Best Modern Art Museums to Visit

Modern art lovers have a distinct artistic style that they enjoy. In modern art, traditions have been thrown aside in favor of new ideas and a fresh, bold look. When you’re traveling, there are a few museums that have top-notch modern art collections. These are the four must-sees for the modern art lover.

Tate Modern

London’s modern art museum houses English art from 1900 to today, as well as, international works. The museum has five levels, and the layout of the collection amongst these floors is interesting. The permanent collection works are hung on the 3^rd and 5^th levels and are arranged by important 20^th century artistic movements. The temporary exhibits are on the 1^st, 2^nd, and 4^th levels.

Museum of Modern Art

New York City’s MoMA is often considered the most influential modern art museum in the world. The museum holds more than 150,000 paintings, photographs and sculptures. MoMA also holds an impressive collection of over 22,000 films and 28,000 architectural and design related pieces. Internationally renowned works, like VanGogh’s The Starry Night and Matisses’s The Dance, call MoMA home.

Centre Georges Pompidou

Paris’s Pompidou Centre is not only the largest museum of modern art in Europe. It is also a massive public library and a music and acoustic research center. The building itself makes the museum worth a visit; it is designed inside out, with stairs, elevators, plumbing and more visibly located on the building’s exterior. Inside, you can see works by greats like Picasso, and outside, you can enjoy some of the best street artists’ works in the city.

Reina Sofia Museum 

Madrid’s Reina Sofia is a relatively new museum, as it was only opened in 1992. The museum houses Spain’s 20^th century artworks. While foreigners will see many artists never before heard of, works by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali make this a great visit. The Reina Sofia’s most famous piece, the Guernica, is a work everyone has heard of, though.

Whenever she travels, Terry Carter makes a point to visit the museums. She blogs from home or from her travels about different topics, like packing a picnic basket for lunch or sleeping in a hammock while backpacking through Europe.