1870年，一群银行家、商人、艺术家发起了建立大都会艺术博物馆的倡议，同年4月13日通过了《大都会艺术博物馆宪章》，确立建馆的目的是“为了鼓励和发展艺术在生产和日常生活中的应用，为了推动艺术的通识教育，并为大众提供相应的指导  。"

1871年，博物馆与纽约市商议后，得到中央公园东侧的一片土地作为永久馆址。其建筑的红砖新歌德式外型由美国建筑师卡尔弗特·沃克斯（Calvert Vaux）和合伙人Jacob Wrey Mould设计。沃克斯的大胆新歌德式设计不获欣赏，在建筑完成时被认为设计过时，更被博物馆的主席评为“一个错误”。

1872年2月20日，大都会艺术博物馆首次开放，当时位于纽约市第五大道681号的一幢大厦之内。一名铁路人员——约翰·泰勒·约翰斯顿（John Taylor Johnston）的个人艺术收藏品成为博物馆最早的馆藏，并且为首任总统提供服务，而出版商乔治·帕尔默·普特南成了创立时期的监督人。艺术家伊士曼·约翰逊担任博物馆的共同创办人。在他们的指导下，博物馆的馆藏，由最初的罗马石石棺和大部分来自欧洲的174幅绘画，迅速增长并填满了可用的空间。

1873年，博物馆采购了卢吉·帕尔玛·德·塞斯诺拉（Luigi Palma di Cesnola）所收集的赛浦路斯文物。同年，博物馆从第五大道搬迁到第14街128号道格拉斯大厦。可是新馆址很快就不敷应用。

1998年，朝鲜艺术展向公众开放，完成画廊致力于亚洲艺术的一大套房。这个古代近东艺术画廊向公众开放。

2006年，博物馆的建筑物总长度差不多400米，占地180000平方米，比1880年代的馆址大20倍。

2007年，在建筑的南部的几个重大项目的完成，最明显的是十五年的改造和希腊罗马艺术馆整个套件安装。海洋和美洲土著艺术在2007开画廊，以及新的画廊的第十九和第二十世纪早期的绘画和雕塑与鲁思和哈罗德D. URI教育中心。

2011年11月1日，博物馆的对于阿拉伯，土耳其，伊朗，中亚的新艺术画廊，后来南亚向公众开放。在博物馆的北侧，遇见的对于绘画、雕塑新美国翼画廊，和装饰艺术重新开放2012年1月16日，暗示美国翼改造的第三和最后阶段的完成。

在繁华的背后，全世界最杰出的博物馆之一却挣扎在资源的不确定和经费超额的边缘。大都会博物馆的财政赤字已经接近4000万美元，这也迫使其裁员约90人。在经历了数月的质疑和争议之后，饱受非议的纽约大都会艺术博物馆馆长托马斯·坎贝尔（Thomas P. Campbell）于2017年3月1日宣布辞职。坎贝尔自2009年初起开始担任该机构馆长一职，而他将于6月30日正式离职。

大都会艺术博物馆

 大都会艺术博物馆的展览大厅共有3层，分服装、希腊罗马艺术、原始艺术、武器盔甲、欧洲雕塑及装饰艺术、美国艺术、R.莱曼收藏品、古代近东艺术、中世纪艺术、远东艺术、伊斯兰艺术、19世纪欧洲绘画和雕塑、版画、素描和照片、20世纪艺术、欧洲绘画、乐器和临时展览18个陈列室和展室。服装陈列室是从原来的服装艺术博物馆发展而来的，1946年并入大都会艺术博物馆，单独成为一个部门，藏有17～20世纪世界各地服装1万多件，并设有图书资料室和供专业服装设计研究人员使用的设计房。

大都会艺术博物馆是纽约第五大道80到84街的一栋庞大建筑，内有5大展厅，为欧洲绘画、美国绘画、原始艺术、中世纪绘画和埃及古董展厅。馆内的陈列室共有248个，常年展出的几万件展品，仅是博物馆总库存的冰山一角——大都会博物馆的所有展品数量已达300万件。

阿斯特庭院

1981年春，中美合建的以中国苏州网师园殿春簃及其后院为模式的阿斯特庭院在该馆的东翼竣工落成，庭院的殿堂──"明轩"陈列了中国明代家具。

丹德神殿

埃及政府赠送美国的丹德神殿陈列在该馆的萨克勒大厅内，这是在埃及以外世界上仅有的一座埃及古神殿，1978年9月正式对外开放。

沃森图书馆

该馆的T.J.沃森图书馆于1964年建立。藏书18.5万余册，是世界上收藏艺术、考古书籍最完善的图书馆之一，供研究生、专业研究人员、访问学者使用。照片、幻灯图书馆藏幻灯片29万张，黑白照片25万张，彩色照片6000张，介绍世界艺术发展史。纺织品研究室有各种纺织品1.5万件，是时装设计人员理想的研究之地。博物馆还设有版画素描研究室、青少年博物馆、书店、观众中心、餐厅等。该馆定期出版《大都会艺术博物馆馆刊》等。

隐修院

大都会艺术博物馆分馆──隐修院于1938年创建，位于纽约市的福特·特赖恩公园，展出中世纪的艺术和建筑，包括雕塑、壁画、彩色玻璃、泥金写本、双角兽图案挂毯、圣物箱、圣餐杯、象牙制品、金属器。隐修院内还有修道院、教堂、花园。每天有中世纪音乐会演出，每周举办音乐会。每年观众达700万人次。

 2006年9月21日，美术馆举办的“水墨：中国的书写艺术”展览所展出的70件中国古今书画艺术家的作品。

2008年6月3日至9月1日，“制定一个世纪——摄影大师”摄影展览。讲述了摄影的第一个一百年的故事，通过关键人物塑造中的审美表现过程的工作。展示了十到十二的标志性作品的每一个艺术家传达的广义贡献的摄影。许多作品是从博物馆的2005收购吉尔曼收藏的画。

2009年9月5日，美国纽约大都会艺术博物馆举行的“丝竹：中国音乐与艺术”展在大都会艺术博物馆开幕，共展出公元前5世纪至今的60余件中国乐器和音乐艺术品。

2015年8月，大都会艺术博物馆服装艺术学院的春季特展《中国：镜花水月》 。

 大都会艺术博物馆藏有埃及、巴比伦、亚述、远东和近东、希腊和罗马、欧洲、非洲、美洲前哥伦布时期和新几内亚等各地艺术珍品330余万件。包括古今各个历史时期的建筑、雕塑、绘画、素描、版画、照片、玻璃器皿、陶瓷器、纺织品、金属制品、家具、古代房屋、武器、盔甲和乐器。

博物馆不仅展出绘画和雕刻，还展出花毯、乐器、服装以及装饰品。五大展厅分别是：欧洲绘画、美国绘画、原始艺术、中世纪绘画和埃及古董。

 The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the largest art museum in the United States and also a world famous museum. Located on 82 Avenue, Fifth Avenue, New York, USA, the museum is far away from the famous American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Astronomical Museum in New York. The American Museum of Nature mainly reviews the history of other animals in nature and meets the curiosity of human beings in exploring the unknown world, that is, outer space, while the Metropolitan Museum reviews the development of human civilization.

In 1870, a group of bankers, businessmen and artists launched the initiative to establish the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On April 13 of the same year, the Charter of the Metropolitan Museum of Art was adopted. The purpose of the establishment of the Museum was to encourage and develop the application of art in production and daily life, and to promote the general education of art. All provide corresponding guidance. "

In 1871, after consultation with New York City, the museum acquired a piece of land on the east side of Central Park as its permanent site. The new Gothic red brick appearance of the building was designed by American architect Calvert Walks and partner Jacob Wrey Mould. Vaux's bold new Gothic design was not appreciated. When the building was completed, it was considered outdated and was rated as "a mistake" by the chairman of the museum.

On February 20, 1872, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened for the first time in a building at 681 Fifth Avenue in New York City. A railroad worker, John Taylor Johnston's personal art collection, became the museum's earliest collection and served the first president, while publisher George Palmer Putnam became the supervisor of the founding period. Artist Eastman Johnson co-founded the museum. Under their guidance, Museum collections, from the original Roman sarcophagus and most of the 174 paintings from Europe, grew rapidly and filled the available space.

In 1873, the Museum purchased Cyprus cultural relics collected by Luigi Palma de Cessnola. In the same year, the museum moved from Fifth Avenue to 128 Douglas Building, 14th Street. But the new site soon became inadequate.

In 1998, the Korean Art Exhibition opened to the public and completed a suite of galleries dedicated to Asian art. This ancient Near East art gallery is open to the public.

In 2006, the total length of the museum buildings was almost 400 meters, covering an area of 180,000 square meters, 20 times larger than the site of the 1880s.

In 2007, several major projects in the southern part of the building were completed, most notably the 15-year renovation and installation of the entire package of the Greek and Roman Museum of Art. The Marine and Native American Art Gallery opened in 2007, as well as the new Gallery's 19th and early 20th Century Painting and Sculpture Education Centers with Ruth and Harold D. URI.

On November 1, 2011, the museum opened its Art Nouveau Gallery to the public in Arab, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and later South Asia. On the north side of the museum, the New American Wing Gallery of Painting, Sculpture and Decoration was reopened on January 16, 2012, suggesting the completion of the third and final stages of the American Wing Rebuilding.

Behind the prosperity, one of the world's most prominent museums is struggling on the edge of resource uncertainty and excess funding. The Metropolitan Museum has a budget deficit of nearly $40 million, which has forced it to lay off about 90 people. After months of questioning and controversy, Thomas Campbell, curator of the much-criticized Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, announced his resignation on March 1, 2017. Campbell has been the director of the agency since the beginning of 2009, and he will officially leave on June 30.

The exhibition hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art consists of three floors: clothing, Greek and Roman art, primitive art, armor and weapons, European sculpture and decorative art, American art, R. Lehman collection, ancient Near East art, medieval art, Far East art, Islamic art, 19th century European painting and sculpture, printmaking and sketching. And 18 showrooms and galleries for photographs, 20th century art, European paintings, musical instruments and temporary exhibitions. Garment showroom was developed from the original Garment Art Museum. It was merged into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1946 and became a separate department. It has more than 10,000 garments from all over the world from 17 to 20 centuries. It also has a library and a design room for professional garment design researchers.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a huge building on 80th to 84th Streets of Fifth Avenue in New York. It has five exhibition halls, including European painting, American painting, primitive art, medieval painting and Egyptian antique exhibition hall. There are 248 showrooms in the museum. Tens of thousands of exhibits are on display all the year round. They are just the tip of the iceberg in the museum's total inventory. The number of exhibits in the Metropolitan Museum has reached three million.

Astor Court

In the spring of 1981, the Astor Courtyard, built jointly by China and the United States, was completed on the eastern wing of the Courtyard. The "Ming Xuan", the palace of the Courtyard, displayed the furniture of the Ming Dynasty.

Dante Temple

The Dande Temple, presented to the United States by the Egyptian government, is displayed in the Sacramento Hall of the Hall. It is the only ancient Egyptian temple outside Egypt. It was officially opened to the public in September 1978.

Watson Library

The T.J. Watson Library was established in 1964. With a collection of more than 185,000 books, it is one of the most perfect libraries in the world for collecting art and archaeological books for postgraduates, professional researchers and visiting scholars. Photos and slide libraries collect 290,000 slides, 250,000 black-and-white photographs and 6,000 color photographs to introduce the history of world art development. Textile lab has 15,000 pieces of various textiles, which is an ideal place for fashion designers to study. The museum also has a printmaking sketch research room, a youth museum, a bookstore, an audience center, a restaurant and so on. The Museum regularly publishes Metropolitan Museum of Art Magazine, etc.

Hermitage

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a branch of the Hermitage, was founded in 1938 at Ford Truen Park in New York City. It exhibits medieval art and architecture, including sculptures, murals, stained glass, mud-gold scripts, Bicorn tapestries, sacred object boxes, communion cups, ivory products and metal objects. There are also monasteries, churches and gardens in the hermitage. There are medieval concerts every day and weekly concerts. The audience reaches 7 million people every year.