What to do and see in Downtown Manhattan (Downtown), New York (NY): The Best Art Museums

Swiss Institute is temporarily closed while it relocates to 38 St Marks Place in East Village, NY. Please check our website for current off-site exhibition and programming information. Swiss Institute is an independent non-profit contemporary art institution dedicated to promoting forward-thinking and experimental art making through innovative exhibitions and programs.

The Whitney Museum is New York's home for modern and contemporary art of the United States. Located in Manhattan's vibrant Meatpacking District, the Whitney presents the work of living artists alongside perennial favorites by Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, Jacob Lawrence, Alexander Calder, and many others. Through August 8 immerse yourself in the abstract world of Julie Mehretu. Featuring more than seventy artworks, including monumental canvases and a new site-specific work inspired by New York City, Julie Mehretu offers the most comprehensive view of the artist’s practice to date. Advance ticketing is required: book timed tickets today and prepare for your trip at whitney.org.

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art provides a platform for artistic exploration through multi-faceted queer perspectives. We embrace the power of the arts to inspire, explore, and foster understanding of the rich diversity of LGBTQ experiences. Created by our founders to preserve LGBTQ identity and build community, the Leslie-Lohman Museum acts as a cultural hub for the LGBTQ community. Our roots trace back to 1969 when Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman held an exhibit of gay artists for the first time in their SoHo loft. Throughout the 1970s, they continued to collect and exhibit gay artists while supporting the SoHo art community. During the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s, the collection continued to grow as they rescued the work of dying artists from families who, out of shame or ignorance, wanted to destroy it. Located at 26 Wooster Street in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Admission is a suggested donation of $10.

ICP’s integrated center at 79 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan spans a full city block between Ludlow Street and Essex Street. The closest subway stops are Essex-Delancey (J/Z/F/M) and Grand (B/D), both of which are just steps away. The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world's leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture. Through our exhibitions, school, public programs, and community outreach, we offer an open forum for dialogue about the role images play in our culture. Since our founding, we have presented more than 700 exhibitions and offered thousands of classes, providing instruction at every level. ICP is a center where photographers and artists, students, and scholars can create and interpret the world of the image.

Since 1984 AFA has represented a stable of unique established and emerging artists whose paintings and sculpture are rooted in masterful figurative technique, and whose collective works are contemporary, edgy and fiercely imaginative. The showroom is located in the heart of SoHo and open 7 days. On permanent exhibition, Joe Sorren, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Tom Everhart, Tim Burton, Anne Bachelier, Pierre Matter, Kathie Olivas, Kurt Wenner, Bill Carman, Daniel Merriam, Jennybird Alcantara, Lin Esser & David Lipson,

Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas. It is Manhattan’s only dedicated contemporary art museum and is respected internationally for the adventurousness and global scope of its curatorial program.

The small museum represents pre-Impressionist traditions, particularly Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, and sponsors changing exhibits that focus on 19th- and 20th-century European academic art.

Art gallery focusing on showcasing emerging and mid-career artists

The MARGO FEIDEN GALLERIES LTD has represented artist AL HIRSCHFELD since 1969. AL HIRSCHFELD's ARCHIVE of the PERFORMING ARTS is on Permanent Exhibition and Available to Collect. The Archives include art from BROADWAY Plays & Musicals, FILM, DANCE, OPERA, JAZZ, and CLASSICAL MUSIC.AL HIRSCHFELD's Drawings, signed and numbered lithographs, Books and Puzzles. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9 AM—6 PM+Weekends By Appointment.