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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.

FEATURED

The Met Announces Transformative Gift of Dada and Surrealism Works

This promised gift from Met Trustee John Pritzker includes works by Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Suzanne Duchamp, Max Ernst, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, and Kurt Schwitters as well as funding for a new research initiative at The Met to advance scholarship and programming related to Dada and Surrealism.

View More Department Info
Dusasa II, El Anatsui  Ghanaian, Found aluminum, copper wire, and plastic disks
El Anatsui
2007
Aranyani, Mrinalini Mukherjee  Indian, Hemp
Mrinalini Mukherjee
1996
An Ear of Mud, An Ear of Paste, Abdel Hadi El-Gazzar  Egyptian, Oil on paperboard
Abdel Hadi El-Gazzar
1951
The Beginning, Max Beckmann  German, Oil on canvas
Max Beckmann
1946–49
The Arts, Uzo Egonu  Nigerian, Oil on canvas
Uzo Egonu
1973/76
Water of the Flowery Mill, Arshile Gorky  American, born Armenia, Oil on canvas
Arshile Gorky
1944
Cauliflower and Pumpkin, Loïs Mailou Jones  American, Oil on canvas
Loïs Mailou Jones
1938
Mrs. N's Palace, Louise Nevelson  American, born Ukraine, Painted wood, mirror
Louise Nevelson
1964–77
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