The United States is home to some of the world’s most impressive art museums showcasing famous works and comprehensive collections. Whether you’re interested in the classics or the best of contemporary art, you’ll find it at one of these 10 museums, voted by readers as the best in the U.S. for 2023.
Photo courtesy of dani3315 // Getty Images
No. 10: Museum of International Folk Art - Santa Fe, New Mexico
Located in Santa Fe, this museum offers a home to “the art of the handmade,” as exemplified through the artistry and diversity of folk artists and traditions from throughout the world. The Museum of International Folk Art holds the most extensive collection of its kind, with over 130,000 objects from over one hundred nations and six continents, including textiles, toys, ceramics and carvings. Other diverse collections include artworks from Spanish colonial times, plus contemporary Hispanic and Latino offerings.
Photo courtesy of Getty Center
No. 9: Getty Center - Los Angeles, California
The Getty Center is the legacy of billionaire J. Paul Getty and a gorgeous paean to the arts. Perched high in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Richard Meier-designed complex is stunningly beautiful both outside and in. The museum's vast collection includes works by Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne and many other artistic masters, as well as ancient antiquities, modern sculptures, illuminated manuscripts and more.
Photo courtesy of Heard Museum
No. 8: Heard Museum - Phoenix, Arizona
The Heard Museum houses one of the world's largest collections of traditional and contemporary art from Native Americans, in particular those from groups with roots in the Southwest. A collection with tens of thousands of items as well as numerous events and festivals throughout the year keep visitors returning time and again.
Photo courtesy of Booth Western Art Museum
No. 7: Booth Western Art Museum - Cartersville, Georgia
The Booth Western Art Museum maintains the world’s largest permanent exhibition space for Western art – the building itself was designed to resemble a modern pueblo. The collection of paintings, sculptures, artifacts and photography focus on themes of the Civil War and American West, with works by American legends like Frederic Remington, Charles Russell and Andy Warhol.
Photo courtesy of E+ / South_agency
No. 6: Newfields - Indianapolis, Indiana
Known as "a place for nature and the arts," the 152-acre Newfields campus encompasses the Indianapolis Museum of Art and The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. The museum hosts temporary exhibitions, in addition to its permanent collection which includes works from Cezanne, Picasso, Rembrandt and O’Keeffe.
Photo courtesy of National Museum of Wildlife Art
No. 5: National Museum of Wildlife Art - Jackson, Wyoming
The National Museum of Wildlife is only two miles from Grand Teton National Park’s gateway and welcomes more than 80,000 visitors annually. 10Best Contributor Chez Chesak tells us, “Built into a hillside overlooking the National Elk Refuge, this museum was founded in 1987 to showcase artworks representing wild animals from around the globe. Their collection now includes more than 5,000 artworks and chronicles the history of wildlife in art.” Works by such prominent artists as Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol and John James Audubon are featured in the permanent collection.
Photo courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, entrance, photo © Abby Warhola
No. 4: Andy Warhol Museum - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
At the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, visitors have access to the world's largest collection of Warhol art and archives. Spread across eight floors, the collection includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, illustrations, prints and photographs covering Warhol's career from his early days as a student to his last years.
Photo courtesy of Courtesy MoCN Photo by Jason S.Ordaz
No. 3: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts - Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe’s IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts specializes in progressive works by contemporary Native artists, with a collection of some 7,500 pieces created from 1962 to the present. The museum is housed within the restored 1922 Pueblo Revival-style former Federal Building.
Photo courtesy of Catherine Smith
No. 2: American Visionary Art Museum - Baltimore, Maryland
Located next to downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is America’s official national museum and education center for self-taught and intuitive artistry. Created with materials from roots to toothpicks, farmers, homemakers, people without housing, and others have donated their art to this museum, transforming dreams and loss into works of art.
Photo courtesy of Eric Wheeler/Detroit Institute of Arts
No. 1: Detroit Institute of Arts - Detroit, Michigan
Housed within a Beaux Arts building, the Detroit Institute of Arts maintains a collection of some 65,000 works – among the largest and most comprehensive in the United States. Visitors can explore human creativity from across the globe as they explore more than 100 galleries, including the Center for African American Art, one of the first collections devoted to African American art at a major museum.
