Early Years and Founding

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opened its doors on November 7, 1929, just nine days after the Wall Street Crash of that year. That timing, which might have doomed a less ambitious venture, instead underscored the institution’s mission to provide a radical, forward-looking vision amid uncertainty. MoMA was the brainchild of three prominent philanthropists—Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss, and Mary Quinn Sullivan—who sought to challenge the staid, historical focus of existing New York museums. They hired the young Alfred H. Barr Jr. as the museum’s first director, giving him an extraordinarily broad mandate: to collect and exhibit the “modern” in every visual medium, from painting and sculpture to photography, film, architecture, and design.

Barr’s founding vision was famously diagrammed on a napkin, a chart showing how modern art movements like Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism would branch out from post-Impressionist roots. That conceptual clarity guided the museum’s early acquisitions. In its first decade, MoMA mounted landmark shows such as “Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, van Gogh” (1929) and “Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism” (1936–1937). These exhibitions introduced American audiences to European avant-garde movements that had been largely ignored by established institutions. The museum’s early collection also emphasized works that pushed technical and conceptual boundaries—Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (acquired 1937) and van Gogh’s The Starry Night (acquired 1941) became cornerstones that defined MoMA’s identity as a risk-taking, canon-building force.

This first era also saw MoMA take a pioneering role in collecting and preserving works on paper, prints, and illustrated books. Barr’s insistence on including photography and film as fine arts set MoMA apart from competitors; the museum established the first curatorial department dedicated to photography in 1940 and the Film Library (now the Department of Film) in 1935, long before such media were accepted in art-museum contexts. These early decisions laid the foundation for MoMA’s reputation as a comprehensive museum of modern visual culture, not just painting and sculpture.

Architectural Evolution

MoMA’s physical footprint has expanded and transformed repeatedly in response to its growing collection and audience. The museum’s first home was in rented rooms in the Heckscher Building on Fifth Avenue. By 1932, it had moved to a townhouse at 11 West 53rd Street. As attendance soared and collection ambitions grew, the board recognized the need for a purpose-built facility.

The 1939 Goodwin-Stone Building

The museum’s first dedicated building, completed in 1939, was designed by architects Philip L. Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone. Goodwin was a MoMA trustee and Stone a rising modernist. Their design—a sleek, white-marble facade with a dramatic glass curtain wall on the street level—set a new standard for museum architecture in the United States. The entrance featured a sunken sculpture garden (later renamed the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden) that became an iconic gathering space. The building’s open-plan galleries, flexible lighting systems, and dedicated spaces for film screenings and temporary exhibitions allowed MoMA to stage the kind of ambitious, cross-disciplinary shows that Barr championed.

The 1950s and 1960s Expansions

By the 1950s, MoMA had outgrown its 1939 building. In 1953, the museum opened an east wing designed by Philip Johnson, adding gallery space and a new restaurant. Johnson’s design maintained the clean lines of the original but introduced more intimate galleries tailored to the scale of modern paintings. A 1964 renovation by Johnson added a new west wing and expanded the sculpture garden. These expansions, while increasing capacity, resulted in a somewhat labyrinthine layout that critics found disjointed. Nonetheless, they allowed MoMA to keep pace with the postwar boom in art collecting and the growing popularity of modern art.

The 2004 Taniguchi Renovation

By the late 1990s, MoMA’s facilities had become inadequate for its massive collection and the rising expectations of visitors. In 1997, the museum announced a major expansion and renovation led by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi. Taniguchi’s design, completed in 2004, nearly doubled the museum’s gallery space, added a new education center, and created a dramatically open, light-filled atrium that connects the lower floors to the upper galleries. The renovation also reorganized the circulation paths so that visitors could experience the collection in a chronological flow, from the late nineteenth century to the present. While some lamented the loss of the original 1939 facade’s intimacy, Taniguchi’s scheme won wide praise for its restraint and clarity, allowing the art to take center stage.

The 2019 Expansion by Diller Scofidio + Renfro

In October 2019, MoMA completed its most recent and most audacious expansion, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler. This $450 million project added more than 40,000 square feet of gallery space, created a new street-level entrance on West 53rd Street, and connected the museum’s East Campus with its West Campus. The 2019 renovation also aimed to rehang the permanent collection in a more inclusive, less chronological manner. Galleries now mix works from different periods, media, and artists to create thematic dialogues—for instance, pairing a Gordon Parks photograph with a Frida Kahlo painting and a Louise Bourgeois sculpture. The expansion also added a dedicated space for live performance and a ground-floor “art bay” with free, ever-changing installations visible from the street. This latest iteration reflects MoMA’s ongoing commitment to rethinking the museum experience and making art accessible to a broader public.

Curatorial and Collection Shifts

MoMA’s collecting and curatorial practices have evolved dramatically, moving from a relatively narrow focus on European modernism to a global, multimedia, and inclusive approach.

Expanding Beyond Painting and Sculpture

Alfred Barr had always envisioned MoMA as a museum of all modern visual culture, but in its earliest decades the collection was dominated by painting and sculpture. Under subsequent directors—René d’Harnoncourt (1949–1967), Richard E. Oldenburg (1972–1993), and Glenn D. Lowry (1995–present)—the museum systematically built major holdings in photography, film, architecture and design, and prints and illustrated books. The Department of Architecture and Design, founded in 1932, now holds iconic objects such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural models and Charles and Ray Eames’s molded plywood chairs. The museum’s film collection, one of the world’s largest, includes over 30,000 films and 4 million film stills. By the 1970s, MoMA had integrated performance art and video into its program, presenting early works by Nam June Paik, Joan Jonas, and Marina Abramović.

Inclusion of Underrepresented Artists

For decades, MoMA—like most major American museums—was criticized for its overwhelmingly white male European and American focus. The museum began actively addressing this in the 1990s and 2000s, acquiring works by women artists, artists of color, and artists from the Global South. Notable milestones include the 2015 large-scale exhibition “Björk,” the first major museum show devoted to a female pop musician; the 2017–2018 “Adrian Piper” survey; and the 2019 rehang that placed works by Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, and Kerry James Marshall alongside canonical modernist pieces. In 2019, MoMA also announced a major gift from the Ronald O. Perelman Foundation to support the acquisition of works by underrepresented artists. These changes are ongoing, with a new commitment to diversifying the curatorial staff and advisory boards.

Thematic and Interdisciplinary Curation

The 2019 rehang marked a shift from a purely chronological narrative to a more thematic, interdisciplinary approach. Galleries now present pairings such as “Modernist Abstraction and the Machine Aesthetic” (featuring pieces by László Moholy-Nagy and Georgia O’Keeffe) or “The Body in Performance” (aligning Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room with early video works by Trisha Brown). This curatorial strategy reflects a broader trend in art history toward questioning linear progressions and showcasing how artists from different eras and cultures engage with similar ideas. It also allows MoMA to display more of its collection at once—the museum now rotates works more frequently, ensuring greater visibility for its massive holdings.

Public Engagement and Education

MoMA’s public programming has grown from a handful of gallery talks and lectures to a vast array of initiatives designed to engage diverse audiences, from schoolchildren to lifelong learners.

Education and Community Programs

The museum’s education department, established in 1932, was one of the first in any art museum. Today, MoMA offers free online courses (such as “Modern Art & Ideas” and “Seeing Through Photographs”) through Coursera, reaching millions of learners worldwide. At the museum itself, programs like “Art-Making for Families” and “MoMA Teens” encourage hands-on creativity. The “Access Programs” provide specialized tours and activities for visitors with visual impairments, hearing loss, or dementia. MoMA also partners with New York City public schools to bring students to the museum and to integrate art into classroom curricula.

Ticketing and Accessibility Innovations

In 2013, MoMA implemented a new admission policy allowing visitors to choose a “pay what you wish” entry (though the standard admission remained in place). This was part of a broader effort to make the museum more accessible. The 2019 expansion added a free, ground-floor gallery known as the “Free Art Bay,” presenting rotating work by contemporary artists visible from the sidewalk. The museum also offers free admission for all visitors every Friday evening, sponsored by UNIQLO. These initiatives have contributed to record attendance: MoMA welcomed over 3.5 million visitors in fiscal year 2019.

Technological Integration and Digital Expansion

MoMA has been a leader among museums in adopting digital tools for both internal operations and public engagement. The museum launched its first website in 1995, one of the earliest by a major art institution. Today, MoMA’s digital presence includes a comprehensive online collection database, virtual tours, and a growing offering of digital-only exhibitions.

Online Collection and Digital Archives

MoMA’s online collection—available at moma.org/collection—contains information on more than 200,000 works, with high-resolution images for many. The site includes scholarly essays, artist biographies, and contextual notes. The museum has also digitized its vast archives of exhibition histories, press releases, and installation photographs, making them searchable through a dedicated portal. This commitment to open access aligns with broader trends in the museum field toward transparency and scholarly sharing.

Digital Exhibitions and Social Media

During the COVID-19 pandemic, MoMA accelerated its digital programming, launching virtual exhibitions like “Joël Robuchon: The Art of Culinary Creation” and a series of Instagram takeovers by contemporary artists. The museum’s social media channels (YouTube, Instagram, Twitter) now host a steady stream of curator talks, artist interviews, and behind-the-scenes content. MoMA’s YouTube channel, with over 700,000 subscribers, offers videos exploring everything from the conservation of Pollock’s Number 31, 1950 to the design of the museum’s new signage. These digital extensions ensure that MoMA reaches audiences beyond New York City, fulfilling its mission to be a global institution.

Future Directions

MoMA’s leadership under director Glenn D. Lowry (now the longest-serving director in the museum’s history) has positioned the institution for ongoing transformation. Key priorities for the coming decade include sustainability, further diversification of the collection and staff, and deepening community engagement.

Sustainability and Environmental Action

MoMA committed to reducing its carbon footprint in 2020 by signing the Climate Action Pact for Museums, joining a coalition of institutions pledging to cut emissions by 50% by 2030. The museum has already installed energy-efficient LED lighting across all galleries and adopted sustainable practices in its shipping and conservation departments. A planned photovoltaic array on the roof of the 2019 expansion will offset a portion of the building’s energy use. MoMA also uses its exhibition program to highlight environmental themes, such as the 2022–2023 show “The Climate in Our Hands” co-curated with the Museum of the Earth.

Deepening Diversity and Inclusion

MoMA’s 2019 rehang and subsequent acquisitions have made clear the museum’s commitment to an expanded canon. Future plans include a dedicated fund for the conservation of works by Indigenous artists, a partnership with the Studio Museum in Harlem to share curatorial expertise, and a residency program for artists of color to create site-specific works. The museum is also working to increase diversity among its staff; as of 2023, about 40% of curatorial hires were people of color, up from 20% in 2015.

New Partnerships and Global Reach

MoMA continues to expand its global footprint through traveling exhibitions and collaborations. The museum has a long-running partnership with the M+ Museum in Hong Kong, and in 2022 launched a multiyear joint initiative with the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw to share works from Central and Eastern Europe. Domestically, MoMA’s “MoMA at the Movies” program brings independent and classic films to venues across the United States. These partnerships reflect a strategic shift toward cultural exchange rather than simple expansion.


The Museum of Modern Art’s ninety-year journey from a small experimental gallery to a sprawling, globally influential institution mirrors the very changes in art and culture it has documented. Each phase—founding, architectural reinvention, curatorial expansion, digital adoption, and future planning—has been marked by a willingness to question assumptions and embrace the new. MoMA’s transformation is far from complete; as artmaking itself evolves, so too will the museum that has always sought to be its “modern” home.