Rock’n’Roll 39-59

In 2007, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain presented Rock’n’Roll 39-59, an exhibition on the genesis and launch of rock’n’roll in the United States, from the boogie-woogie explosion in 1939 to the events of the late 1950s that marked the decline of what could be called the first golden age of rock’n’roll.
The exhibition catalog offers a chance to relive this founding cultural phenomenon in American history. Bringing together exceptional posters, records, and rare items from the day, it also places photography in the spotlight, notably through the photographs of Alfred Wertheimer, Bruce Davidson, Marion Post Wolcott, Ernest C. Withers, and William Eggleston. This exceptional iconography retraces the origins of rock’n’roll and guides us through the history of its main players.