Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, Sculpture garden at Museum of Modern Art, Manhattan, United States.
The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden is a modern sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, featuring contemporary artworks placed among trees, water features, and stone pathways across a large outdoor space. The garden uses varied levels and is structured with marble walls, concrete floors, and weeping beech trees that create separate viewing areas for each work.
The garden was designed by Philip Johnson in 1953 as part of the Museum of Modern Art's expansion, incorporating principles from Japanese garden design. This approach set a new standard for how art museums could use outdoor spaces.
Sculptures by Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, and Anthony Caro sit among plants that shift with the seasons, creating a conversation between natural growth and art. The works respond to sunlight and greenery in ways that change throughout the day and year.
The garden remains open during regular museum hours and offers guided tours, with special events held on summer evenings. Visitors should know the space stays open in cooler or damper weather and looks different in each season.
The garden sits in a sunken area, which means visitors walk up and down different levels as they move through, making artworks appear smaller or larger from different angles. These level changes were a key part of the original design idea.
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