The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest and fourth most visited art museums in the world. Located in New York City (USA). The museum exists at the expense of sponsors and donors with little government support. The museum was founded in 1870 by a group of American businessmen and art lovers (the Union League Club of New York). It first opened to the public on February 20, 1872. The first president was John Taylor Johnston, and the chief executive was publisher George Palmer Putnam. Its permanent collection includes more than two million exhibits, including a unique collection of Egyptian art and outstanding works of impressionist and post-impressionist painting.