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A delightful selection from the collection of American poet John Ashbery, made up primarily of gifts from his artist friends and collaborators, with an eclectic mix of works on paper from the mid-nineteenth century to the twenty-first.

Living in New York and Paris, the poet John Ashbery (1927–2017) formed enduring friendships with artists, including Jane Freilicher, Larry Rivers, Jean Hélion, Niki de Saint Phalle, Joe Brainard, James Bishop, and Fairfield Porter. They gave Ashbery artworks that later filled the home he shared with his husband, David K. Kermani. This book presents works on paper from Ashbery’s collection, a selection of which Kermani gave to the Morgan Library & Museum, with an illuminating essay and catalogue entries that trace the friendships connecting some of the most influential figures in arts and letters of the last half century. Accompanying the works of Ashbery’s collaborators are nineteenth-century drawings by Constantin Guys and a watercolor from the 1920s by Jan Matulka, showcasing Ashbery’s eclectic taste and unique collector’s eye, as well as Ashbery’s own work with one of his first collages made as an undergraduate student.

Featuring works by John Ashbery, James Bishop, Norman Bluhm, Joe Brainard, Francesco Clemente, Jane Freilicher, Suzan Frecon, Red Grooms, Constantin Guys, Jean Hélion, R. B. Kitaj, Jan Matulka, Rodrigo Moynihan, Philip Pearlstein, Fairfield Porter, Larry Rivers, Anne Ryan, Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, and Trevor Winkfield.

Published by the Morgan Library & Museum.

This catalog accompanies the exhibition Friends Who Came to See Me: Drawings from John Ashbery’s Collection on view at the Morgan Library & Museum May 1 through October 25, 2026.