| The
following Frequently Asked Questions have been compiled by the Museum
Library. Questions about MoMA research that are not included here
can be directed to library@moma.org.
See also Art
Research FAQ, Library
FAQ and DADABASE
FAQ.
A. Although The Museum of Modern Art doesn't have one comprehensive
collection catalogue, the following books feature major works in
the Museum's collection (all available at the Library; most available
at your local library or bookstores):
- Hunter, Sam. The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The History
and the Collection (New York: Museum of Modern Art/Abrams,
1997)
- MoMA Highlights: 325 Works from The Museum of Modern Art,
New York (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1999)
- Barr, Jr., Alfred H. Painting and Sculpture in The Museum
of Modern Art, 1929-1967 (New York: Museum of Modern Art,
1977)
- Legg, Alicia and Smalley. Painting and Sculpture in The Museum
of Modern Art: Catalog of the Collection with Selected Works on
Paper To January 1988 (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1988)
- Modern Contemporary: Art at MoMA Since 1980 (New York:
Museum of Modern Art/Abrams, 2000)
- Asher, Michael. Painting and Sculpture from The Museum of
Modern Art: Catalog of Deaccessions 1929 through 1998 (New
York: M. Asher/Museum of Modern Art, 1999)
- Three Generations of Twentieth-Century Art: The Sidney Janis
Collection of The Museum of Modern Art (New York: Museum of
Modern Art, 1972)
- Storr, Robert. On the Edge: Contemporary Art from the Werner
and Elaine Dannheisser Collection (New York: Museum of Modern
Art/Abrams, 1997)
- Rubin, William. Picasso in the Collection of The Museum of
Modern Art (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1978)
- Elderfield, John. Matisse in the Collection of The Museum
of Modern Art (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1973)
- Rubin, William. Miró in the Museum of Modern Art
(New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1973)
- Franc, Helen M. An Invitation to See: 150 Works from The
Museum of Modern Art (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1992)
- The Design Collection: Selected Objects (New York: Junior
Council of The Museum of Modern Art, 1970)
A. The Visitor Services Department maintains
a list of works on view. Please inquire at the Lobby Information
Desk in person or by phone (212) 708-9500.
A. Selected works are viewable
in the Collections
section of this site. Others are featured in Exhibitions
subsites. Still others are available as e-cards.
See also How can I learn
about a work in the Museum's collection? and How
can I obtain a reproduction of a work in the Museum's collection?
A. Please see Collections.
A. To learn about the general scope of each
department, see the chapter introductions in Hunter, Sam. The
Museum of Modern Art, New York: The History and the Collection
(New York: Museum of Modern Art/Abrams, 1997). See also What
is the Museum's mission?
A. An unofficial exhibition history may be
consulted at the Library
(see the Reference Librarian). Alternatively, exhibition dates and
other details are often included in DADABASE
records for particular exhibition catalogues. Search DADABASE
by Title for the exhibition title.
A. All of these are available at the Library.
Because the titles and formats have varied over the years, so do
the locations, call numbers and records in DADABASE.
Here is a guide to the various titles, dates and locations, in chronological
order:
Magazine
title
|
Publication
date
|
Location/Call
number
|
The
Bulletin of The Museum of Modern Art
|
June
1933 - 1963
|
Reference
3 N 47b
|
Members Newsletter
|
Oct 1968 - Nov 1970
|
Stacks 3 N47mn
|
MoMA
|
Fall
1974 - May 2002
|
Reference
3 N47mo
|
|
|
|
Calendar title
|
Publication date
|
Location/Call
number
|
Members
Calendar of Events
|
Sept
1950 - Oct/Nov 1963
|
Library
Archive Flat Oversize 3 N47 M36
|
Members Calendar
|
Feb/March 1965 - May 1968
|
Library Archive Oversize
3 N47mby
|
| Calendar |
Oct
1968 - Sept 1971
|
Library Archive
Oversize 3 N47mb2
|
Members Calendar
|
March 1980 - Feb 1998
|
(Multiple locations) 3
N47mca
|
Calendar
|
March/April
1998 - May 2002
|
Library
Archive Flat Oversize 3 N47mcaL
|
| MoMA Members Pocket Guide |
July/August 2002 -
|
(Multiple locations) N620.M9 M66
|
MoMA at The
Gramercy Theatre: Film and Media Exhibitions
|
October 2002
|
(Multiple locations) N620.M9
M652
|
MoMA Film at The Gramercy Theatre: Film and
Media Exhibitions
|
November 2002 -
|
(Multiple locations) N620.M9 M653
|
A. A set of MoMA annual reports are available at the Library (call number: Reference 3 N47ar). No annual reports were published for the years prior to 1936, or for 1943, 1946, 1949-1954 and 1956-1960. For 1998-1999 and beyond, Consolidated Financial Statements (call number: Reference 3 N47fs) are published in lieu of an annual report. The current financial statement is available in PDF format.
A. To consult Film program notes, please contact the Museum's Film
Study Center.
A. For published sources about the Museum's buildings, grounds,
expansions, and installations, please see the selective bibliography
and list of Archives Pamphlet Files below. For information about
the current expansion, see MoMA
Builds.
- Ricciotti, Dominic. "The 1939 Building of The Museum of Modern
Art: The Goodwin-Stone Collaboration" American Art Journal,
v.17, n.3, Summer 1985, p.50-75.
- Roob, Rona. "1936: The Museum Selects an Architect" Archives
of American Art Journal, v.23, n.1, 1983, p.22-30.
- McBride, Henry. "The Museum of Modern Art: An Astonishing Edifice
Filled with Astonishing Art" New York Sun, May 13 1939.
- "The Museum of Modern Art, New York: A New Building for New
Needs" Museums Journal, v.41, n.5, August 1941, p.93-97.
- Thomas, Trevor. "Impressions of The Museum of Modern Art" Museums
Journal, v.41, n.5, August 1941, p.98-102.
- Gray, Christopher. "1939 Arrival That Made its Neighbors Old-Fashioned"
New York Times, July 27 1997, Real Estate Section, p.5.
- Imagining the Future of The Museum of Modern Art, Studies
in Modern Art 7 (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1998).
- [History of the Sculpture Garden], MoMA, n.4, Summer
1975, 9 pages (unpaginated).
- Benes, Mirka. "Inventing a Modern Sculpture Garden at The Museum
of Modern Art, New York" Landscape Journal, v.13, n.1,
Spring 1994, p.1-20.
- Staniszewski, Mary Anne. The Power of Display: A History
of Exhibition Installations at The Museum of Modern Art, (Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT, 1998).
See
also these Archives
Pamphlet Files:
- Building
- Expansion, year
- MoMA QNS
- Rockefeller Guest House
- Restaurants, Lunch Rooms, etc.
- Sculpture Garden
See also
the Subject File
MoMA—Building (located at the Reference Desk).
See also
these Public Information Clippings (1929-1988) maintained by the
Museum Archives:
Series
III. Museum: 1950s and 1960s
Filing unit 4. Expansion, 1965-1966 (13 items)
Filing unit 5. Expansion, 1959-1969 (21 items)
For security
reasons, detailed Museum plans are not available.
A. For a general history of the International Program, see:
The
Museum of Modern Art at Mid-Century: At Home and Abroad, Studies
in Modern Art 4, (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1994).
Records
of the Museum's Circulating Exhibitions Program and International
Circulating Exhibitions Program are maintained by the Museum
Archives. To find out when and where an exhibition traveled,
please contact the Museum Archives. To consult catalogues, pamphlets,
and selected ephemera from some of these exhibitions, please contact
the Library.
A. Founded in 1929 as an educational institution, The Museum of
Modern Art is dedicated to being the foremost museum of modern art
in the world. Through the leadership of its trustees and staff,
The Museum of Modern Art manifests this commitment by establishing,
preserving, and documenting a permanent collection of the highest
order that reflects the vitality, complexity, and unfolding patterns
of modern and contemporary art; by presenting exhibitions and educational
programs of unparalleled significance; by sustaining a library,
archives, and conservation laboratory that are recognized as international
centers of research; and by supporting scholarship and publications
of preeminent intellectual merit.
Central
to The Museum of Modern Art's mission is the encouragement of an
ever deeper understanding and enjoyment of modern and contemporary
art by the diverse local, national, and international audiences
that it serves. To achieve its goals The Museum of Modern Art recognizes:
- That modern and contemporary art originated in the exploration
of the ideals and interests generated in the new artistic traditions
that began in the late nineteenth century and continue today.
- That modern and contemporary art transcend national boundaries
and involve all forms of visual expression, including painting
and sculpture, drawings, prints and illustrated books, photography,
architecture and design, and film and video, as well as new forms
yet to be developed or understood, that reflect and explore the
artistic issues of the era.
- That these forms of visual expression are an open-ended series
of arguments and counter arguments that can be explored through
exhibitions and installations and that are reflected in the Museum's
varied collection.
- That it is essential to affirm the importance of contemporary
art and artists if the Museum is to honor the ideals with which
it was founded and to remain vital and engaged with the present.
- That this commitment to contemporary art enlivens and informs
our evolving understanding of the traditions of modern art.
- That to remain at the forefront of its field, the Museum must
have an outstanding professional staff and must periodically reevaluate
itself, responding to new ideas and initiatives with insight,
imagination, and intelligence. This process of reevaluation is
mandated by the Museum's tradition which encourages openness and
a willingness to evolve and change.
In sum,
The Museum of Modern Art seeks to create a dialogue between the
established and the experimental, and the past and the present,
in an environment that is responsive to the issues of modern and
contemporary art, while being accessible to a public that ranges
from scholars to young children.
A. This has not been compiled by the Museum, nor is the Museum aware
of such a compilation. The Library can help reseachers to locate
raw material for such a count. Sources include exhibition checklists
and the catalogue of the
Painting and Sculpture collection as of 1967 (the latter of
which indexes artists by national origin). See also Who
was the first person of color to have a show at MoMA?, Who
was the first woman to have a show at MoMA?, How
can I learn about a work in the MoMA collection?
A. The first woman to have a solo show at MoMA was Josephine Joy
in the exhibition Josephine Joy: Romantic Painter, June 12-October
7, 1942. In 1943 Genevieve Naylor and Helen Levitt both had solo
shows, as did Georgia O'Keeffe in 1946.
A. Implicit in this question are notions of "color," "race," and
nationality. How does the researcher define these? What is meant
by "person of color," "minority," "non-white," or "non-Western"?
If "person
of color" is definied as a person of African ancestry, the first
solo show of a living African American artist was Sculpture by
William Edmondson in 1937. Another early show was Paintings
by Jacob Lawrence in 1944.
For one
artist's examination of nationalities and nationalism in MoMA's
early history, see Fred Wilson's Web project Road
to Victory.
Some
other exhibitions that may be pertinent to this question are listed
below (these are from the Museum's first fifteen years). Documentation
of these shows is available at the Library. For a full chronology
of Museum exhibitions, see How
can I learn the dates and titles of past Museum exhibitions?
- 46 Painters and Sculptors Under 35 Years of Age, 1930
(included Native-American artists and artists from Mexico)
- Diego Rivera, 1931-1932
- Persian Fresco Painting, 1932
- American Sources of Modern Art (Aztec, Mayan, Incan),
1933
- African Negro Art, 1935
- The Work of Sharaku, 1940
- Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art and Mexican Children's
Art, 1940
- Portinari of Brazil, 1940
- Indian Art of the United States, 1941
- New Acquisitions: Latin American Art, 1942
- Mexican Costumes by Carlos Merida, 1942
- The Americas Cooperate, 1942
- Art from Fighting China, 1942
- Brazil Builds, 1943
- Latin American Collection of The Museum of Modern Art,
1943
- Bali, Background for War, 1943
- Young Negro Art, 1943
- Modern Cuban Painters, 1944
- Chinese Children's War Pictures, 1944
A. Out-of-print book dealers are increasingly accessible through
the Internet. Two that search a number of sources at once are Bibliofind.com
and Bookfinder.com.
Some
art book dealers who have specifically marketed Museum publications
are:
- Ars Libri, Ltd. Boston, MA. (617) 357-5212
- Garden State Fine Art. East Brunswick, NJ. (732) 937-8997
- Laurence
McGilvery. La Jolla, CA. (619) 454-4443
- Tim's Used Books. Provincetown, MA. (508) 487-0005
- Ursus
Books. New York, NY. (212) 772-8787
A. Slides, postcards, posters and other reproductions are available
for purchase at The Museum Stores. An alternate source for slides
is Davis
Art Slides, 50 Portland Street, Worcester, MA. See also Is
the Museum's collection available on the Web?
A. Please see Image Permissions.
Q.
May I reproduce text or photographs from a Museum publication?
A. For information regarding reprint permissions, please contact
the Museum's Publications
Department. Regarding publication of photographs, see May
I reproduce a work in the Museum's collection? and What
does "fair use" mean?
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