Love and Devotion: Leonard Cohen’s life and ephemera shine at new AGO exhibit “Everybody Knows”

Everybody knows that you really do.”What is it about Leonard Cohen that still inspires such devotion beyond the words and music? Curated by Julian Cox, the AGO’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator, this is the first museum exhibition to present archival materials from the Leonard Cohen Family Trust. Organized by chronological episodes in Cohen’s life, the show begins with the artist’s childhood. Born in Montreal in 1934 to a well-respected Orthodox Jewish family, Cohen’s father died when he was only nine, an early loss that would shape his life. “He returned to them years later to reference them for inspiration, but also to recollect particular passages of his life.