Friends Who Came to See Me: Drawings from John Ashbery’s Collection New York Performances

At The Morgan Library & Museum, “Friends Who Came to See Me: Drawings from John Ashbery’s Collection” presents works the New York poet lived with, tracing a private network of artists and friendships that shaped his daily visual world. The selection reads less like a survey than a record of attention, showing how drawings can function as letters, souvenirs, and working thoughts. Ashbery’s long presence in New York makes the show a local cultural footnote with real weight. One clear takeaway: it treats collecting as a form of authorship, not mere accumulation.