao entrar, os visitantes podem ver pinturas evocativas e exposições sobre moda, móveis, cerâmicas e muito mais. O que mais amamos neste lugar é que é praticamente impossível sair sem ter aprendido algo novo. Uma das coisas mais legais sobre Nova York é que ela apresenta uma variedade fantástica de coisas para ver, não importa quais sejam seus interesses. Situado no Upper West Side de Manhattan, o the American Folk Art Museum busca preservar, apresentar e interpretar as obras de arte de artistas contemporâneos autodidatas dos Estados Unidos e do exterior. Ao caminhar pela instituição, os visitantes podem ver uma coleção de primeira classe com mais de 8.000 objetos abrangendo mais de 300 anos. É, sem dúvida, uma das experiências mais únicas e interessantes que a cidade tem a oferecer.
O The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art é um dos principais lugares para visitar em Nova York para quem gosta de criatividade. Situado em Downtown Manhattan, o instituto dedica-se a colecionar, preservar e destacar a arte relativa a temas, questões e pessoas LGBTQ+. Sendo o único museu desse tipo no mundo, o local exibe uma coleção excepcional de 22.000 obras. No entanto, o principal atrativo do estabelecimento é sua fantástica coleção permanente, que apresenta obras de David Hockney, Andy Warhol e Berenice Abbott. A maneira perfeita de passar uma tarde tranquila, o repositório proporciona uma experiência visual única e inigualável.
Tente algo novo
Enquanto muitos dos principais museus da cidade se concentram em peças estáticas, o Museum of the Moving Image explora a arte, a história, a técnica e a tecnologia da mídia digital em todas as suas facetas. O sonho de qualquer cinéfilo , o instituto apresenta uma ampla gama de temas, abrangendo todas as etapas do desenvolvimento, promoção e exibição de imagens em movimento. Por meio de exposições interativas, estações de animação e uma programação completa de exibições, os visitantes podem aprender mais sobre o impacto transformador das tecnologias de imagem e som em nossas vidas. Apresentando uma vasta coleção de equipamentos técnicos, cópias de filmes e figurinos, este lugar deixará você hipnotizado por horas.
A cidade apresenta uma riqueza impressionante de instituições culturais em todas as expressões criativas. Desde sua fundação em 1974, o International Center of Photography tornou-se conhecido como o principal estabelecimento do mundo para os amantes da cultura visual e da luz capturada. Os visitantes certamente ficarão deslumbrados com os vários estilos de fotografia mantidos no museu, que variam de obras em preto e branco e fotos de filmes antigos até cliques de paparazzi e posts de redes sociais. Além disso, o instituto oferece diversas aulas e workshops para quem tem interesse em começar a usar uma câmera. Tão inspirador quanto fascinante, o instituto oferece um olhar abrangente sobre a história e o desenvolvimento desta forma de arte específica. Aqueles que buscam algo um pouco diferente podem querer conferir o Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum. Parte integrante da Museum Mile no Upper East Side, o instituto se destaca como o único repositório dos Estados Unidos dedicado exclusivamente ao design histórico e contemporâneo. O museu proporciona uma experiência divertida e fascinante com sua coleção extraordinária de mais de 210.000 objetos de design que abrangem mais de trinta séculos. Com tanto para ver e aprender, passar um dia inteiro aqui certamente não estaria fora de questão. Nova York é reconhecida por sua cena criativa vibrante e inimitável. Seja para ver entalhes medievais, esculturas contemporâneas ou fotos de filmes antigos, as instituições culturais mais reverenciadas e as joias escondidas da cidade devem manter você ocupado por horas a fio. Escolha entre uma ampla variedade de espaços diversos para maximizar sua sensação de descoberta e encantamento. E agora, você não precisa perder nada — para aproveitar ao máximo sua viagem, experimente o Passe Tudo Incluído ou o Passe Explorar da Go City®. Se quiser saber mais, conecte-se conosco no Instagram e no 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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