The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met Fifth Avenue (MET)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Since its founding in 1870, The Met has aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects; it is a place where art comes alive through exhibitions and events, revealing unexpected connections across time and cultures.

Visitor Informations

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Must-see Artworks

The Met Fifth Avenue houses a vast collection of European masterpieces, from Vincent van Gogh to Johannes Vermeer. A key highlight is Vermeer’s Study of a Young Woman (1660s), widely considered a variant of his legendary Girl with a Pearl Earring due to their similar composition and tone.

Don’t miss Francisco Goya’s Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga, famously known as "Goya's Red Boy." Painted between 1787 and 1788, this striking portrait of a young boy surrounded by cats and birds is celebrated as one of the most successful depictions of childhood in art history.

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Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler)

Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler)

1887

Vincent van Gogh 

Location📍 The Met Fifth Avenue, Gallery 825

One of more than twenty self-portraits produced by Van Gogh during his Parisian sojourn (1886–88). Determined to hone his skills as a figure painter but short of funds, he bought a mirror to work from himself in the absence of a model. This painting reveals the artist's awareness of Neo-Impressionist technique and color theory. It is one of several works painted on the reverse of an earlier peasant study.

Study of a Young Woman

Study of a Young Woman

ca. 1665–67

Johannes Vermeer

Location📍  The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 614

This work is a "tronie," a portrayal of an intriguing individual in exotic or imaginary costume rather than a commissioned portrait. Often compared to Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring due to their similar size and subject, the painting highlights the artist's power of invention through motifs like the blue silk draped over the model's shoulder and the soft, illuminating light.

Wheat Field with Cypresses

Wheat Field with Cypresses

1889

Vincent van Gogh

Location📍  The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 822

Regarded by Van Gogh as one of his "best" summer landscapes, this work is his initial study from nature of a composition he later repeated in studio variants. Painted in Saint-Rémy, it features exuberant, thick impasto with vigorous brushstrokes that vary by texture—from curving strokes in the white clouds to flickering marks for the towering cypresses.

The Dance Class

The Dance Class

1874

Edgar Degas

Location📍  The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 815

One of Degas's most ambitious dance-themed paintings, this work depicts about twenty-four women—ballerinas and their mothers—attending a class conducted by ballet master Jules Perrot. The scene is set in a rehearsal room of the old Paris Opéra, featuring a poster for Rossini’s Guillaume Tell on the wall, which pays tribute to the singer Jean-Baptiste Faure who commissioned the piece.

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Historical Overview

The Met’s origins trace back to 1866 in Paris, where John Jay and a group of Americans envisioned a national art institution. Incorporated on April 13, 1870, the Museum first opened at 681 Fifth Avenue before moving to its current site on March 30, 1880. Following early acquisitions such as a Roman sarcophagus in 1870 and 174 European paintings in 1871, the collection expanded with the Cesnola Collection (1874–76) and works by Édouard Manet (1889). By the 20th century, The Met established itself as a global center, becoming the first public institution to acquire a work by Henri Matisse in 1910 and housing the largest collection of Egyptian art outside Cairo. Modern milestones include the Arts of Korea gallery (1998), the Greek and Roman Art renovation (2007), and the 2021 installation of a plaque honoring Lenapehoking.

Architecture

The Met Fifth Avenue debuted in 1880 with a Ruskinian Gothic structure by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, elements of which remain visible within the Robert Lehman Wing. In 1902, the iconic Beaux-Arts facade and Great Hall designed by Richard Morris Hunt opened to the public. A master architectural plan by Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, approved in 1971 and completed in 1991, significantly expanded the footprint through a series of major wings. These additions include the Robert Lehman Wing (1975), The Sackler Wing (1978), The American Wing (1980), The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing (1982), the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing (1987), and the Henry R. Kravis Wing (1991), creating the comprehensive two-million-square-foot complex seen today.

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When to Visit

For more details, visit the official website ↗

Admission

Admission Fee

• Permanent Collections: Paid Admission
• Temporary Exhibitions: Paid Admission
• Admission Policy: One ticket, same-day access to both Met locations.
• Check the official website for detailed rates ↗

⚠️ Admission varies by visitor category. ⚠️ Rates and conditions are subject to change. Please visit the official website for current information.

⚠️ Online tickets recommended for fast track; walk-ins welcome.

Complimentary Admission

• Full eligibility guide, visit the official website ↗

Suggested Admission

Pay-What-You-Wish Admission (minimum $0.01 per ticket)

• Full eligibility guide, visit the official website ↗

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You May Also Like

#New York Museum #NYC #Metropolitan Museum #MET #Impressism #Vincet Van Gogh #Study of a Young Woman #Guggenheim Museum #Brooklyn Museum #MoMA

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📍 The Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York | USA

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