gallery opened in Mexico City in 1964 to house works by modern artists. The museum's contemporary circular building features large domes and wedge-shaped exhibit areas. Until the early 1970s, the art was arranged according to historical periods; afterward the museum increasingly featured the paintings, sculptures, and other works of noted post-Revolutionary Mexican artists including Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo. Also shown are Mexican and international permanent collections.

A branch of the National Institute of Fine Arts, the Museum of Modern Art sponsors lectures, film showings, and discussions. The museum publishes a quarterly magazine, Artes Visuales (“Visual Arts”).

comprehensive collection of primarily American and European art ranging from the late 19th century to the present that was established in New York City in 1929. The museum's holdings of Cubist, Surrealist, and Abstract Expressionist paintings are especially extensive. Besides paintings, sculpture, and graphic art, the museum specializes in industrial design, architecture, photography, and motion pictures.

The 1939 museum building by Philip Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone was later expanded with an addition designed by Philip Johnson, who also planned the garden in 1953. A condominium tower and a west wing that doubled the museum's exhibition space were completed in 1984.