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Modern and Contemporary Art

About Us

The Met’s Modern and Contemporary Art department studies, collects, and exhibits art from 1890 to the present. The collection encompasses modernist movements and contemporary practices from across the globe. Featuring important holdings of European modernism, American art and modern design, and contemporary art, the department continues to expand its collection through strategic acquisitions, with a focus on artists and works from Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and African diasporas. With strengths in painting, sculpture, and works on paper, the collection also includes international decorative arts, design, installation art, and time-based media. In addition to its gallery displays, the department engages in mission-driven activities such as special exhibitions, site-specific commissions by contemporary artists, and collaborations within and beyond the museum. It also prioritizes collections care through maintenance, cataloging, research, and the support of fellows and interns.

Our History

The Met has been acquiring the art of its time since its founding in the nineteenth century, even though a dedicated Department of Contemporary Arts was only established in 1967. The department’s early years were shaped by curators like Henry Geldzahler, and later Lowery Stokes Sims, who joined the museum in 1972. The department’s holdings have grown significantly through acquisitions, generous gifts, and bequests. Notable collections include the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection, featuring nearly 90 Cubist masterpieces; the Alfred Stieglitz Collection; works from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation; a monumental promised gift of major works by Philip Guston; and the Azari collection of contemporary Iranian art.

The department found a permanent home in the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing in 1987 and later also mounted exhibitions at The Met Breuer (2016–2020). Looking ahead, the department’s collections will find a new home in The Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art, slated to open in 2030.


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Grape Wine, Andrew Wyeth  American, Tempera on Masonite
Andrew Wyeth
1966
Bottle, Glass, and Pipe (Violette de Parme), Georges Braque  French, Cut-and-pasted newspaper, painted paper and wallpaper, charcoal, graphite, and gouache on paperboard
Georges Braque
Paris, early 1914
Ethel Scull 36 Times, Andy Warhol  American, Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas
Andy Warhol
1963
Two Trees, Peter Doig  British, Oil on canvas
Peter Doig
2017
Lyautey Unit Blocks (Play), Yto Barrada  Moroccan, born France, Wood and paint
Yto Barrada
2010
Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death, Arthur Jafa  American, Single-channel digital video, color, sound, 7 min., 25 sec.
Arthur Jafa
2016
The Village, Fernand Léger  French, Oil on canvas
Fernand Léger
1914
Edison Mazda, Stuart Davis  American, Oil on cardboard
Stuart Davis
1924
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