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

Cohen's interest in changing light effects drew him to mirrors, windows, shopfronts, and also to fires. Some are outdoors - bonfires, or the burning of stubble, then a common sight after harvests - or, more often, domestic fireplaces and studio stoves. He used the German word Gemütlichkeit to describe the feelings of comfort and good cheer, of being at home, that such fires can produce. In this painting of a village forge, the blacksmith is hard at work over the fire - a fellow-worker also making things with light. Cohen sets the light of the fire against that from the window, suffusing the workshop with a satisfying glow.