The Big Museums
We know them from tv, movies, even cartoons: they’re the big museums of New York City and often the only formal art institution most visitors see. As a result of this fame and audience, their special exhibitions tend to be large, spectacular, and Instagrammable with short snippets of information placed strategically throughout the rooms – less about study and contemplation of a topic and more about keeping people moving through the rooms. It’s a system that’s worked for years, although it can be frustrating for experienced museum goers who get bored with the same display backgrounds, layouts, and writing styles. However, there’s no doubt that many people enjoy seeing and learning this way, if attendance numbers are anything to go by, so it’s not going to change any time soon. And of course, we’ll still go to these exhibitions, because, well, we don’t want to miss out.
Nellie Mae Rowe, American, 1900 – 1982 Untitled (Really Free!) 1967-1977 Marker and crayon book page 7 1/2 × 5 in. (19.1 × 12.7 cm) Lender: High Museum of Art 
Nellie Mae Rowe, American, 1900 – 1982 Look Back in Wonder at How I Got Over 1982 Crayon and colored pencil on paper 18 × 23 1/2 in. (45.7 × 59.7 cm) frame: 26 1/2 × 32 1/2 in. (67.3 × 82.6 cm) Lender: High Museum of Art 
Nellie Mae Rowe, American, 1900 – 1982 Untitled (Woman with Butterfly Wing) 1980 Crayon and marker on paper 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) Lender: High Museum of Art 
Jimmy DeSana (American, 1949–1990). Storage Boxes, 1980. Chromogenic print, 15 1/2 × 23 1/2 in. (39.4 × 59.7 cm). Courtesy of the Estate of Jimmy DeSana. © Estate of Jimmy DeSana 
Jimmy DeSana (American, 1949–1990). Marker Cones, 1982. Chromogenic print, 21 3/4 × 26 in. (55.3 × 66 cm). Courtesy of the Estate of Jimmy DeSana. © Estate of Jimmy DeSana 
Jimmy DeSana (American, 1949–1990). Stephen Varble, 1975. Gelatin silver print, 11 × 16 1/2 in. (27.9 × 41.9 cm). Courtesy of the Estate of Jimmy DeSana. © Estate of Jimmy DeSana. (Photo: Allen Phillips)
Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn), Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe (September 2, 2022 – January 1, 2023), Jimmy DeSana: Submission (November 11, 2022 – April 16, 2023)
Alex Katz, Ada Ada, 1959. Oil on linen, 49 1/2 × 50 in. (125.7 × 127 cm). Grey Art Gallery, New York University Art Collection, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Golden, 1963. © 2022 Alex Katz / Licensed by VAGA at Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Courtesy Alex Katz Studio 
Alex Katz, Crosslight, 2019. Oil on linen, 126 × 96 in. (320 × 243.8 cm). Dallas Museum of Art, TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art Fund. © 2022 Alex Katz / Licensed by VAGA at Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: © Paul Takeuchi 2022 
Alex Katz, 4 PM, 1959. Oil on linen, 57 1/2 × 50 in. (146.1 × 127 cm). Collection of Vincent Katz. © 2022 Alex Katz / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery
Guggenheim Museum (88th Street and Fifth Avenue): Alex Katz: Gathering (October 21, 2022 – February 20, 2023), Nick Cave: Forothermore (November 18, 2022 – April 10, 2023)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (81st Street and Fifth Avenue): Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina (September 9, 2022 – February 5, 2023), The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England (October 10, 2022 – January 8, 2023), Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition (October 20, 2022 – January 22, 2023), Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art (November 21, 2022 – April 2, 2023), Beyond the Light: Identity and Place in Nineteenth-Century Danish Art (January 26 – April 16, 2023), Kimono Style: The John C. Weber Collection (until February 20, 2023), and Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux Recast (until March 5, 2023), Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Room (ongoing).
MoMA (53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues), Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design (September 10, 2022 – June 30, 2023), Wolfgang Tillmans: To look without fear (September 12, 2022 – January 1, 2023), Yve Laris Cohen: Studio/Theater (October 8, 2022 – January 1, 2023), Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces (October 9, 2022 – February 18, 2023), Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition (October 30, 2022 – March 4, 2023), Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio (December 11, 2022 – April 16, 2023), Georgia O’Keefe: To See Takes Time (April 9 – August 12, 2023)
MoMA PS 1 (22-25 Jackson Avenue, Queens): Life between Buildings (until January 16, 2023)
“Theaster Gates: A Clay Sermon,” 2021. Exhibition view: Whitechapel Gallery, London. Courtesy the artist and Whitechapel Gallery, London. Photo: Theo Christelis © Theaster Gates, courtesy the artist 
Theaster Gates and The Black Monks performing at Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland, 2018. Photo: Chris Strong © Theaster Gates, courtesy the artist 
Theaster Gates, Billy Sings Amazing Grace, 2013 (still). HD video, color, sound; 12:24 min © Theaster Gates, courtesy the artist
New Museum (235 Bowery), Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott (until October 9, 2022), Screens Series: Naomi Rincón Gallardo (until October 9, 2022), Kapwani Kiwanga: Off-Grid (until October 16, 2022), Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca: Five Times Brazil (until October 16, 2022), Doreen Lynette Garner: REVOLTED (until October 16, 2022), Theaster Gates: Young Lords and Their Traces (November 10, 2022 – February 5, 2023)
Edward Hopper, Automat, 1927. Oil on canvas, 28 1/8 × 35 in. (71.4 × 88.9 cm). Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa; purchased with funds from the Edmundson Art Foundation, Inc. © 2022 Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper/Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Rich Sanders, Des Moines, Iowa 
Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning, 1930. Oil on canvas, 35 3/16 × 60 1/4 in. (89.4 × 153 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 31.426. © 2019 Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 
Katherine Hubbard, Bend the rays more sharply (Photographic print made from a negative embedded in ice at increments of ten degrees between zero and ninety.) from the series Bend the rays more sharply…., No. 3 of 10, 2016. Gelatin silver print: sheet, 16 × 19 7/8 in. (40.6 × 50.5 cm); image, 8 × 10 1/4 in. (20.3 × 26 cm). Edition 4/5. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Photography Committee 2020.135.3. © Katherine Hubbard 
Edna Andrade, Cool Wave, 1974. Acrylic on canvas, 72 1/8 × 72 1/4 in. (183.2 × 183.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Luther W. Brady 2022.9. © The Estate of Edna Andrade 
Alvin Loving, Rational Irrationalism, 1969. Acrylic on shaped canvas, 82 1/8 × 97 in. (208.6 × 246.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Robert C. Scull Fund for Young Artists not in the Collection 69.74a-b. Courtesy the Estate of Al Loving and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York 
Javier Orfón, Bientéveo, 2018-2022. Inkjet print, 97 × 176 in. (246.4 × 447 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Hidrante, San Juan
Whitney Museum of American Art (99 Gansevoort Street): Time Management Techniques (September 24, 2022 – January 31, 2023), Edward Hopper’s New York (October 19, 2022 – March 5, 2023), In the Balance: Between Painting and Sculpture, 1965-1985 (October 19, 2022 – March 5, 2023), No Existe Un Mundo Poshuracan: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria (November 23, 2022 – April 23, 2023), Every Ocean Hughes: Alive Side (January 14 – April 2, 2023), Jaune Quick-To-See Smith: Memory Map (April 19 – August 31, 2023), Josh Kline (April 19 – August 31, 2023)
The Smaller Museums
When it comes to the specialty museum, NYC has a diverse selection that satisfies the needs of their niche audience while also welcoming new visitors. These institutions make audience outreach a priority: creating exhibitions that are appealing to a wide group of people, holding fun events for every age group, and friendly museum staff ready to chat about the work on view or even recommend a local restaurant for lunch.
American Folk Art Museum (2 Lincoln Square or 66th Street and Columbus Avenue), Morris Hirshfield Rediscovered (September 23, 2022 – January 29, 2023)
Cooper Hewitt Design Center (91st Street and Fifth Avenue), Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics (until February 20, 2023), Designing Peace (until September 4, 2023)
The Frick Collection (75th Street and Madison Avenue): Highlights from the permanent collection on view at the museum’s temporary home on Madison Avenue and 75th Street, while the old location undergoes renovation. If you haven’t seen their holdings before, this current display is a wonderful introduction to one of the best single collector museums in the US. If you have visited the museum in the past, this new display is beautifully done, with pictures grouped by period or artist, allowing visitors to appreciate their favorites in fresh ways. In addition, there will be the temporary shows The Eveillard Gift (October 13, 2022 – February 26, 2023), Olafur Eliasson and Claude Monet (October 20, 2022 – January 22, 2023), The Gregory Gift (February 16 – May 14, 2023) on view throughout the fall and winter season.
Chim (David Seymour), [Republican soldiers march past Basque clergymen, Amorebieta, Basque country, Spain], 1937. Gift of Eileen and Ben Shneiderman, 1984 (151.1984). © David Seymour/Magnum Photos 
Gerda Taro, [Workers in a munitions factory, Madrid], June 1937. Gift of Cornell and Edith Capa, 2002 (451.2002). © International Center of Photography / Magnum Photos 
Robert Capa, [Children walking along a train track, fleeing Nationalist bombings, near Cerro Muriano, Córdoba front, Spain], September 1936. The Robert Capa and Cornell Capa Archive, Gift of Cornell and Edith Capa, 1992 (692.1992). © International Center of Photography / Magnum Photos 
Hannah Price, Everyday After Work, West Philly from City of Brotherly Love, 2010. © Hannah Price 
Carolyn Drake, Lucy with Azaleas, from Knit Club, 2018. © Carolyn Drake / Magnum Photos 
Newsha Tavakolian, Still from For the Sake of Calmness, 2020. © Newsha Tavakolian / Magnum Photos
International Center of Photography (79 Essex Street), Close Enough: New Perspectives from 12 Women Photographers of Magnum and Death in the Making: Reexamining the Iconic Spanish Civil War Photobook (both September 30, 2022 – January 9, 2023)
The Jewish Museum (92nd Street and Fifth Avenue): New York: 1962-1964 (July 22, 2022 – January 8, 2023)
Rick Barton (1928-1992). Untitled [After Dürer and Hokusai], 1962. Graphite, 8 3/4 × 5 1/2 in. (22.2 × 14 cm). Rick Barton papers (Collection 2374), UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. 
Rick Barton (1928-1992). Barcelona, August 28, 1962. Pen and ink with graphite, 10 1/4 × 14 1/2 in. (26 × 36.8 cm). Rick Barton papers (Collection 2374), UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. 
Ray Johnson (1927–1995) Shadow and manhole, spring 1992. Commercially processed chromogenic print. The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of the Ray Johnson Estate, courtesy of Frances Beatty. © Ray Johnson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. 
Ray Johnson (1927–1995) RJ silhouette and wood, Stehli Beach, autumn 1992. Commercially processed chromogenic print. The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of the Ray Johnson Estate, courtesy of Frances Beatty. © Ray Johnson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. 
Prospectus for the First Edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses (Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1921).The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of Sean and Mary Kelly, 2018, PML 197832. Photography by Janny Chiu.
Morgan Library and Museum (36th Street and Madison Avenue): Writing a Chrysanthemum: The Drawings of Rick Barton (until September 11, 2022), PLEASE SEND TO REAL LIFE: Ray Johnson Photographs (until October 2, 2022), and One Hundred Years of James Joyce’s Ulysses (until October 2, 2022).
National Museum of the American Indian (One Bowling Green, Manhattan), Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe (March 11 – September 11, 2022), Jeffrey Veregge: Of Gods and Heroes (until December 31, 2022)
Museum of Arts and Design (2 Columbus Circle), Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle (September 10, 2022 – February 19, 2023), Chris Schanck: Off-World (until January 8, 2023), Jewelry Stories (until April 16, 2023)
Museum of Chinese in America (215 Centre Street): With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America (now through December 31, 2023)
Speaking Up For America: featuring Judy Garland poster, 1946. American Jewish Committee 
Bernard Seaman for AJC and National Labor Service, “Spring Cleaning’ cartoon, 1947. American Jewish Committee 
Kwame Brathwaite, Self-Portrait, African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS), Harlem, ca. 1964. Courtesy the artist and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles. 
Kwame Brathwaite, Marcus Garvey Day Parade, Harlem, ca. 1967. Courtesy the artist and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles. 
Kwame Brathwaite, Photo shoot at a public school for one of the AJASS associated modelling groups that emulated the Grandassa Models and embraced natural hairstyles. Harlem ca. 1966. Courtesy the artist and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles. 
Carnegie Deli, New York, NY, 2008. Photo by Ei Katsumata/Alamy Stock Photo 
Snack at Manny’s Delicatessen, Chicago, IL, 2010. Image Professionals GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo
New-York Historical Society (77th Street and Central Park West), Confronting Hate 1937-1952 (until January 1, 2023), The Art of Winold Reiss: An Immigrant Modernist (until October 9, 2022), Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite (August 19, 2022 – January 15, 2023), The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming (October 7, 2022 – January 22, 2023), ‘I’ll Have What She’s Having’: The Jewish Deli (November 11, 2022 – April 2, 2023), Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection (November 18, 2022 – February 26, 2023)
Poster House (23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues), Experimental Marriage: Women in Early Hollywood (until October 9, 2022), Tokyo Olympiad: A Global Film (until October 9, 2022), Masked Vigilantes on Silent Motorbikes (September 9, 2022 – February 12, 2023), Air India’s Maharaja: Advertising Gone Rogue (September 9, 2022 – February 12, 2023), With My Little Eye: Warnings For The Homefront (October 20, 2022 – April 16, 2023), Schoolgirls at War: French Propaganda Posters from World War I (October 20, 2022 – April 16, 2023), Made in Japan: 20th Century Poster Art & Design (March 2 – September 10, 2023), Black Power to Black People: Branding the Black Panther Party (March 2 – September 10, 2023)
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