MoMA through Time
An incomplete history of MoMA and MoMA PS1, as told through objects in the archives. Jump into a highlight from our timeline or start at the beginning.
Archives highlights
A small sample of objects from the Archives.
Magazine and MoMA blog posts
Magazine
Friedman, Samantha. “Lincoln Kirstein, Man of Letterheads”. 2019
Medium
Inside/Out, a MoMA blog
Bibliography on the history and collections of The Museum of Modern Art
Bajac, Quentin, ed. Being Modern: Building the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2017.
Bajac, Quentin, Christophe Cherix, Stuart Comer, Rajendra Roy, Martino Stierli, and Ann Temkin. MoMA Now: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019.
Barr, Alfred H., Jr. “Chronicles.” Painting and Sculpture in The Museum of Modern Art 1929–1967. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1977, 619-650.
Barr, Margaret Scolari. “Our Campaigns: Alfred H. Barr, Jr., and the Museum of Modern Art: A Biographical Chronicle of the Years 1930–1944.” The New Criterion, special summer issue 1987, 23-74.
Basilio, Miriam, ed. Latin American and Caribbean Art: MoMA at El Museo. New York: El Museo del Barrio and The Museum of Modern Art, 2004.
Bee, Harriet Schoenholz and Michelle Elligott. Art in Our Time: A Chronicle of The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004.
Biesenbach, Klaus and Bettina Funcke, eds. MoMA PS1: A History. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019.
Butler, Cornelia H. and Alexandra Schwartz, eds. Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2010.
Cahan, Susan. Mounting Frustration: The Art Museum in the Age of Black Power. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2016.
Elderfield, John. The Modern Drawing. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1983.
Elderfield, John, ed. Modern Painting and Sculpture: 1880 to the Present at The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004.
Elderfield, John, ed. The Museum of Modern Art: American Art of the 1960s. Studies in Modern Art, no. 1. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1991.
Elderfield, John, ed. The Museum of Modern Art: Essays on Assemblage. Studies in Modern Art, no. 2. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1992.
Elderfield, John, ed. The Museum of Modern Art: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Studies in Modern Art, no. 3. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994.
Elderfield, John, ed. The Museum of Modern Art at Mid-Century: At Home and Abroad. Studies in Modern Art, no. 4. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994.
Elderfield, John, ed. The Museum of Modern Art at Mid-Century: Continuity and Change. Studies in Modern Art, no. 5. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1995.
Elderfield, John, ed. The Museum of Modern Art: Philip Johnson and the Museum of Modern Art. Studies in Modern Art, no. 6. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1998.
Elderfield, John, ed. The Museum of Modern Art: Imagining the Future of the Museum of Modern Art. Studies in Modern Art, no.7. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1998.
Elderfield, John. Henri Matisse: Masterworks from The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1996.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 1: Charting Modernism.” Esopus Magazine, no. 7, Fall 2006, 75-86.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 2: Dear Miss Miller…: Selected Correspondence between James Lee Byars and Dorothy C. Miller.” Esopus Magazine, no. 8, Spring 2007, 66-75.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 3: Tentative and Confidential: Documents Relating to Exhibition ‘X’.” Esopus Magazine, no. 9, Fall 2007, 132-144.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 4: Drawing Comparisons: The Sketches of René D’Harnoncourt.” Esopus Magazine, no. 10, Spring 2008, 131-151.
Elligott, Michelle. “Early Registration: Selected Pages from the Museum of Modern Art Guest Book.” Esopus Magazine, no. 11, Fall 2008, 142-159.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 6: States of Grace: Materials in the Archives relating to Grace Hartigan (1922–2008).” Esopus Magazine, no. 12, Spring 2009, 141-151.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 7: Exhibition Number 13: Henri Matisse: A Retrospective.” Esopus Magazine, no. 13, Fall 2009, 98-115.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 8: The Art of Broadcasting: The Museum of Modern Art and Television.” Esopus Magazine, no. 15, Fall 2010, 146-163.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 9: One and the Same: Celebrating the Union of Democracy and Modern Art.” Esopus Magazine, no. 16, Spring 2011, 113-121.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 10: Rent to Own: The Art Lending Service of the Museum of Modern Art.” Esopus Magazine, no. 17, Fall 2011, 116-133.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 11: Creating ‘Spaces’: Documents from the Pioneering 1969 Exhibition.” Esopus Magazine, no. 18, Spring 2012, 106-123.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 12: From Body to Object: Documents Related to Scott Burton’s Performances.” Esopus Magazine, no. 19, Spring 2013, 105-121.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 14: Imagining Possibilities.” Esopus Magazine, no. 21, Spring 2014, 44–63.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 15: The Healing Arts.” Esopus Magazine, no. 22, Spring 2015, 117–128.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 16: The Living Garden.” Esopus Magazine, no. 23, Spring 2016, 26–40.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 17: Modern Renaissance.” Esopus Magazine, no. 24, Spring 2017, 143–158.
Elligott, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 18: The Young Turks.” Esopus Magazine, no. 25, Spring 2018, 18–36.
Elligott, Michelle. René d’Harnoncourt and the Art of Installation. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2018.
English, Darby and Charlotte Barat. Among Others: Blackness at MoMA. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019.
Goldberger, Paul. “The New MoMA.” The New York Times Magazine, 15 April 1984, 36-49.
Franc, Helen. An Invitation to See. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1992.
Friedman, Samantha and Jodi Hauptman, eds. Lincoln Kirstein’s Modern. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019.
Goodyear, A. Conger. The Museum of Modern Art: The First Ten Years. New York: by the author, 1943.
Harvey, Michelle. “Modern Artifacts 13: Seitz Specific: Re-locating the Work of Claude Monet.” Esopus Magazine, no. 20, Fall 2013.
Hellman, Geoffrey T. “Profiles: Imperturbable Noble.” The New Yorker, 7 May 1960. [profile of René d’Harnoncourt]
Hellman, Geoffrey T. “Profiles: Last of Species.” The New Yorker, 19 Sept. 1942, 22-26. [profile of Frank Crowninshield]
Hines, Thomas S. Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art: The Arthur Drexler Years, 1951–1986. Los Angeles: The Getty Research Institute, 2019.
Hunter, Sam. Introduction to The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The History and the Collection. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1984. Reprint, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997.
Kahn, E. J. Jr. “Profiles: Resources and Responsibilities, Part I.” The New Yorker 40, no. 47, 9 Jan. 1965. [First of two-part profile of David Rockefeller]
Kert, Bernice. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller: The Woman in the Family. New York: Random House, 1993.
Lamster, Mark. The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2018.
Lowry, Glenn D. The New Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004.
Lowry, Glenn D. The Museum of Modern Art in this Century. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2009.
Lynes, Russell. Good Old Modern: An Intimate Portrait of the Museum of Modern Art. New York: Atheneum, 1973.
MacDonald, Dwight. “Profiles: Action on West Fifty-third Street, Part I.” The New Yorker 29, no. 43, 12 Dec. 1953. [First of two-part profile of Alfred H. Barr, Jr.]
MacDonald, Dwight. “Profiles: Action on West Fifty-third Street, Part II.” The New Yorker 29, no. 44, 19 Dec. 1953. [Second of two-part profile of Alfred H. Barr, Jr.]
MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019.
Reed, Peter. A Modern Garden: The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2007.
Reed, Peter and Romy Silver-Kohn, eds. Oasis in the City: The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2018.
Reed, Peter and William Kaizen, eds. The Show to End All Shows: Frank Lloyd Wright and The Museum of Modern Art, 1940. Studies in Modern Art, no.8. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004.
Ricciotti, Dominic. “The 1939 Building of the Museum of Modern Art: The Goodwin-Stone Collaboration,” The American Art Journal 17, no. 3, summer issue 1985, 50–76.
Roob, Rona. “Alfred H. Barr, Jr.: A Chronicle of the Years 1902–1929.” The New Criterion, special summer issue 1987, 1-19.
Rubin, William S. Picasso in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1972.
Rubin, William S. Miró in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1973.
Schulze, Franz. Philip Johnson: Life and Work. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.
Szarkowski, John. Looking at Photographs. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1973.
Szarkowski, John. Windows and Mirrors: American Photography Since 1960. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1978.
Tomkins, Calvin. “Profiles: Forms Under Light.” The New Yorker 53, no. 14, 23 May 1977. [profile of Philip Johnson]
Tomkins, Calvin. “Profiles: The Modernist.” The New Yorker 77 no. 34, 5 Nov. 2001. [profile of Kirk Varnedoe]
Tomkins, Calvin. “Profiles: Sharpening the Eye.” The New Yorker 61 no. 37, 4 Nov. 1985. [profile of William Rubin]
Umland, Anne and Adrian Sudhalter with Scott Gerson, eds. Dada in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2008.