Art museum · Founded 1870 · New York City, USA

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art — universally known as the Met — is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City and the largest art museum in the Americas. By floor area it ranks as the fourth-largest museum in the world. Founded in 1870, the Met attracted 5,727,258 visitors in fiscal year 2025, making it the most-visited museum in the United States and the fifth-most visited art museum worldwide. Its permanent collection of more than 1.5 million works spans 5,000 years of art from every corner of the globe.

At a glance

Type: Encyclopedic art museum
Period: Founded 1870; main building on Fifth Avenue opened 1880, expanded throughout the 20th century
Style: Main facade: Beaux-Arts (Richard Morris Hunt, 1895–1902)
Location: 1000 Fifth Avenue, Central Park, Upper East Side, New York City, USA
Coordinates: 40.7794° N, 73.9632° W

Overview

The Metropolitan Museum of Art occupies a vast Beaux-Arts building along the eastern edge of Central Park on Fifth Avenue and extends into additional wings added in successive decades. Its collection encompasses Egyptian antiquities, Greek and Roman sculpture, European Old Masters, Impressionist and Modern art, arms and armour, musical instruments, costumes and textiles, and non-Western art traditions from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. The Met also operates The Cloisters museum in Fort Tryon Park, dedicated to medieval European art and architecture.

History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded on 13 April 1870 by a group of American citizens — businessmen, artists, and intellectuals — with the stated mission of bringing art and art education to the American people. The institution moved to its present site on Fifth Avenue in 1880. Financier J. P. Morgan and other Gilded Age philanthropists donated or bequeathed major collections, rapidly expanding the museum’s holdings. The 20th century saw continuous expansion of the building and collection, including the addition of the Sackler Wing (housing the Temple of Dendur) in 1978 and the American Wing atrium in 1980.

What you see

The Met’s main entrance on Fifth Avenue opens into the Great Hall, a vast neoclassical rotunda from which visitors can branch into any of the museum’s seventeen curatorial departments. Signature galleries include the Egyptian Art wing with the reconstructed Temple of Dendur, the Arms and Armour Hall, the European Paintings galleries with works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, El Greco, Velázquez, Caravaggio, and the Impressionists, and the American Wing. The rooftop garden, open seasonally, offers large-scale contemporary sculpture installations with views over Central Park.

Cultural significance

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a defining institution of American cultural life and one of the great encyclopedic museums in the world alongside the British Museum, the Louvre, and the Hermitage. Its sustained commitment to free or pay-what-you-wish admission for New York State residents has made it a model for democratic access to cultural heritage. The Met’s collection is a primary resource for scholars, students, and artists globally.

Practical information

Address: 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028, USA
Opening hours: Sunday–Thursday 10:00–17:00; Friday–Saturday 10:00–21:00. Check the official website for holiday hours and temporary closures.
Admission: Recommended admission applies; free for New York State residents and NY, NJ, CT students with valid ID
Website: metmuseum.org

Getting there

The Met is located on Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The nearest subway stations are 86th Street (4/5/6 trains) and 77th Street (6 train), both a short walk away. Multiple bus routes (M1, M2, M3, M4) run along Fifth and Madison Avenues and stop in front of the museum. Bicycle parking is available, and Citi Bike stations are located nearby in Central Park and on Fifth Avenue.

Sources & resources

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