Art in New York City is in museums, galleries, art fairs, parks, and on the street. Being a New Yorker is an art form in itself.
NADA New York is an Emerging Contemporary Art Fair
STARRETT-LEHIGH BUILDING, Chelsea, Manhattan 🇨🇦 🇨🇺 🇫🇷 🇲🇽 🇳🇬 🇵🇷 🇷🇴 🇿🇦
Carnegie Hall’s “Nuestros Sonidos” (Our Sounds) Festival of Latin Culture
Samuel Torres “A Dance for Birds” Colombian classical jazz 🇨🇴
“Crossover Dreams” starring Rubén Blades, Panamanian salsa movie 🇵🇦
Jenn Jade & Sexteto Sabroso Latin jazz 🇦🇷 🇨🇴 🇩🇴 🇵🇪 🇵🇷
World Premieres by Latin Composers, new chamber music 🇦🇷 🇩🇴 🇬🇹 🇵🇪
Gabriella Reyes, Mexican opera singer 🇲🇽
Cimafunk & La Tribu, Cuban funk/timba 🇨🇺
MIDTOWN, Manhattan and CITYWIDE
Future Fair 2025 Shows Contemporary Art From Diverse Emerging Galleries
CHELSEA INDUSTRIAL, Chelsea, Manhattan 🇨🇦 🇨🇷 🇮🇹 🇵🇷 🇺🇸
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair Shows African and African Diaspora Art
THE HALO, Financial District, Manhattan 🇧🇸 🇧🇷 🇨🇩 🇫🇷 🇭🇰 🇮🇹 🇯🇵 🇳🇬 🇿🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇸
TEFAF New York 2025 Brings Europe’s Leading Fine Art Antiques Fair to New York City
PARK AVENUE ARMORY, Upper East Side, Manhattan 🇧🇷 🇨🇦 🇨🇺 🇫🇷 🇮🇹
Independent New York 2025 is the New Yorker of New York Art Fairs
SPRING STUDIOS, Tribeca, Manhattan 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇪🇹 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇲🇽 🇷🇴 🇪🇸
Spring Studios is an Event Space With Integrated Marketing
Independent contemporary art fair 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇪🇹 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇲🇽 🇷🇴 🇪🇸
TRIBECA, Manhattan
IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair 2025 Features an Immersive Installation by Mickalene Thomas and a Panel Discussion on Black Artists in Mexico
PARK AVENUE ARMORY, Upper East Side, Manhattan 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇲🇽 🇪🇸
Hostos Center is One of America’s Top Latin Performing Arts Centers
Roots & Rebirth, Dominican Women in Art 🇩🇴
MOTT HAVEN, The Bronx
Sotheby’s May Art Auctions Include the Collections of Barbara Gladstone and Daniella Luxembourg, Plus Modern, Contemporary and Now Art
Modern auction 🇨🇺 🇫🇷 🇲🇽 🇪🇸
Daniella Luxembourg Collection auction 🇮🇹
Now and Contemporary auction 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇭🇹 🇵🇷 🇷🇴
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan
El Museo del Barrio is New York City’s main Caribbean and Latin American art museum. National Museum of the American Indian has a wonderful collection of Indigenous art from throughout the Americas. The Brooklyn Museum has an excellent African art collection. Hispanic Society has the world’s best collection of colonial Spanish art outside of Spain.
Most New York art institutions show some Latin art because of the importance of the Romans, Islamic Spain, Renaissance, and Modern Art on global culture. But the art world has recently acknowledged the value of Latin American art. The Cisneros Institute (a Venezuelan contribution) makes the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) one of the world’s most important Latin American art museums. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an encyclopedia of 5,000 years of human art and culture. The Whitney Museum of American Art stunned the art world with it’s recognition that Mexican muralists had a bigger influence on American art than the Europeans.
Thanks to the Brooklyn Museum for sponsoring Art in New York City.
MAY ART NYC
May brings the Frieze Week cluster of contemporary art fairs, and the May art auctions.
Modern Art Auction
Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction, including works by Cuban artist Lam, Mexican artist Tamayo, and Mexican artist Varo; goes on view at Sotheby’s showroom in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; on Friday, May 2, 2025, for auction on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 7pm. 🇨🇺 🇫🇷 🇲🇽 🇪🇸
Italian Art Auction
Im Spazio: The Space of Thoughts, an auction of mostly Italian masterworks from the collection of Israeli art dealer Daniella Luxembourg; goes on view at Sotheby’s in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; on Friday, May 2, 2025; for auction on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at 7pm. 🇮🇹
Contemporary and Now Art Auction
Sotheby’s The Now and Contemporary Evening Auction, including work by Basquiat goes on view at Sotheby’s showroom in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; on Friday, May 2, 2025, for auction on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at 7:30pm. 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇭🇹 🇵🇷 🇷🇴
Contemporary Art Fair
The Frieze New York 2025 contemporary art fair presents 67 galleries from over 25 countries; at The Shed in Hudson Yards, Manhattan; from Wednesday-Sunday, May 7-11, 2025. 🇺🇸 🇧🇷 🇨🇴 🇫🇷 🇬🇹 🇮🇹 🇲🇽 🇿🇦 🇪🇸
Contemporary Art Fair
Independent New York 2025, the New Yorker of New York City’s contemporary art fairs, presents over 118 artists from 85 galleries and a new curatorial initiative “Independent Debuts” featuring artists with no more than one solo show in New York and never in an art fair; at Spring Studios in Tribeca, Manhattan; with a vernissage on Thursday, May 8; and the public fair from Friday-Sunday, May 9-11, 2025. 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇪🇹 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇲🇽 🇷🇴 🇪🇸
African & Diaspora Art Fair
The 11th 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair 2025 presents 30 galleries of contemporary African and Diasporic; at The Halo at 28 Liberty St in Manhattan’s Financial District; during Frieze Week, with a VIP Preview on Thursday, May 8, 2025 for $100, and public hours from Friday-Sunday, May 9-11, 2025. $38. 🇧🇸 🇧🇷 🇨🇩 🇫🇷 🇭🇰 🇮🇹 🇯🇵 🇳🇬 🇿🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇸
MARCH ART NYC
Print Art Fair
The IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair 2025, the world’s largest art fair for prints and editions, presents 75 exhibitors including an immersive installation by renowned African American artist Mickalene Thomas, and a panel discussion on Black artists in Mexico focusing on Elizabeth Catlett and John Wilson; at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan’s Upper East Side; with a VIP Preview on Thursday, March 27, 2025, and public hours from Friday-Sunday, March 28-30, 2025. From $30. 🇺🇸 🇲🇽
FEBRUARY ART NYC
Dominican Women’s Art
Roots & Rebirth, Dominican Women in Art, shows 22 contemporary artists expressing what it means to be part of the Diaspora Dominicana. The exhibition, curated by Austria Ulloa, opens with a reception at the Hostos Art Gallery at Hostos Center at Hostos Community College, in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, from 6-8pm. It continues through April 16, 2025. 🇩🇴
Latin Art Sponsors
Thank you for sponsoring Latin Art in New York City:
2024/2025 Sponsors
Past Sponsors
American Museum of Natural History
New York Tourism + Conventions
Throckmorton Fine Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
Art Museums in New York City
Bronx Museum of the Arts is a crossroads of Bronx culture. It exhibits art from Bronx communities.
Brooklyn Museum, in Prospect Park, has world-class collections of the art of Africa and The Americas.
El Museo del Barrio is New York’s Puerto Rican and Latin American art museum. 🇵🇷
Frick Collection has an outstanding collection of Old Master paintings, European sculpture, and decorative arts.
Fotografiska New York is the New York branch of the Swedish photography museum.
Guggenheim Museum New York is one of the world’s great modern art collections. 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇵🇹 🇪🇸
Hispanic Society is a research library and art museum that holds the most important collection of Hispanic art outside of Spain. 🇪🇸
Jewish Museum shows Jewish art and culture from around the world. ✡️
Met Cloisters is the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of medieval European art, architecture, and gardens.
Metropolitan Museum of Art is New York’s encyclopedia of art and culture.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is one of the world’s great collections of modern art, contemporary art, film, and Latin art. The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Research Institute for the Study of Art from Latin America (Cisneros Institute) makes MoMA a world center of Latin American contemporary art.
National Museum of the American Indian New York (Smithsonian) is one of the great collections of art that is Native American or Indigenous of the Americas. Many exhibits are designed for education, and presented in both English and Spanish. It’s Free.
Queens Museum exhibits art that is representative of the people of Queens.
Studio Museum in Harlem exhibits art of the African Diaspora. In 2024, a new building is under construction.
Whitney Museum of American Art exhibits modern, post-war and contemporary art of the United States. It is a thought leader in American art history.
Art Fairs in New York City
New York art fairs and major gallery exhibitions cluster around Frieze Week in May and Armory Week in September.
Affordable Art Fair New York is a fall and spring international contemporary art fair of work priced between $100 and $12,000. It’s a great place to start your art collection.
The Armory Show, contemporary and modern art fair, brings international Latin and African art galleries to New York City, and anchors Armory Week, the start of New York City’s fall art season.
The Art Show (ADAA) brings America’s top galleries to New York City.
Frieze New York is NYC’s big spring contemporary art fair. Frieze Week anchors New York City’s spring art season.
Independent New York is a contemporary art fair produced by insiders from New York City’s own art community. It’s the New Yorker of New York art fairs.
Independent 20th Century is a September contemporary art fair that highlights previously unrecognized Black, Indigenous, Latin, and Women artists.
Master Drawings New York is an art fair of Upper East Side galleries showing Old Masters and New Masters, in January.
Outsider Art Fair shows self-taught art, art brut, and outsider art in February.
TEFAF New York is the American edition of Europe’s leading fine art antiques fair. It’s usually in May.
Winter Show is one of America’s leading art, antiques, and design fairs in January.
New York Latin Art Scene
New York City has been the world art capital since 1945, and is now the world capital of Latin art.
Frieze Week in May, Armory Week in September, and the May and November art auctions are pillars of New York’s art scene. The Cisneros Institute at the Museum of Modern Art makes New York the world capital of Latin American contemporary art.
The City’s museums and galleries are important, but so are the art fairs and art auctions.
New York City art districts:
- Chelsea is the latest.
- Lower East Side is up-and-coming.
- SoHo is commercial art and photography.
- 57th Street is big time.
- Upper East Side has Museum Mile, high-end Madison Avenue galleries, and Old Masters galleries.
Latin Art Galleries in NYC
Latin art galleries:
- Americas Society
- Hutchinson Modern & Contemporary 🇮🇹 🇦🇷
- Instituto de Visión 🇨🇴
- Institute for Studies in latin American Art (ISLAA)
- Leon Tovar Gallery 🇨🇴
- Marlborough New York 🇪🇸
- Mary-Anne Martin Fine Art 🇲🇽
- Mexican Cultural Institute New York (MCINY) 🇲🇽
- Nara Roesler 🇧🇷
- Praxis 🇦🇷
- Throckmorton Fine Art 🇲🇽
Art Auctions in NYC
The May and November art auctions are pillars of New York City’s art world. Auction exhibitions are museum-quality, open to the public, and free. The online catalogs are excellent too.
Christie’s New York, in Rockefeller Center, is one of the world’s leading auction houses.
Sotheby’s New York, in the Upper East Side, is one of the world’s leading auction houses.
About Latin Art
Like most human culture, art begins as an expression of faith to ease the journey through life and death. From there it grows into a hundred flowers.
If you open your eyes, there is great art everywhere. In a way, being a New Yorker is an art form in and of itself.
Looking at Latin Art
If you look at American art (especially Latin American Art) the same way you look at European art, your own bias will blind you. We have different world views.
The art world now sees that one isn’t better than the other. European art is more European, American art is more American. Whether art is made from diamonds or garbage is irrelevant. In fact art made from garbage is probably more real. Diamonds are a sucker’s artifice.
Latin Art’s Influence on American Art
In February of 2020, the Whitney Museum of American Art recast art history by stating that the biggest influence on the development of American art was not the European schools, it was the Mexican Muralists. Let that sink in. 🇲🇽
The Most Famous Latin Art in New York City That You Will Never See
Diego Rivera’s “Man, Controller of the Universe” (1934), in the Palacio de Bellas Arts in Mexico City is Rivera’s recreation of his own “Man at the Crossroads” from the atrium of 30 Rock in Rockefeller Center.
Nelson Rockefeller had it destroyed in 1933 because it includes a portrait of Lenin. He replaced it with José Maria Sert’s “American Progress” which is still there today.