Met Breuer Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Met Breuer
MET Breuer Building (2019)
Established	March 18, 2016 (2016-03-18)
Dissolved	March 13, 2020 (temporary closure), June 23, 2020 (permanent closure)
Location	945 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Type	Art museum
Public transit access	Subway: at 77th Street Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M79 SBS

The Met Breuer (pronounced BROY-er) was a special art museum in New York City. It was located at 945 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. This museum was a branch of the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art, also known as the Met.

The Met Breuer focused on showing modern and contemporary art. It opened its doors in March 2016. The building it used was once home to the Whitney Museum of American Art. A famous architect named Marcel Breuer designed this building in 1966.

The art displayed at the Met Breuer came from the Met's huge collection. It featured both shows about single artists and exhibits that explored different themes. The museum closed for good in June 2020. This happened after it temporarily shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The building was then given to the Frick Collection to use while their main building was being fixed up.

History of the Met Breuer
Exhibitions at the Met Breuer
Images for kids
See also

History of the Met Breuer

Renovated lobby

The idea for the Met Breuer started in 2008. A kind person named Leonard Lauder helped make it happen. After three years of talks, the Met and the Whitney Museum agreed on the plan in 2011.

The Met Breuer officially opened in March 2016. This was part of a big $600 million plan to improve the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Architects Beyer Blinder Belle updated the building. The Met planned to spend $17 million each year to run this new museum. It was meant to help the main Met museum reach more people.

The Met had an eight-year lease for the building from the Whitney Museum. They also had the choice to keep it for another five and a half years. This meant they could have stayed until about 2029.

Sheena Wagstaff was in charge of the Met Breuer. She had worked at the Tate Modern before. She became the head of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Met in 2012. The director of the Met, Thomas P. Campbell, also strongly supported the project. He wanted the museum to be more modern and easy to access for everyone.

Campbell saw the Met as the biggest museum of its kind in the world. He believed the Met Breuer was important for connecting with people globally. Both Campbell and Wagstaff thought the Met Breuer building itself was a work of art.

The first shows at the Met Breuer were very interesting. One was about the artist Nasreen Mohamedi. Another was called "Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible." This exhibit showed artworks that were not fully completed. It included pieces from the Italian Renaissance to modern times. A special painting by Pablo Picasso from 1931 was shown for the first time. It was called Woman in a Red Armchair. Work by Kerry James Marshall was also featured.

In September 2018, the Met announced it would leave the Met Breuer early. They planned to move out in 2020. The Frick Collection would then use the space. This was because the Frick's main building needed renovations. The Met planned to leave in July after a show by Gerhard Richter.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed these plans. The museum had to close on March 13, 2020. This was just eight days after the Richter exhibit opened. In June 2020, it was announced that the Met Breuer would close forever. The Frick Collection still took over the building, as planned.