MoMA’s Midtown entrance leads into a collection that treats painting, film, photography, architecture, and design as parts of modern art. Founded by patrons who wanted a museum devoted to art of their own time, it keeps redefining what that category includes.
Guide preview
When MoMA opened in 1929, the idea of a museum devoted to modern art was still a challenge to established institutions. Three patrons—Lillie P. Bliss, Mary Quinn Sullivan, and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller—helped create it, and founding director Alfred H. Barr Jr.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- MoMA was founded in 1929 by three patrons: Bliss, Sullivan, and Rockefeller.
- Alfred H. Barr Jr. was its founding director.
- The collection includes painting, sculpture, photography, film, architecture, design, and media art.
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