Museum of Modern Art, New York

MoMA is the abbreviation for one of the most important museums for contemporary art and design in the world, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, USA. Once founded in 1929 (on November 7) by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, head of the New York School Board, her husband John D. Rockefeller Junior, the architect Joseph Urban and the collector and patron Lillie P. Bliss, it housed a small selection of mostly European works of art. Over the decades, the collection at Museum of Modern Art grew steadily, and MoMA was expanded in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1980s. In addition to contemporary art, architecture, design and photography collections were added, making MoMA undoubtedly one of the most important museums of its kind in the world.

Early modernism to the present

MoMA has certainly achieved great significance for the history of architecture and design through the collection of works from the fields of architecture and design. On the one hand, the works were acquired by designers or sent to MoMA by them or their manufacturers with the intention of being included in the collection. As a result, the museum houses one of the world's leading collections of architecture and design objects - from early modernism to the present day. The list of Designerrepresented at MoMA is long and the number of artifacts and documents relating to these designers is many times greater.

Long list of designers

Gae Aulenti, Joe Colombo, Salvador Dalí, Antoni Gaudí, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Poul Kjærholm, Ingo Maurer, Ettore Sottsass, Philippe Starck and Studio DDL (Paolo Lomazzi, Donato D'Urbino, Jonathan De Pas), the list of MoMA's Designer is long and the names just mentioned are just some of those who are represented with their works and through exhibitions at MoMA. There have been notable solo exhibitions by Frank Lloyd Wright, among others, as well as the first solo exhibitions by Le Corbusier (actually Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris) and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the USA.

Insights and art epochs

Only recently - in 2019 - extension work and renovations were carried out at Museum of Modern Art . This was because the collections needed to be expanded and the exhibition space extended. Since then, more works can be shown and larger solo exhibitions, retrospectives and collective exhibitions can be conceived and organized. The ultimate aim is to provide visitors with an even better overview and an optimal exhibition experience. The MoMA has long since become an indispensable major venue for modern and contemporary art as well as architecture and design, offering unique insights into the development and emergence of art movements and eras such as Modernism, Postmodernism, Pop Art, Art Nouveau, Radical Design, Bauhaus, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Hyperrealism and Neo-Expressionism and demonstrating their impact on society and design.

Quantity and quality

However, it is not only quantity but also quality that MoMA knows how to impress. The museum has made a name for itself in the field of innovative and creative exhibitions and presentations. A series of past exhibitions, for example, highlighted the history of modern art by bringing together artists and their works from very different eras in one place. On other occasions, the influence of film, fashion or technology on the visual arts was shown and brought to life using innovative exhibition formats.

Artists and art database

In this way, Museum of Modern Art not only fulfills its role in conveying impressions of art, but also in the field of education. In addition to guided tours for school classes, study groups and families, the museum also offers more extensive educational programs such as workshops, seminars and programs tailored to individual curricula. MoMA's own artist and art database enables people from all over the world to access and view collections online 24/7 and to use existing resources for their own research. Four full exhibitions, interactive education modules and online tours round off the repertoire of Museum of Modern Art . These insights into the world of architecture, design and art are aimed equally at everyone, as they are of interest to both professionals and the general public.

Design classics for the home

Some of the design objects on display at Museum of Modern Art or in the collection are still produced today as licensed editions by various manufacturers and are available from TAGWERC, the specialist for design classics.