Alfred Cohen: An American Artist in Europe - Between Figuration and Abstraction

The heavy black outlines, free brushwork and rich palette evoke the work of Chaïm Soutine and Georges Rouault, whom Cohen especially admired. They also suggest stained glass, as the setting sun makes the landscape glow. We can make out the horizon, the sun, farm buildings, fields and vegetation. But Cohen takes his painting further towards abstraction, making it difficult to distinguish field from path, crops from grass or trees, earth from stubble. Instead, he is concerned with how the forms, colours, and textures compose themselves.