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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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America Today, Thomas Hart Benton  American, Ten panels: Egg tempera with oil glazing over Permalba on a gesso ground on linen mounted to wood panels with a honeycomb interior
Thomas Hart Benton
1930–31
Untitled, Doris Salcedo  Colombian, Wood, concrete and steel
Doris Salcedo
1997–99
mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Welcoming the Newcomers, Kent Monkman  Canadian, Acrylic on canvas
Kent Monkman
2019
Alphabet No. 2, Ibrahim El-Salahi  Sudanese, Oil on canvas
Ibrahim El-Salahi
1962; reworked 1968
The Mete of the Muse, Fred Wilson  American, Bronze, patina, paint
Fred Wilson
2006
Split 4, Amy Sillman  American, Acrylic and oil on linen
Amy Sillman
2020
Blue Green Red, Ellsworth Kelly  American, Oil on canvas
Ellsworth Kelly
1963
Highrise of Homes, James Wines  American, Pen and ink and wash over graphite on paper
James Wines
1981
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