The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially known as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City, the fourth-largest museum in the world by floor area and the largest art museum in the Americas, drawing 5,727,258 visitors in fiscal year 2025. Founded in 1870 by a group of American philanthropists, artists and businessmen with the goal of creating a national institution to inspire and educate the public, its main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue along Museum Mile was first built in 1880 and has since grown to roughly 2 million square feet, making it one of the world's largest art museums. Its permanent collection, divided into 17 curatorial departments and numbering roughly 1.5 million works, spans from the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt through classical antiquity to the contemporary world, and the museum also maintains a second site, The Cloisters in Upper Manhattan, devoted to medieval European art, architecture and artifacts.
Facts
Year Created1880 is the first portion only; the Beaux-Arts Fifth Avenue facade, Great Hall and Grand Stairway were added in the late 1890s-1900s, with the wings completed in 1910. Location1000 Fifth Avenue, Museum Mile, Manhattan's Upper East Side, New York City 1 Architectural StyleBeaux-Arts (Fifth Avenue facade, Great Hall and Grand Stairway) 1 Structural System Primary MaterialRed brick and stone (earliest, 1880 building) 1 Building TypeEncyclopedic art museum 1 Commissioned ByA group of American philanthropists, artists and businessmen who founded the museum in 1870 1 Construction Floor Area (sqm)Approximate total for the main Fifth Avenue building only. Current UseEncyclopedic art museum; the largest art museum in the Americas 1 Visitor Access$25 admission for out-of-state and foreign visitors (as of March 2018), ending a century-old free-admission policy 1 Connections
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Source Metropolitan Museum of Art (Wikipedia)
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Source Metropolitan Museum of Art (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articletier 2Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City.
Sources
1. Metropolitan Museum of Art (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIntroduction
The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums.
Introduction, first building phase
The first portion of the approximately 2-million-square-foot (190,000 m2) building was built in 1880.
Architecture, Beaux-Arts facade
The Fifth Avenue facade, Great Hall, and Grand Stairway were designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Richard Morris Hunt and his son, Richard Howland Hunt, in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
Architecture, first building material
The first part of the Met to be built was a red-brick and stone "mausoleum" designed by American architect Calvert Vaux and his collaborator Jacob Wrey Mould.
Architecture, steel frame
The steel structure of the building was designed by London-born architects Edward C. and George K. Radford.
Introduction, museum type
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City.
Introduction, founding
The museum was established by a group of Americans, including philanthropists, artists, and businessmen, with the goal of creating a national institution that would inspire and educate the public.
Lead section
By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas.
Finances
The museum admission price as of March 2018 is $25 (~$32.00 in 2025) for out-of-state and foreign visitors
Lead section
By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5,727,258 visitors in fiscal year 2025, it was the most-visited museum in the United States and the fifth-most visited art museum in the world.
In Form: Architecture, Lead sentence
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City.
In Group: Art Museums and Galleries, Lead
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City.
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