7 Must-See Paintings at the Museum of Modern Art

Visitors to New York City can be overwhelmed with itineraries and get easily bogged down in rushing through venues. Guests visiting the Museum of Modem Art can see the most famous works in less than two hours. This guide will tell them about the must-see paintings and which floors to visit.

The Museum of Modern Art is a world-renowned museum in the heart of midtown Manhattan. It can be a daunting task to undertake to tour the entire space, which is comprised of can be found on the fourth and fifth floors of the museum.

All of the other space is kept for special exhibits, and may be interested in learning how to tour the museum if you only have two hours or less to spare. This guide will help you hit the highlights. The first three on the list are the "givens" - the three most visited and famous paintings out of the entire collection. The remaining four are personal picks because of their challenging and unique characteristics.

Visitors may recognize the swirling night sky, cypress trees, and stars from across the room. This is one of those iconic paintings that really is only most appreciated in person. The images seen online do not convey the brush strokes in the actual painting. Any image seen of Van Gogh's masterpiece is doomed to fall flat. When viewed in person, the viewer is transported immediately right into Van Gogh's room at Saint-Remy Asylum, where he was living at the time of this painting. The swirls that he used to create this painting are said to symbolize his madness. It does not seem to be much of a leap to reach that conclusion.

Water Lilies, Claude Monet, 1914 -1926:

This is a series of three panels that takes up one entire wall. The silvery pastels will lull you 100 years into the past, where dreamy picnics that lasted all day were the height of daily social events. The mood is calming, lazy, and ethereal. There is nothing particularly challenging about the series, the point is that it is a Monet.

Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali, 1931:

The famous Surrealist is at work here with images of melting clocks. He used to say that he painted dreams, but these dreams look more like nightmares. The only thing "real" in the entire work is the images of the cliffs in the background that were modeled after Dali's hometown of mysterious dead creatures. On top of his body, lies a melted clock. What does it mean? Is he telling us that time kills everything and leaves it to decay and rot?

The Serenity of the Scholar, Giorgio de Chirico, 1914:

Chirico formed Metaphysical Art, which preceded Surrealism. In this work, the hint of the scholar is seen in the large glasses on display and the back right profile shot of a man. The man appears to be surveying the city from a perch on high. A chimney emits smoke as if to hint that the city never sleeps. Shadows give an ominous look that calls the scholar's intentions into play. Is the scholar a benevolent watcher or is he an evildoer plotting his next move?

Gare Montparnasse (The Melancholy of Departure), Giorgio de Chirico, 1914:

Chirico modeled this painting on a train station near his home in Paris. There has been much debate about what the bananas are meant to symbolize that are shown in the bottom right comer of the painting. He never confirmed the hidden meaning, so it is anyone's guess. This is by no means have pointed out that his sense of perspective is skewed because, at the top of the picture, the wind appears to be originating from competing angles based on the smokestack of the train and the direction of the flags.

However, Dubai is not only about living a wealthy life, skyscrapers and sunshine. The city is also very rich in museums and art galleries. If unable to go abroad, you may also look at the best of them located in Dubai.