Met Museum Receives 500 Rare Vintage Guitars From Private Collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has received a landmark donation of over 500 vintage guitars, curated secretly over decades by guitarist and publishing heir Dirk Ziff along with advisor Perry Margouleff. This collection, spanning the golden age of American guitar making from 1920 to 1970, includes iconic instruments like Leo Fender’s first guitar and Les Paul’s 1941 Epiphone “Klunker,” highlighting the guitar's profound impact on music and culture. The collection will be unveiled in Spring 2027 as a permanent gallery, expanding the museum’s musical instrument holdings and showcasing the diversity and innovation in guitar design. Jayson Dobney, the Met’s curator of musical instruments, first encountered part of the collection in 2011 and has since worked closely with Ziff and Margouleff to bring it to public view. Meanwhile, in another significant musical preservation effort, the legendary punk zine Maximumrocknroll's extensive punk record archive has been relocated to Middle Tennessee State University's Center for Popular Music in Nashville, ensuring the survival and accessibility of an important facet of underground music history. Both acquisitions underscore a growing institutional commitment to preserving and celebrating diverse musical legacies.