On this date in 1929 the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) opened, in Hecksher Building New York. 10 facts about it:
The museum is located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
MoMA was founded by modern art collectors Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.), Lillie P. Bliss and Mary Quinn Sullivan. John D Rockefeller hated modern art, and wouldn’t support the project at first, but eventually donated the land where the museum now stands.
MoMA started out in a rented six gallery space in Manhattan's Heckscher Building. Since then it has moved three times to bigger premises as its popularity grew. It moved into what would be its permanent home in 1939, with a radio address at the opening ceremony from President Franklin D Roosevelt to a crowd of 6,000. The building has been renovated and expanded over the years, most recently in 2019.
MoMA was the first museum to focus solely on contemporary art.
Its collection includes over 200,000 works, primarily American and European art ranging from the late 19th century to the present. Some of its most famous exhibits are Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, and Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans.
There’s also a research library which has over 300,000 books, periodicals and individual files on over 90,000 artists. MoMA has more research materials than any other art museum.
It has a sculpture garden, dedicated to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, in 1953. The whole thing was planned in just one night. One of the exhibits you can find there is an actual Paris Subway entrance gate.
Disaster struck on 15 April 1958 (see That Sucks Day) when a Fire broke out on the second floor as air conditioning was being installed. This was the era before health and safety, and workmen were smoking around flammable materials. One worker lost his life and several firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation. Staff and visitors trapped by the fire were evacuated onto the roof and jumped onto the roof of the house next door. Most of the artwork in the location of the fire had been removed while the work was being done, but sadly, an 18-foot-long (5.5 m) Monet Water Lilies painting was too big to move and was lost. A similar painting was acquired after the fire as a replacement.
The 1939 museum building was designed by by Philip Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone, with an addition designed by Philip Johnson, who also planned the garden in 1953. The 2004 expansion and education and research complex—was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi.
2,190,440 people visited in 2022, making MoMA the 17th most-visited art museum in the world and the 4th most-visited museum in the United States.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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