Becoming Bohemia: Greenwich Village, 1912–1923

Becoming Bohemia: Greenwich Village, 1912–1923 explores the vibrant community of visionary artists, writers, radicals, and free thinkers who converged in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village during the 1910s. Attracted by affordable housing and a spirit of creative freedom, these pioneering figures—drawn from across the United States and Europe—challenged artistic norms, social conventions, and political boundaries, shaping America’s first major countercultural movement. Through materials from The New York Public Library’s collections, the exhibition highlights the people, places, and events that defined this transformative era, while tracing the forces that eventually brought its golden age to a close.