RUNNING THROUGH HEAVEN: Visions of Jack Kerouac Opens at The Grolier Club

The Grolier Club will present RUNNING THROUGH HEAVEN: VISIONS OF JACK KEROUAC, on view March 5 through May 16, 2026, in the Club’s second floor gallery. The exhibition examines the origins and evolution of Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) through approximately 65 objects from the collection of Grolier Club member Jacob Loewentheil.

The exhibition traces Kerouac’s life from childhood to his final years, highlighting unpublished letters, previously unknown manuscripts, annotated books from his personal library, first editions of his major works, photographs, drawings, and personal artifacts. An accompanying catalogue, published by The Grolier Club, will be available in spring 2026.

“This exhibition offers not just a portrait of a literary icon, but is, I hope, a chance for meditation on the enduring human desire to connect, to create, and to make sense of a world that rarely stands still,” said curator Jacob Loewentheil. “The works on view invite us to consider not just how a writer saw the world, but how he tried, imperfectly and urgently, to live in it.”

Among the highlights is a 1956 self-portrait drawing signed “Jean-Louis Kérouac,” created before the publication of On the Road in 1957. Letters on display include unpublished correspondence to Ed White and Neal Cassady, revealing Kerouac experimenting with language and autobiographical themes. A typed first draft of Visions of Gerard (c. late 1940s) offers insight into his reflections on his older brother Gerard, whose early death shaped his imagination and spiritual outlook.

Photographs on view include a 1930s image of Kerouac at football practice in Lowell, Massachusetts, and a 1957 snapshot by Allen Ginsberg of Kerouac in Tangiers holding a cat belonging to William S. Burroughs, taken during the period when Kerouac assisted with typing the manuscript of Naked Lunch. Paperback editions of On the Road and Tristessa illustrate how his work reached wider audiences beyond literary circles.

Also featured is a large ink and pastel drawing created to accompany his narrative poem Old Angel Midnight (c. 1960), depicting an angel above a clocktower in a dreamlike Lower East Side scene.

“There was a tension between Kerouac's public and private personae: the hype and the human,” said Loewentheil. “This exhibition shows a more vulnerable, reflective Kerouac, one concerned with friendships, family, and faith. The lives of Kerouac and his circle of friends weren't myths, but rather messy and very real, unfolding in public.”

Programming

The Grolier Club will host related free public programs, including a screening of Pull My Daisy on March 31 and a Kerouac symposium on May 6. Additional information is available at grolierclub.eventbrite.com.

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

THE SECOND PRINTING REVOLUTION: INVENTION OF MASS MEDIA
On view through April 11, 2026
Ground Floor Gallery

RISINGS: THE IRISH LITERARY REVIVAL AND THE MAKING OF A NATION
April 29–July 25, 2026
Ground Floor Gallery

Visiting The Grolier Club

47 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022
212-838-6690
www.grolierclub.org