Sketches on a restaurant napkin, a notebook draft of “Hallelujah”, black and white Polaroid snapshots of his naked chest: the late Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen kept it all for posterity. Now, a curator with the Art Gallery of Ontario has convinced the Cohen estate to dig into the icon’s personal treasures and stage a never-before-seen exhibit of the very personal collection.

Cohen’s two children did not cooperate—in fact, they are embroiled in legal proceedings with Cohen’s former manager over control of their late father’s $48-million (USD) estate and holdings.

The exhibit’s curator, Julian Cox, took The CJN Daily on a private tour of the exhibit, titled “Everybody Knows”, where host Ellin Bessner became surprisingly moved while seeing the intimate ephemera of the internationally renowned composer and troubadour.

What we talked about:.

** **Learn more about the Leonard Cohen exhibit on the AGO website.
Read The CJN’s review of the 2017 Montreal “A Crack in Everything” exhibit, still on until 2024, virtually.
Why Michael Posner wrote three books about Cohen, on The CJN Daily.

Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.

The museum curator behind the new Leonard Cohen exhibit at The AGO gives The CJN a private tour