Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.
Videos
Collection in Focus: Ravel's Bolero
Maurice Ravel’s Bolero started out as a ballet score commissioned by dancer Ida Rubenstein. Her troupe danced the composition's first performance at the Paris Opera in 1928. It was an instant hit. Our Assistant Curator of Music Manuscripts and Printed Music Robinson McClellan has more on this iconic piece of music.
Listen to George Condo in conversation with Isabelle Dervaux, Acquavella Curator of Modern & Contemporary Drawings, to learn more about Condo's practice and the drawings in this recent acquisition.
Take a closer look at three touching, humanist drawings by Rembrandt (1606–1669) in the Morgan's collection. John Pierpont Morgan loved Rembrandt. He owned 500 prints by Rembrandt, and in 1909 acquired his first drawings by the artist.
Collection in Focus: Kreisler Recitativo and Scherzo performed by Kelly Hall-Tompkins
Listen to violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins play a piece by Fritz Kreisler from 1911. Fritz Kreisler dedicated this piece to the virtuoso Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe.
Collection in Focus: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves
Listen to Roger S. Wieck, the Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts share his insights on the Hours of Catherine of Cleves.
Jack Whitten was one of the most innovative artists to emerge in the second half of the twentieth century. In this video, Rachel Federman, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Drawings, takes a look at Whitten's "Dispersal 'A' #2," a work emblematic of the type of experimentation associated with the groundbreaking artist.
Collection in Focus: Sir Isaac Newton's Pocket Memorandum Book
Long before becoming one of the most celebrated figures in the history of science, Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) kept this pocket-sized memorandum book, filling it with notes distilled from his reading.
Did you know that Vincent van Gogh was an inveterate letter writer? In 2007 the Morgan acquired a set of letters by the post-Impressionist artist Van Gogh written to friends. Hear our Director Colin B. Bailey explain why these are some of the most moving and precious objects in our collection.
Collection in Focus: Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag
In this video, Robinson McClellan, Assistant Curator of Music Manuscripts and Printed Music, explains why Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" remains a cut above the rest
Collection in Focus: The Declaration of Independence
One of the most timeless and eloquent of historical documents, the Declaration of Independence stands with the Magna Carta, as a classic charter of freedom. The document is a formal statement by the representatives of the Thirteen Colonies announcing their separation from Great Britain and the birth of the United States of America. The Morgan’s copy is one of just twenty-five recorded copies of the first printing of the Declaration and is considered one of the two or three finest in existence.
The Morgan is the only institution in the world to possess three copies of the Gutenberg Bible, the first substantial book printed from movable type in the West. John McQuillen, Associate Curator, Printed Books and Bindings, explains how Gutenberg's work revolutionized European literacy and learning.
Collection in Focus: Domenico Tiepolo's "Punchinello" Drawings
With over 300 drawings by Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo, this collection is one of the strengths at the Morgan. John Marciari, Charles W. Engelhard Curator of Drawings and Prints, takes a close look at two beloved 18th-century "Punchinello" drawings by Domenico Tiepolo.
Director Colin B. Bailey takes a close look at three drawings by Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), considered some of the finest drawings in the Morgan's collection: Seated Young Woman (ca. 1716), Young Woman Wearing a Chemise (ca. 1718), and Two Studies of the Head and Shoulders of a Little Girl.
In January 2021, the Morgan acquired an exceptional group of twenty prints by Martin Puryear. Made between 2001 and 2014 at Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA, they represent nearly all the prints Puryear made during the first fifteen years of the 21st century and include several of his most important works in this medium. Known primarily as a sculptor, Puryear is celebrated for the elegance and refinement of his largely handmade constructions.
Malick Sidibé (1936–2016) opened his studio in Bamako, the capital city of Mali, around the time the nation gained independence following French colonial rule. His photographs show modern West African life and are often described as depicting postcolonial euphoria.
Jennifer Tonkovich, Eugene and Clare Thaw Curator, discusses Running Eros, Holding a Torch. Take a closer look at a bronze figure excavated in the 1890s from a Roman villa at Boscoreale, a retreat on the slopes of Vesuvius which was buried in the eruption of 79 AD.
Colin B. Bailey, Director of the Morgan Library & Museum, discusses the Lindau Gospels, one of the great masterpieces from the collection. Named after the Abbey of Lindau on Lake Constance (Germany), where it was once housed, its jeweled covers constitute one of the most important of all medieval treasure bindings.
