11 West 53rd Street. Open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m; closed Wednesdays.
Designed by Philip Goodwin and Edward Durell Ston6 (the two wings by Philip Johnson), the MOMA, as it’s affectionately known, is devoted to works of art from 1880 to 1950. Though not a museum of avant-garde art. it frequently presents exhibits of contemporary artists. There are over 25,000 works in the museum’s vaults, but only a small portion of the collection is on view at any one time and you can see it all easily in one visit.
Go into the garden in summer it’s a cool haven as well as the setting for sculptures by Renoir, Rodin. Maillol. Picasso, Moore and Calder. In the adjoining cafeteria, they serve quite decent sandwiches and snacks.
Temporary exhibitions and recent acquisitions appear on the ground floor. The second floor is devoted to the forerunners of contemporary art. The display may vary, but you will certainly find canvases by Henri Rousseau, by Impressionists and post-Impression-ists, by Nabis and Fauvists, by Cubists and Expressionists.
Whitney Museum concentrates on 64 works by United States’ artists.
