Brooklyn Museum - NYC-MAP.COM

The Brooklyn Museum is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States, with collections that include American art, Egyptian art, classical and ancient Near Eastern art, feminist art, European art, and art from the Pacific Islands.

The museum often showcases works by artists representing minority groups and diverse cultural traditions. As a bonus, visitors can enjoy the museum’s garden, which features rare and beautiful plants, along with an exact replica of the original head of the Statue of Liberty.

History of the Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum was founded in 1895 as part of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the legendary late-19th-century architectural firm McKim, Mead & White. Originally intended to become the largest art museum in the world, the plan was never fully realized.

The museum blends the monumentality of classical architecture with modern interiors. The central atrium and bright galleries create a sense of openness and light. Sculptures and art installations greet visitors right at the entrance, immersing them in art from the very first steps.

Over the years, the museum has grown, expanded its collections, and become a cultural hub not just for Brooklyn but for all of New York City.

Collections and Exhibitions

The Brooklyn Museum’s holdings comprise about 1.5 million objects, representing different eras and cultures.

Ancient Egyptian Art

The museum houses one of the largest collections of Egyptian art in the U.S., including sarcophagi, mummies, jewelry, and fragments of temples. This collection contains more than 10,000 objects spanning over 4,000 years of history. Visitors can see multiple mummies, coffins, funerary masks, and everyday items buried with the deceased for the afterlife. These objects vividly illustrate the ancient Egyptians’ beliefs about life after death.

A significant part of the collection consists of papyri, stone inscriptions with hieroglyphics, inkwells, and writing tools. Highlights include excerpts from the Book of the Dead, legal documents, personal letters, and religious texts.

The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions on specific themes such as Women and Power in Ancient Egypt, The Art of the Mummy, and Symbols and Amulets.

American Art

The Brooklyn Museum’s American art collection spans from the colonial era to the present day, featuring works by artists such as John Singer Sargent, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Norman Rockwell.

Covering more than 300 years of history, the collection includes painting, sculpture, decorative arts, furniture, textiles, photography, and contemporary installations. The museum seeks to reflect the diversity of the American experience, highlighting both celebrated masters and previously underrecognized artists — including women, African Americans, immigrants, and members of other cultural communities.

One of the most famous works on display is The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago — a monumental installation honoring women’s contributions to world history. Its central element is a banquet table, with each place setting dedicated to an outstanding woman of Western civilization. Every setting is meticulously designed with her name, decorative motifs symbolizing her achievements, as well as a napkin, plate, cutlery, and glass.

The project pays tribute to creative forms traditionally associated with “women’s work” — embroidery, weaving, sewing, and ceramic painting — which for centuries were regarded as secondary to the “high” male-dominated arts like painting, sculpture, and architecture. This piece is the centerpiece of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art — the first of its kind in the world, founded in 2007.

European Art

Highlights of the European collection include works by Italian masters of the Late Gothic and Early Renaissance, as well as Dutch Golden Age paintings. Fans of Impressionism and Realism will find treasures from the French school of the 19th century, including works by Claude Monet.

African, Islamic, Asian, and Native American Art

The museum’s collections represent the cultural richness of global history:

African Art — One of the oldest and largest collections in the U.S., featuring masks, sculptures, textiles, ritual objects, and everyday items created by the Yoruba, Bamana, Fang, Kongo, and other peoples. The displays emphasize cultural, social, and spiritual significance, not just aesthetics.
Islamic Art — Spanning from Spain to India and from the 7th to the 20th century, this collection includes ceramics, metalwork, textiles, woodcarving, Qur’ans, and calligraphy from Iran, the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, and Central Asia.
Asian Art — Ranging from ancient China and India to Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, the collection features Buddhist and Hindu sculpture, Chinese bronzes, jade, porcelain, Japanese paintings, lacquerware, prints, and more.

Pacific Islands Art

The Brooklyn Museum’s Pacific collection began with the acquisition of 100 wooden figures and shadow puppets from New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia). Today it includes artifacts from numerous islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, including Hawaii and New Zealand.