Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the city's cultural district in a building designed by architect Tadao Ando which opened to the public in 2002.

The mission of the museum is "collecting, presenting and interpreting international developments in post-World War II art in all media."

The museum's current building was designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando and opened to the public on Saturday, December 14, 2002.

[3] The building features three long pavilions set into a reflecting pond and provides 53,000 square feet (4,900 m2) of gallery space for exhibitions.

The Permanent Collection includes more than 3,000 works with pieces by Pablo Picasso, Philip Guston, Anselm Kiefer, Robert Motherwell, Susan Rothenberg, Jackson Pollock, Martin Puryear, Gerhard Richter, Richard Serra, Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Cindy Sherman, Francis Bacon, and Andy Warhol.