Highlights from the Permanent Collection

Conversations between new acquisitions, infrequently seen works on paper, and permanent collection favorites take place throughout the Modern’s first floor. In the Grand Lobby, Andy Warhol’s Flowers, 1970, float above the smiling daisies in Takashi Murakami’s Kawaii! Vacances d’été: Perfect Time, 2018, a reminder that Pop art ranks high among Murakami’s inspirations. Around the corner, Anselm Kiefer’s Aschenblume, 1983–97, continues the theme of monumental works reacting to World War II. 

On a smaller scale, Lee Krasner’s lithograph Refractions, 1962, shows how she broke new ground in abstraction even after her husband, the Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock, began reintegrating figures into his work, as in the black-and-white Number 5, 1952, 1952, nearby. 

The Pollock and the Krasner have been part of the permanent collection for more than three decades. Wangechi Mutu’s The Seated III, 2019, is one of the most recent works acquired by the Modern. The figure joins two other bronze sculptures looking out over the pond, CLEAN SLATE, 2018, by KAWS, and Drape, 1999, by Joseph Havel. All three works combine familiar imagery with elements of surprise, an experience that recurs throughout the permanent collection installation. 

Senior Curator Andrea Karnes speaks about the installation of works in the Modern's Gallery 14 in this video.

For more works on view, visit our collection online.