Guggenheim vs. MoMA: What You'll Actually See at Each Museum

Two of the most important modern art museums on the planet sit a few miles apart in Manhattan. They are not interchangeable. Here is what sets them apart.

What will I see at MoMA that I won’t see at the Guggenheim?

MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) is massive. Six floors, over 200,000 works in the permanent collection, spanning painting, sculpture, photography, film, architecture, design, and media. It is the encyclopedic survey of modern and contemporary art.

The permanent collection highlights you will not find anywhere else:

• Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night (1889), fifth floor
• Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), fifth floor
• Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962), fourth floor
• Claude Monet, Water Lilies (triptych, c. 1914–26), fifth floor
• Henri Matisse, Dance (I) (1909), fifth floor
• Salvador Dalí, The Persistence of Memory (1931), fifth floor
• Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair (1940)
• Jackson Pollock, One: Number 31, 1950

MoMA also has an outstanding design collection (everything from a Helvetica typeface specimen to a Ferrari) and a world-class film program with daily screenings in its theaters. The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden on the ground level is one of the most pleasant outdoor spaces in Midtown.

Bottom line: MoMA gives you the full timeline of modernism, from Post-Impressionism through today, with blockbuster name recognition at every turn.

What will I see at the Guggenheim that I won’t see at MoMA?

The Guggenheim is, first and foremost, a building. Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1959 spiral is one of the most recognizable structures in New York, and the experience of walking its continuous ramp is the visit. You ascend (or descend) a gently sloping coil, viewing art along the curved walls, with the atrium open below you. No other museum in the city feels like this.

The permanent collection is smaller but focused. Strengths include:

• Wassily Kandinsky: The Guggenheim holds one of the world’s largest collections of his work, including Composition 8 (1923) and Several Circles (1926).
• Marc Chagall, Paris Through the Window (1913)
• Piet Mondrian: Key neoplasticist works
• Paul Cézanne, Bibémus (c. 1894–95)
• Franz Marc, Yellow Cow (1911)
• Robert Delaunay, Red Eiffel Tower (1911–12)

The Guggenheim’s Thannhauser Collection, displayed in a dedicated gallery annex, features Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works by Picasso, Cézanne, Renoir, and Manet that rival small European museums.

But here is the key difference: the Guggenheim frequently turns over its rotunda for large-scale temporary exhibitions that transform the entire spiral. These shows (past examples include retrospectives of Hilma af Klint, Maurizio Cattelan, and Alex Katz) are often the main reason to visit. Check what is on before you go.

Bottom line: The Guggenheim is a tighter, more architectural experience. You go for the building, the Kandinskys, and whatever blockbuster show is occupying the ramp.

How do the buildings themselves compare?

This matters more than you might think.

• MoMA was redesigned by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and reopened in 2019 with expanded galleries. It is a sleek, modern, white-walled space. Navigation is straightforward: floors are organized roughly by era and medium. Expect to spend 2 to 3 hours minimum.
• The Guggenheim is the art. Wright designed the building so you take an elevator to the top and walk down the spiral ramp. The whole visit is one continuous path. It is intimate, almost meditative. Plan for 1 to 1.5 hours.

If you care about architecture, the Guggenheim is the must-see. If you care about sheer volume of iconic art, MoMA wins.

Where are MoMA, the Met, and the Guggenheim located in Manhattan?

• MoMA: 11 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Midtown. Nearest subway: E/M to Fifth Ave-53rd St, or B/D/F to 47-50th Sts-Rockefeller Center.
• Guggenheim: 1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street on the Upper East Side, right on Museum Mile. Nearest subway: 4/5/6 to 86th Street, then walk three blocks north along Fifth Ave.
• The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art): 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, seven blocks south of the Guggenheim on the same stretch of Fifth Avenue. You can walk between the Guggenheim and the Met in about 10 minutes through Central Park or along the avenue.

MoMA and the Guggenheim are about 1.8 miles apart. Combining them in one day is doable but intense.

Are there any free admission programs or discounts?

• MoMA: Free every first Friday of the month from 5:30pm to 9pm (UNIQLO Free Friday Nights). New York City residents with a valid NY, NJ, or CT ID get free admission through select programs. Children 16 and under are always free.
• Guggenheim: Pay-what-you-wish admission on select Saturday evenings (typically 6pm to 8pm; check the Guggenheim website for the current schedule). Children under 12 are always free.
• Both museums offer discounts for students and seniors with valid ID.

Should I visit both or pick one?

If you have time for only one, MoMA gives you more art per hour and more globally famous works. It is the safer bet for a first-time visitor to New York.

If you have already done MoMA, or if you love architecture, or if the Guggenheim’s current exhibition interests you, the Guggenheim is a singular experience you will not replicate anywhere else.

Doing both in one day is possible. Start at the Guggenheim in the morning (it is smaller, so you finish faster), then subway or cab down to MoMA for the afternoon. Leave at least four hours total.

What is the story behind the crowd taking photos from MoMA’s fifth-floor window?

The fifth floor of MoMA has a large window overlooking the Sculpture Garden and Midtown skyline. Visitors line up to photograph the view, which frames the garden’s sculptures against the surrounding skyscrapers. It is one of the best free photo ops in the museum. The crowd is thickest on weekends; visit on a weekday morning to get a clear shot.