10 must-visit new museums
From New York and L.A. to Barcelona and Cape Town, here are 10 new museums worth a pilgrimage.
Whether you’re looking for mind-blowing architecture, timeless masterpieces, living history, or groundbreaking performing arts, these 10 new museums should be on your must-visit list for 2017.
Reopened in May, 2016 after an extensive 3-year renovation, SFMOMA is more impressive than ever, thanks to its expanded collection of modern masters (including luminaries like Matisse, Pollock, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Diego Rivera), California artists, and photography legends like Ansel Adams and Diane Arbus. The notable architecture firm Snøhetta is behind the museum’s arresting new design, spread over 10 floors and incorporating over 45,000 square feet of art-filled free public spaces. Admission for everyone under 18 is free.
Designed by star architect Renzo Piano, the new incarnation of the Whitney is located in Manhattan’s ultra-cool Meatpacking district, where it enjoys more space for exhibitions and public programs. Its peerless permanent collection of contemporary American art is spread over 50,000 square feet of indoor galleries, 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space and terraces, and an admission-free lobby gallery. Also on offer: a multi-use black box theater for film, video, and performance, a 170-seat theater with stunning views of the Hudson River, a Library Reading Room, a gorgeous museum store, and a ground-floor restaurant and a top-floor cafe by famed New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. Admission for adults: $22 (online/in advance); $25 (at the door)
Part art museum and part cultural center, the Fondation Louis Vuitton is a Frank Gehry-designed institution designed to promote modern art in all its forms. Besides its permanent collection of expressionist and contemplative works and Chinese art, the Fondation hosts music and dance performances, along with temporary exhibitions focusing on themes like African art, architecture, and multimedia installations. The in-house restaurant features a modern French menu by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Louis Nomicos. General admission is 16 euros.
Located in the peaceful neighborhood of Gràcia and dating back to 1883, Casa Vicens is the first house Antonin Gaudí designed. Scheduled to open to the public for the first time in 2017, the structure reveals the origins of Gaudí’s signature, curving, nature-inspired style. Combining multi-colored tiles, Moorish, Japanese, and Indian accents, the house broke with the norms of late 19th-century design and inaugurated a new, revolutionary period in modern architecture.
