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

This is an online version of the recent Alfred Cohen exhibition at Bush House, London, co-curated by Max Saunders and Sarah MacDougall.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Alfred Cohen Art Foundation, the Ben Uri Research Unit (part of Ben Uri Gallery and Museum), the Sainsbury Centre, the Centre for American Art at The Courtauld Institute of Art, and the Culture Team and the Centre for Life-Writing Research at King’s College London.

Alfred Cohen (1920-2001) came to Europe after the Second World War, arriving in London in 1960. This exhibition celebrates Cohen's centenary, charting the main phases of his career. It highlights his reflections on key modern art movements — Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Expressionism, and Abstraction — resulting in a powerful body of distinctive work. His exhibitions of panoramic Thames riverscapes and powerful commedia dell'arte figures were critically acclaimed and sold out, often to celebrity clients. Later, he moved to the country, focusing on the British landscape and the Channel coasts, interiors, people, and flowers. 

An accompanying book, illustrating more of Cohen's work, and with contributions from leading curators, art historians, critics and writers, is available online, or from the Alfred Cohen Art Foundation.