Becoming Bohemia: Greenwich Village, 1912–1923

During the 1910s an extraordinary gathering of groundbreaking artists, writers, radicals, reformers, and free spirits from across the United States and Europe settled in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, lured there by inexpensive housing and the promise of a relaxed, permissive atmosphere in which to work. Though harboring diverse creative and personal agendas, these iconoclastic transplants shared an impulse to upend not only the established principles of their respective arts but also the era’s social conventions and political status quo. 

Drawn from collections across The New York Public Library, Becoming Bohemia: Greenwich Village, 1912–1923 surveys key individuals, places, events, and works that defined America’s first large-scale countercultural enclave, while also noting factors that led to the decline of this vibrant, storied setting.

This exhibition is organized by The New York Public Library and curated by Michael Inman, Susan Jaffe Tane Curator of Rare Books.

Following your visit to the exhibition, you can choose from a selection of books by and about individuals represented in the exhibition for purchase in the Library Shop on the first floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

Visit the Library Shop Online

The New York Public Library is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and creators in New York and worldwide. With more than 46 million objects in our research collections and the unparalleled expertise of our librarians, anyone can come and find what they need for their work—for free. Learn more about research at NYPL.

Interested in conducting your own historical research on Greenwich Village? The Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy is a premier resource for researchers of all levels, focusing on U.S. history, local history, the history of New York City, and genealogy. Learn more about this division.

Access materials related to Becoming Bohemia in the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, including an October 1916 issue of The Ink Pot.

Access the exhibition's large-print labels.

Becoming Bohemia: Greenwich Village 1912–1923 | Wachenheim Gallery labels

Becoming Bohemia: Greenwich Village 1912–1923 | Ispahani-Bartos Gallery labels

Large-print labels are also available at the information desk in Astor Hall on the first floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

Exhibitions are necessarily collaborative endeavors, made possible by the time and talents of many individuals.  With that in mind, there are a number of people to whom I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks for their help in realizing this project.

To begin, I want to thank Tony Marx, President of The New York Public Library, Brent Reidy, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries, and Franses Rodriguez, Deputy Director of the Research Libraries, for their support to this exhibition.  

I am grateful, as well, to my colleagues in our Exhibitions department—Becky Laughner, Amanda Raquel Dorval, Carl Auge, Natalie Ortiz, Jake Hamill, Ryan Douglass, Jermaine Neal, Clayton Skidmore, Christopher Alzapiedi, Kelsey Glaser, and Henry Ballate.  Without their knowledge, skills, and tireless efforts, this exhibition could not have been brought to fruition.

I’m indebted to my colleagues in our Conservation Lab—in particular, Mary Oey, Ursula Mitra, Emily Müller, Addison Yu, Hanako Murata, Grace Owen, and Celia Cooper.  Their hard work in assessing and preparing manifold, diverse collection objects for display in our galleries never ceases to impress me.

Our Registrar’s Office—particularly Deborah Straussman, Caryn Gedell, and Martin Branch-Shaw—delivered their usual superhuman effort to move and track scores of exhibition objects as well as to help facilitate a number of loans from outside institutions.  For all of this (sometimes tedious) work, a big “thank you!” is in order.

Likewise, a big “thanks!” to my colleagues in Digital Imaging Services, Collections Access and Discovery, and Metadata Services—Rebecca Wack, Steven Crossot, Doran Walot, Jeanie Pai, Pete Riesett, Emily Hoffman, Jenny Jordan, Marietta Davis, Grattan Perea, Rebecca Baldwin, Kiowa Hammons, Zoe Waldron, Dina Selfridge, and Molly O’Brien—who either photographed selected objects featured in the exhibition or else dealt with rights, permissions, and metadata issues.  

Similarly, a hearty “thank you!” is well deserved by my colleagues in our Communications department—especially, Charles Arrowsmith, Tara Fedoriw-Morris, Laurie Beckoff, Sandee Roston, Lizzie Tribone, Rosalene Labrado-Perillo, Elizabeth Hays, Peter Frasco, Victoria Reis, and Maya Sariahmed—who have worked to promote this exhibition as well as to assist with the production of related A/V content.

A debt of gratitude is owed to my curatorial colleagues who generously shared their knowledge as well as made their collections available for this exhibition: Deirdre Donohue, Maggie Mustard, Madeleine Viljoen, Elizabeth Cronin, Margaret Glover, David Lowe, Jessica Cline, Joseph Vissers, Zulay Chang, Rebecca Szantyr, Vincenzo Rutigliano, Alvaro Lazo, Carolyn Vega, Julie Carlsen, Emma Davidson, Patrick Kingchatchaval, Ian Fowler, Andy McCarthy, Jason Baumann, Doug Reside, Annemarie van Roessel, Kevin Parks, and Jessica Wood.  

Lastly, I would be remiss for failing to mention my colleagues in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books, SASB, who offered their wise counsel and put up with my incessant chattering about this exhibition: Julie Golia, Michelle McCarthy-Behler, Kyle Triplett, Tal Nadan, Cara Dellatte, Leah Johanson, Emmanuel Valerio, Jessica Salinas, and John Cordovez.

A number of individuals from outside The New York Public Library are owed a round of thanks:

Mim Harrison for her thoughtful, diligent copyediting; former colleagues Declan Kiely and Susan Rabbiner, who helped guide this exhibition during its earliest stages; talented mount-maker Beth Brideau; and the exhibition’s designers, Paul Carlos, Urshula Barbour, Giedre Kavalyauskas, and Filza Khan of Pure + Applied.  

A very special “thank you!” goes to illustrator Ana Müshell, whose stunning artwork graces the gallery spaces, bringing the exhibition’s subject matter to life.

We also thank our friends at The New-York Historical Society, the Museum of the City of New York, and NYU Special Collections, for graciously agreeing to loan objects from their collections to this exhibition.

And last but not least, I want to thank my wife, Susan Marcin, and daughter, Violet, for their unflagging love and support.