When I knew I was traveling to [[New York]], one of the first plans that came to mind was visiting the [[The Museum of Modern Art|MoMA]]: what I expected to be an absolute institution. I had a great time, spend roughly 6h 30m visiting it. These are my notes from that visit, split into floors or exhibitions. The order is simply the order I visited them. ## 1880s–1940s - As soon as I came out of an elevator, I saw a [[Gustav Klimt|Klimt]]: [[Hope, II - Gustav Klimt (1907)|Hope, II]]. It was just there, on a random corridor. How crazy is that? - I found [[Opus 217 - Paul Signac (1890)||more art]] by [[Paul Signac]], just like when [[2025-10-16 Visiting the Met|visiting the Met]]. Also [[Evening, Honfleur - Georges Seurat (1886)|Evening, Honfleur]] by [[Georges Seurat]], where the frame is part of the artwork itself. - [[Les Demoiselles d'Avignon - Pablo Picasso (1907)|Les Demoiselles d'Avignon]] by [[Pablo Picasso]] which is iconic. Also some early works and proto-[[Cubism]]. - [[I and the Village - Marc Chagall (1911)|I and the Village]] by [[Marc Chagall]] was especially jarring for a weird personal reason: as a child, 5 years old or so, I used to have a recurring nightmare. This piece reminded me of it very vividly. - [[Dynamism of a Soccer Player - Umberto Boccioni (1913)|Dynamism of a Soccer Player]] by [[Umberto Boccioni]]. Not a great fan of [[Futurism|futurism]] but I loved it. - [[Still Life with Flowers - Juan Gris (1912)|Still Life with Flowers]] by [[Juan Gris]] – I really like his work. - There was an early 1900s photography room with a lot of big names and interesting work: - [[A Sea of Steps, Wells Cathedral - Frederick H. Evans (1903)|A Sea of Steps, Wells Cathedral]] by [[Frederick H. Evans]] - [[Equivalent - Alfred Stieglitz (1925)|Equivalent]] series by [[Alfred Stieglitz]], pioneer of the [[Photo-Secession]], or bringing purely abstract into photography. - [[Ansel Adams]] and his thoughts on the spectator being liberated in [[Abstract Art|abstract art]] to get their own reactions. - [[Bicycle Wheel - Marcel Duchamp (1951)|Bicycle Wheel]] by [[Marcel Duchamp]]. I have to admit I made peace with [[Marcel Duchamp|Duchamp]] at [[The Museum of Modern Art|MoMA]]: I never liked his work but the audioguide put it perfectly, and I found him as truly ahead of its time. "Art is whatever the artist says it is" — provocative, defiant, simply sharing an idea is art. It pushed the [[Readymade|readymade]] art, which is now more relevant than ever thanks to [[AI Art|AI]]. - [[Suprematist Composition - White on White - Kazimir Malevich (1918)|Suprematist Composition: White on White]] by [[Kazimir Malevich]] was another great audio guide excerpt, explaining his visceral reaction to changes in humanity, the relation to the feeling that we are living the end times. - [[Some - Ulrike Müller (2017)|Some]] by [[Ulrike Müller]], talking about body liberation and dysmorphia. - [[The Red Studio - Henri Matisse (1911)|The Red Studio]] and other works by [[Henri Matisse]] and his super fast process when creating. - [[Bird in Space - Constantin Brâncuși (1928)|Bird in Space]] and other sculptures by [[Constantin Brâncuși]] - [[Broadway Boogie Woogie - Piet Mondrian (1942)|Broadway Boogie Woogie]] by [[Piet Mondrian]]; a [[New York]]-inspired work and other lesser-known color palettes — small blocks of color replacing his typical black lines. - [[Abstraction Blue - Georgia O'Keeffe (1927)|Abstraction Blue]] by [[Georgia O'Keeffe]]. She is simply the best. She pioneered [[Abstraction|abstraction]] and I cannot get over how gorgeous her work is. - [[Looking for Langston - Isaac Julien (1989)|Looking for Langston]] by [[Isaac Julien]], a film about closeted [[Homosexuality|homosexuality]] and [[HIV/AIDS]]. - [[American Landscape - Charles Sheeler (1930)|American Landscape]] by [[Charles Sheeler]], surrender to automatism and lack of people. - The room about [[Bauhaus]] — [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]] and the [[Ford]] assembly line - [[Construction in White and Black - Joaquín Torres-García (1938)|Construction in White and Black]] by [[Joaquín Torres-García]], which albeit him presenting a similar approach to [[Piet Mondrian|Mondrian]], I find much more interesting. - [[Three Musicians - Pablo Picasso (1921)|Three Musicians]] by [[Pablo Picasso]] in the [[L'Esprit Nouveau]] room: the new experimental aesthetics and intellectualism that arose in [[Paris]] in the 1920s. - [[Water Lilies - Claude Monet (1914)|Water Lilies]] by [[Claude Monet]]. I simply love it, I spend 20 minutes there. That room also had some of the best audioguide tracks: a blind person saying it feels like a chord, where the colors and patches complement a sound that is no more or is to be, and how it reconciled him with art; as well as the history [[Monet]]'s pond in [[Giverny]] was fostered by him and taken care of by 6 gardeners, including a master Japanese gardener. It was not even his property; it was next to the train tracks. - [[Weimar Republic|Weimar]]'s citizens disenchanted, traumatized, jarring art: [[George Grosz]], [[Departure - Max Beckmann (1932)|Departure]] by [[Max Beckmann]], [[Max Pechstein]] - [[Untitled Photo-Dessin - Ei-Q (1936)|Untitled Photo-Dessin]] by [[Ei-Q]]. Super interesting 1930s Japanese avant-garde. - [[The Persistence of Memory - Salvador Dalí (1931)|The Persistence of Memory]] by [[Salvador Dalí]]. I'm not a fan but I'm slowly liking some of his work. - [[Fulang-Chang and I - Frida Kahlo (1937)|Fulang-Chang and I]] by [[Frida Kahlo]], a gift to a friend of hers: self-portrait with her pet spider monkey, paired with an actual mirror for her friend to be next to her. - [[Rural Electrification Administration - Lester Beall (1937)|Rural Electrification Administration Posters]] by [[Lester Beall]]. Industrial design - [[Broadacre City Project - Frank Lloyd Wright (1934)|Broadacre City Project]] by [[Frank Lloyd Wright]]. Vision for industrialized American cities. - [[Gas - Edward Hopper (1940)|Gas]] by [[Edward Hopper]], an icon of [[American Realism|American realism]]. - [[The Lovers - René Magritte (1928)|The Lovers]] by [[René Magritte]] and his take on [[Surrealism|surrealism]]: "What does it mean? It does not mean anything." ## 1950s–1970s - [[Jackson Pollock]] and [[Lee Krasner]]'s room: - [[One - Number 31, 1950 - Jackson Pollock (1950)|One: Number 31, 1950]] by [[Jackson Pollock]]. Pollock's method — moving his body over the unstretched canvas, the demanding choreography and balance. - [[Gaea - Lee Krasner (1966)|Gaea]] by [[Lee Krasner]]. - [[Shirley Embracing Sam - Roy DeCarava (1952)|Shirley Embracing Sam]] by [[Roy DeCarava]], the history of black community in [[Harlem]]. - [[An Afternoon in Astoria - Rudy Burckhardt (1940)|An Afternoon in Astoria]] by [[Rudy Burckhardt]]. 1940s [[New York]] through photos. - [[Sky Cathedral - Louise Nevelson (1958)|Sky Cathedral]] by [[Louise Nevelson]], and its audioguide track: pitch black darkness and finding your place in the composition. - [[Vir Heroicus Sublimis - Barnett Newman (1950)|Vir Heroicus Sublimis]] by [[Barnett Newman]], and how a generation of artists who saw the most horrible acts of violence in humanity ([[Great Depression]], [[Holocaust]], the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|atom bomb]]) ended up generating a new language. - [[Mark Rothko]]'s room. I spent a lot sitting there. The audioguide narrating the evolution from surreal European influence to shape, color, scale. How he shifted from vibrant colors to darker tones to black. His own son narrates the audioguide — and tells how sometimes Rothko shifted the frame to work on upper parts, so paint drips in both directions. Fuzzy lines, soft edges that feather one shape into another as a way of indicating its humanism: it is not machine-made. He believed pure pictorial properties of abstract art could communicate universal truths and remove all obstacles between artist, idea, and observer. [[No. 3 No. 13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange) - Mark Rothko (1949)|No. 3/No. 13]]. - The importance of [[Calligraphy|calligraphy]] and symbols in art, mostly from the [[Arab world]] - Other ways to express art apart from painting: - [[TV-Dé-coll-age, no. 1 - Wolf Vostell (1958)|TV-Dé-coll/age, no. 1]] by [[Wolf Vostell]]. TV wrapped in torn canvas. - [[Painting to Be Stepped On - Yoko Ono (1960)|Painting to Be Stepped On]] by [[Yoko Ono]]. - [[Spatial Concept - Expectation - Lucio Fontana (1960)|Spatial Concept: Expectation]] by [[Lucio Fontana]]. - [[Zagreb]]'s [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb|Museum of Contemporary Art]] and the [[Gorgona group|Gorgona]] group: - [[Meander No. 5 - Julije Knifer (1960)|Meander No. 5]] by [[Julije Knifer]] - [[Relation Manifesto - Mangelos (1976)|Relation Manifesto]] by [[Mangelos]] on a globe; [[Paysage de la guerre - Mangelos (1942)|Paysage de la guerre]] (war landscape). - [[Black Ambience 1 - Ljerka Šibenik (1969)|Black Ambience 1]] by [[Ljerka Šibenik]]. One of the most harrowing installations I have ever seen. - [[World Map - Öyvind Fahlström (1971)|World Map]] by [[Öyvind Fahlström]]. Geopolitics reimagined as a Monopoly game board. - [[Shooting Painting American Embassy - Niki de Saint Phalle (1961)|Shooting Painting American Embassy]] by [[Niki de Saint Phalle]]. Critique before the American Embassy in [[Paris]]. - [[Untitled - Lee Bontecou (1961)|Untitled]] by [[Lee Bontecou]]. Depth using fabric; trash from [[New York]] streets. - [[Flag - Jasper Johns (1954)|Flag]] by [[Jasper Johns]]. Colored flag (vs. the [[White Flag - Jasper Johns (1955)|White Flag]] at the [[Personal Atlas/The Metropolitan Museum of Art|Met]]) with embedded newspapers of that time. - [[Current - Bridget Riley (1964)|Current]] by [[Jesús Rafael Soto]] and [[Bridget Riley]]. - I feel in the need to mention [[Campbell's Soup Cans - Andy Warhol (1962)|Campbell's Soup Cans]] by [[Andy Warhol]]. I still hate [[Andy Warhol|Warhol]] and most of [[Pop Art]]. - More interesting repetition than [[Campbell's Soup Cans - Andy Warhol (1962)|Campbell's Soup Cans]] is [[One Year - George Maciunas (1973)|One Year]] by [[George Maciunas]]. - Room of art via things: - [[Monument 1 for V. Tatlin - Dan Flavin (1964)|"monument" 1 for V. Tatlin]] by [[Dan Flavin]]. Aesthetic from common objects of the time — now feels kind of exotic. - [[Series B Relief (Red Prototype) - Charlotte Posenenske (1967)]] by [[Charlotte Posenenske]]. Look different every single time thanks to the lightning. - [[Giant Soft Fan - Claes Oldenburg (1966)|Giant Soft Fan]] by [[Claes Oldenburg]] – I found it charming. - [[Monochrome Painting - Stephen Prina (1988)|Monochrome Painting]] by [[Stephen Prina]], a whole evocative room. - [[American People Series 20 - Die - Faith Ringgold (1967)|American People Series #20: Die]] by [[Faith Ringgold]]. An absolute crazy work. - [[10-27-69 - Sam Gilliam (1969)|10/27/69]] by [[Sam Gilliam]]. Drape paintings. - [[Raining Down South - Frank Bowling (1968)|Raining Down South]] by [[Frank Bowling]], a map painting. - [[F-111 - James Rosenquist (1964)|F-111]] by [[James Rosenquist]]. Incredible critique of designing a bomber just to employ population. Probably the closest to art about living in the end times in contemporary epoch. ## Pirouette Funny exhibit featuring original [[Emoji|emoji]], [[macOS]] icons, the [[NASA]] logo (the worm), [[Crocs]], and the [[Aeron chair]]. Also included some iconic [[Data Visualization|data visualizations]]: - [[Warming Stripes - Ed Hawkins (2018)|Warming Stripes]] by [[Ed Hawkins]]. [[Global warming]] data visualization - History of [[Wikipedia]] editing - Space junk summaries ## 1980s–Present I feel like I was starting to be too tired and/or desensitized by this point. Barely found anything remarkable. - [[Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites - Mike Kelley (1991)|Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites]] by [[Mike Kelley]]. Interesting sensory experience, jarring. - [[Guatemala]] protest installation. - [[Black Shunga - Chris Ofili (2008)|Black Shunga]] by [[Chris Ofili]]. Blue and silver paintings are striking - [[Equal - Richard Serra (2015)|Equal]] by [[Richard Serra]]. An incredible way to root art back to physicality.