The 8 Art Museums in NYC
From the Met to the ones you've never heard of
New York City has no shortage of things to do, and its art scene alone could fill an entire trip.
The big-name museums are famous for a reason — and you should definitely go visit. But, there are many other smaller museums, exhibits, and galleries around the city that most visitors or locals never make it to, each with its own personality. Here are a few worth adding to your list.
Amant
🖼️ Contemporary art | free admission | 📍315 & 306 Maujer St, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn
I found Amant on Google Maps a couple of years ago and finally made it there with my brother on a sunny day. It's a small spot with two standalone gallery buildings sitting across the street from each other, but the exhibitions rotate constantly, so no two visits are the same.
The best part? It's completely free.
There’s also a cafe inside one of the buildings, so after admiring the art, you can get yourself a cup of coffee and just chill outside.
What stuck with me most wasn't even the art inside — it was the building itself.
The concrete exterior is genuinely among the coolest architecture I've seen at a gallery in this city, with a deep, textured finish that photographs beautifully in direct sunlight. If you love architecture as much as art, this one's worth the trip on looks alone.
The Morgan Library & Museum
📚 Rare books & manuscripts | ✨ Free Fridays 5 - 8 PM (reservations required) | 🚫 No outside food or drinks allowed |📍 225 Madison Ave, Manhattan
Yes, that Morgan — J. Pierpont Morgan, like your banking, JP Morgan.
He started seriously collecting rare manuscripts and books in the 1890s, and by the time he passed in 1913, he'd amassed everything from the only surviving manuscript of Milton's Paradise Lost to letters and manuscripts from Jane Austen. His son turned the library into a public institution in 1924, and the collection has kept growing ever since.
Now, the Morgan is a place where people come together to research, to be somewhere unique, to find things like one of the earliest known complete tarot card decks in the world (from the 1450s!), to catch special events, and just to learn.
It's not only filled with unique books — the architecture itself is a masterpiece, and hard to find anywhere else. Back when Manhattan still had this kind of space to spare, Morgan basically owned the block around it; it's crazy how much time has passed, and now this is the one incredible pocket of it still standing. The outside doesn't give much away, but step inside, and it's incredible — rotating artwork, books, architecture — there’s just so much to take in. I've visited twice, and I'm still in love.
New Museum
🖼️ contemporary art museum | 🐶 service dogs allowed | 💧 closed water bottles only | 🎟️ pay-what-you-wish Thu 7–9pm ($2 min) | 📍 235 Bowery, Manhattan
Back when I used to work in Soho, I walked past this museum practically every day without noticing it, until I actually looked up and saw the beautiful architecture. All clean lines and boxes stacked like they're mid-conversation with each other.
It's NYC's only museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art, and the exhibits push you to think rather than just look. When we visited, an installation by Mire Lee pulled from horror and cybernetics and made me genuinely uncomfortable in the best way.
Don't skip out on the Sky Room on the 7th floor — floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic Manhattan views. Worth arriving early since it fills up fast.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
🏛️ Art museum | 📍 1071 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
Designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the Guggenheim was commissioned in 1943 and opened to the public on October 21, 1959. The whole building spirals, with artwork lining the walls as you slowly climb the ramp upward. It's incredibly spacious, and honestly, the architecture alone makes it worth the visit.
Salon 94
🎨 Modern art gallery | 📍 3 East 89th Street, Manhattan
From the outside, Salon 94 looks more like a townhouse than a gallery, which makes sense, since it's housed in a historic building on Museum Mile that once belonged to arts philanthropist Archer Huntington and sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, and later spent decades as home to the National Academy of Design.
It's a contemporary art gallery founded by Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn in 2002, and what started as a tightly curated roster of a few artists has grown into a full program supporting established artists from around the world.
Here’s a bonus: it's literally across the street from the Guggenheim — so if you're already there for the spiral ramp, this is an easy add to the same afternoon.
Whitney Museum of American Art
🖼️ American art museum |📍 99 Gansevoort Street, Meatpacking District
Founded by sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1930 to give American artists a real platform to show their work, the museum has moved a few times since. Its current home, designed by Renzo Piano, opened in the Meatpacking District in 2015, right where the High Line meets the Hudson.
One tip from my own visit: skip the elevator and take the stairs. It's slow and gets crowded fast, and with the free admission cutoff now at 25 and under, there's really no excuse not to go if you qualify.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
🏛️ Encyclopedic art museum | $30 adults, kids under 12 free | 📍 1000 Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side
Founded in 1870, the Met is one of the largest museums in the world, spanning over 5,000 years of art and more than 1.5 million works, from the Temple of Dendur to Sargent's Madame X to Van Gogh, Monet, and Vermeer. It's also home to the Costume Institute — yes, this is where the Met Gala actually happens.
If you're coming from outside the US, especially if you're a first-timer, put this on the must-do list. Give yourself a few hours; you will get pleasantly lost.
Iris Van Herpen’s Sculpting the Senses (May 16 - December 6, 2026)
Thierry Mugler’s Couturissime (November 18, 2022 - May 7, 2023)
Brooklyn Museum
🎨 Art museum & rotating fashion exhibits | 📍 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn
I've visited two fashion exhibits here and fell in love with both.
Thierry Mugler and Iris van Herpen are two designers I genuinely love, and walking through a retrospective like this is like getting a preview of their whole fabulous body of work up close. Stunning doesn't even cover it.
Mugler's exhibit came together not long after he passed, which made walking through it feel even more like a tribute than a typical retrospective. Iris van Herpen's exhibit was just incredible — she even visited the museum in person while I was there, which made the whole thing feel even more special.
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Guggenheim: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Guggenheim New York
Morgan Library: About the Morgan
Salon 94: About
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From a Frank Lloyd Wright spiral to a gallery tucked inside what looks like an old apartment building, NYC's art museums range from iconic to genuinely surprising.