Woody Guthrie: People Are the Song
Woody Guthrie: People Are the Song
This exhibition tells the story of this great American troubadour and writer through an extraordinary selection of instruments, manuscripts, objects, photographs, books, art, and audiovisual media.
FREE
The Morgan Library & Museum
February 18, 2022 to May 22, 2022
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Exhibition details

The author of more than three thousand folk songs, Woody Guthrie (1912–1967) is one of the most influential songwriters and recording artists in American history. He is an icon of the Depression era and wrote the world’s most famous protest song, “This Land Is Your Land.” But he was not only a songwriter, and his subject matter extended well beyond labor politics. The full corpus of his creativity—including lyrics, poetry, artwork, and largely unpublished prose writings—encompassed topics such as the environment, love, sex, spirituality, family, and racial justice.

More details

The exhibition traces Guthrie’s life and career through his artistic response to several interrelated themes: place, politics, family, love, and spirituality. Running through these themes is an emphasis on Guthrie’s connection to “people”: to specific people in his life, historical figures of his era, and the anonymous workers, soldiers, and immigrants whose stories appear in so much of his music.

Location

The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave
New York, NY

Image: Woody Guthrie / photo by Robin Carson, courtesy of Woody Guthrie Archives