Van Gogh at MoMA
Starry Nightits diurnal counterpart of olive trees and four more fragile works on paper: this is exactly what the Museum of Modern Art keeps, what is visible today and how to organize the visit.
Museum icon: Saint-Rémy, June 1889 · oil on canvas · room 501.
Go directly to 5th floor, gallery 501 : Starry Night and The Olives are indicated in the room.
Two oils, a portrait and three prints or lithographs.
The status of works on paper and of Roulin is "Not on view".
Midtown Manhattan, between Fifth and Sixth Avenue.
MoMA has more than Starry Night
The MoMA online collection lists six works by Vincent van Gogh. But "belonging to the museum" does not necessarily mean "being hung today".
On July 18, 2026, official notices indicate Starry Night and The Olive Trees in room 501. Sorrow, the lithography of Potato eaters, the portrait of Joseph Roulin and the etching of Doctor Gachet are indicated out of presentation.
Prepare a visit without wasting time
MoMA is large and busy. If Van Gogh is your priority, go up to the fifth floor first before going through the rest of the collection chronologically.
11 West 53 Street
Main entrance on 53rd Street, near Sixth Avenue. Metro E or M, station 5 Av/53 St.
10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m
Open daily, with late nights on Fridays until 8:30 p.m. Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
30 dollars
The ticket includes the collection and temporary exhibitions. Prices may change.
From the opening
The room of Starry Night fills up quickly. Members also have morning slots on weekends.
What MoMA actually retains
This list distinguishes the medium, date and status of presentation. Images correspond to works or their exact composition, without replacing a print with the more famous painting of the same subject.
Starry Night
IN THE ROOM · GALLERY 501To watch: the eleven stars, the great light spiral, the dark cypress and the spire of the church
Van Gogh starts from the view from Saint-Paul-de-Mausole but combines observation, memories and invention. The village does not literally correspond to the panorama visible from its window.
The Olive Trees
IN THE ROOM · GALLERY 501To watch: the gnarled trunks, the white cloud, the Alpilles and the circulation of curves
This canvas is the diurnal complement of the starry night. The terrain, trees and sky seem subject to the same undulatory energy.
Sorrow
EXCLUDING PRESENTATIONTo watch: the closed curve of the back, the hair that hides the face and the contrast between precise anatomy and distress
Van Gogh resumes his drawing by Sien Hoornik in lithography. The MoMA preserves a rare proof with an edition estimated at four copies.
The Potato Eaters
EXCLUDING PRESENTATIONTo watch: the inversion of the composition, the unique lamp and the faces constructed almost entirely by black
This is not the great oil of Amsterdam. The MoMA has a lithograph, printed in eighteen known copies, where the scene is reversed.
Portrait of Joseph Roulin
EXCLUDING PRESENTATIONTo watch: the blue of the uniform, the beard punctuated with colorful touches and the almost decorative plant background
Roulin was a postal worker and close to Van Gogh. This late version transforms his face into a modern portrait, based less on resemblance than on the power of color.
Portrait of Dr. Gachet (Man with a Pipe)
EXCLUDING PRESENTATIONTo watch: the pipe, the lowered gaze, the tight hatching and the space left white around the bust
The MoMA retains an impression of the unique etching made by Van Gogh. It should not be confused with the two painted portraits of the doctor with foxglove.
Why Starry Night is she at MoMA?
The museum acquired the painting in 1941 thanks to the Lillie P. Bliss bequest, by exchange. It becomes one of the most identifiable images of modern art and an almost obligatory crossing point on the fifth floor.
The canvas was painted in several sessions during the day, based on a nocturnal experience. Van Gogh observes certain real elements - including the presence of Venus - but brings the cypress closer together, invents the village and intensifies the light of the stars.
It is therefore neither a photograph of the sky nor a pure hallucination. It is a constructed composition where the observed shapes are "unraveled" and reorganized by memory, drawing and color.
See reproductionThe cypress
It connects the ground to the sky and closes the left edge like a dark flame.
The spiral
It gives a trajectory to the gaze without literally describing a precise cloud.
Venus
The very luminous star to the left of the center corresponds to an astronomical reality from spring 1889.
The village
Its sharp bell tower evokes more the painter's native North than an exact Provençal village.
The hills
The Alpilles resume the movement of the sky in a slower and heavier cadence.
The material
The visible touches make the painting as present as the landscape depicted.
Three nights, three constructions
Starry Night moma is neither the view of the Rhône preserved in Orsay, nor the yellow terrace of Arles. Comparing the three reveals the evolution of the night sky in Van Gogh.
MOMA · SAINT-RÉMY, 1889Starry NightRecomposed village, monumental cypress and sky transformed into cosmic movement.See reproduction →
ORSAY · ARLES, 1888Starry Night on the RhôneReflections of gas in the Rhône, constellation above the city and two figures in the foreground.See reproduction →
KRÖLLER-MÜLLER · ARLES, 1888Café terrace in the eveningA night without black dominated by the yellow of the terrace and the deep blue of the street.See reproduction →
The olive trees move under the same sky
Van Gogh together mentions a landscape of olive trees and a new study of starry skies. MoMA today brings these two paintings together in gallery 501.
The clear cloud responds to the night spiral. The twisted trunks repeat the vertical thrust of the cypress. The Alpilles form a common line of force, while the ground wrinkles like living matter.
Seeing the two works side by side allows you to overcome the isolated celebrity of Starry Night : Van Gogh studied the same territory at different times, varying the colors and the tension of the contours.
Explore the olive trees
A 90-minute route centered on Van Gogh
Go straight up to the fifth floor, then back down chronologically. This strategy avoids arriving exhausted in front of the most popular work.
Start with gallery 501 to see Starry Night and The Olives. Back up first to grasp the masses, then move closer to observe the key directions.
Continue in the neighboring rooms towards Cézanne, Gauguin and Seurat: MoMA does not present Van Gogh as an isolated genius but as an actor in a collective transformation of painting.
Then descend to Matisse, Picasso and 20th century art. You will see how autonomous color, active surface and fragmentation of space prolong the problems already visible in Van Gogh.
Gallery 501
Look at the night and the olive trees together before photographing.
Modern neighbors
Compare Gauguin, Cézanne and Seurat to put Van Gogh back in the 1880s.
From Fauvism to Cubism
Follow the release of color and the reconstruction of space.
Sculpture garden
End with an outdoor break before contemporary floors.
Seven other major MoMA paintings
Van Gogh benefits from being placed back in the entire museum route. Here are seven paintings actually preserved by MoMA, with their room or their status checked on July 18, 2026.
The Great Bather
The massive figure of the bather transforms the nude into architecture. In the same room as Van Gogh, watch how Cézanne stabilizes the body in volumes when Van Gogh sets the landscape in motion.
Honfleur, one evening, mouth of the Seine
An almost silent estuary landscape, constructed in small, regular touches. Seurat's restraint makes the swirling energy of Starry Night.
Still life with three small dogs
The table tilts, the puppies mingle with the objects and Japanese prints emerge in the framing. An excellent transition between still life, Japonism and decorative surface.
The Red Workshop
Red covers almost everything and transforms the workshop into a field of color. Compare this unified surface to Van Gogh's active contours and the rhythms of his touch.
Water lilies (Agapanthus)
The monumental triptych dissolves the horizon in water, clouds and plants. You have to look at it from afar for the general rhythm, then up close for the material recovery.
Broadway Boogie Woogie
New York becomes a light grid inspired by the streets and boogie-woogie. The small colored rectangles give the painting an almost musical pulsation.
Self-portrait with short cut hair
Kahlo represents herself after her separation from Diego Rivera, cut hair and male costume. The portrait combines biographical decision, painted text and symbolic construction.
To add if you have more time: The Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso (gallery 502), The Persistence of Memory de Dalí (gallery 517), Gas by Edward Hopper (gallery 519) and Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth (gallery 521). Their presence in the room is indicated by the official notices, but the hanging may change.
Collection or exhibition?
The table below avoids confusion between the number of works recorded and the number of works visible during a regular visit.
| Work | Date | Technique | Status as of July 18, 2026 | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starry Night | June 1889 | Oil on canvas | In the room, gallery 501 | The Saint-Rémy icon and one of the central images of MoMA. |
| The Olive Trees | June - July 1889 | Oil on canvas | In the room, gallery 501 | The diurnal complement of the starry night. |
| Sorrow | 1882 | Lithograph | Excluding presentation | An extremely rare event from the Hague period. |
| The Potato Eaters | 1885 | Lithograph | Excluding presentation | Nuenen's composition in a printed and inverted version. |
| Portrait of Joseph Roulin | Early 1889 | Oil on canvas | Excluding presentation | A manifesto of modern portraiture through color. |
| Portrait of Dr. Gachet | 1890 | Etching | Excluding presentation | The only subject engraved by Van Gogh in Auvers. |
Before and after MoMA
Nine reproductions to compare the motifs visible in New York with other nights, landscapes and portraits of Van Gogh.
MOMAStarry NightThe flagship work, painted in Saint-Rémy in June 1889.See reproduction →MOMA · EXACT SUBJECTOlive grove, Saint-RémyThe diurnal counterpart of the olive trees and the Alpilles.See reproduction →MOMA · PORTRAITJoseph RoulinThe series of portraits of the postman and his family.See reproduction →
MOMA · ASSOCIATED COMPOSITIONPotato EatersNuenen's great composition to compare with lithography.See reproduction →
MOMA · RELATED TOPICPortrait of Doctor GachetThe painted portrait allows us to measure what etching simplifies.See reproduction →ORSAYStarry Night on the RhôneAn urban and river night painted a year before Saint-Rémy.See reproduction →KRÖLLER-MÜLLERCafé terrace in the eveningNocturnal blue opposed to the artificial yellow of coffee.See reproduction →KRÖLLER-MÜLLERRoad with a cypress and a starOne last great night in Saint-Rémy.See reproduction →SAINT-RÉMYThe garden of the Saint-Rémy asylumThe enclosed garden from which a new vision of the landscape is built.See reproduction →
Continue by theme
COLLECTIONStarry NightsSaint-Rémy, the Rhône and the cafés of ArlesCOLLECTIONThe OlivesSaint-Rémy orchards, Alpilles and harvestsCOLLECTIONVan Gogh in Saint-RémyAsylum, mountains, cypresses and gardensCOLLECTIONPortraits of Van GoghRoulin, Gachet and modern facesCOLLECTIONPotatoesPeasants, interiors and the Nuenen periodCOLLECTIONAll Van GoghsLandscapes, portraits, flowers and night scenes
The sculpture garden completes the visit
After the concentration of Gallery 501, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden offers a change of scale and light. It also allows us to understand MoMA as a place built around circulation, framing and relationships between interior and exterior.
This break is particularly useful before tackling the floors devoted to post-1945 art. The museum is not limited to a series of masterpieces: its architecture constantly organizes the way in which we approach them.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to check before booking a ticket or building a Van Gogh route in New York.
Where is Van Gogh's Starry Night?
At the Museum of Modern Art in New York, 11 West 53rd Street. MoMA currently marks it on the fifth floor, gallery 501.
Is Starry Night still on display at MoMA?
It is indicated "On view" as of July 18, 2026. A loan or change of hanging remains possible: check the official notice just before the visit.
How many works by Van Gogh does MoMA have?
The artist's page features six works online: two painted landscapes, a painted portrait and three works printed on paper.
What works by Van Gogh are visible with Starry Night?
The Olive Trees also noted in room 501. The four other works in the collection are indicated out of presentation.
Are the MoMA Potato Eaters the famous painting?
No. MoMA preserves a lithograph from 1885. The great oil is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Is The Portrait of Doctor Gachet from MoMA a painting?
No. It's an etching showing the doctor with a pipe. Digital painted portraits can be found in other collections.
How much time to allow at MoMA?
Allow around 90 minutes for a tour centered on Van Gogh and neighboring rooms, or three to four hours for a broader discovery of the collection.
Check before you leave
Exhibition statuses, times and prices are subject to change. These institutional links are the references to reopen on the day of the visit.
MoMA · Vincent van Gogh
The six works online and their status.
MoMA · The Starry Night
Instructions, room, dimensions and origin.
MoMA · The Olive Trees
Notice and dialogue with the starry sky.
MoMA · Sorrow
Technique, dimensions and edition.
MoMA · The Potato Eaters
Nuenen's lithograph.
MoMA · Portrait of Joseph Roulin
Modern portrait and provenance.
MoMA · Portrait of Dr. Gachet
The etching of 1890.
MoMA · L’Atelier rouge
Matisse, room 506.
MoMA · Water Lilies
Monet, room 515.
MoMA · Frida Kahlo
Self-portrait, third floor.
MoMA · Timetables and tickets
Address, prices, nighttime and closures.
Gallery 501
Permanent hanging "French Landscapes and Interiors".
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