Works
Biography
Untitled, circa 1960
In 2022, The Guggenheim Museum honored Alex Katz with the artist’s first retrospective at the age of 95. Lesser known, his first wife, Jean Cohen was an important American painter whose work spanned six decades. When Katz and Cohen first married, the two lived in Cohen's apartment on West 6th Street in Manhattan, and they were members of the vibrant Tenth Street Artists Galleries during the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1950, Cohen and Katz were awarded Skowhegan Painting Award grants and began spending summers in Maine. In 1954, after spending three summers in rented houses nearby, Katz, Cohen, and Cohen’s painter friend Lois Dodd bought a house together outside the town of Lincolnville, on the seacoast near Camden. Together, Cohen and Dodd opened a gallery in an old barn on the property.
Cohen was a member of the Area Gallery and showed her work in the Tanager Gallery. In 1951, Katz held his first exhibition jointly with Jean Cohen at the Peter Cooper Gallery. Cohen exhibited at Tanager's first exhibition in 1952 and in several Tanager group exhibitions. She had a solo exhibition at Tanager Gallery in 1959.
In 1950, Cohen and Katz were awarded Skowhegan Painting Award grants and began spending summers in Maine. In 1954, after spending three summers in rented houses nearby, Katz, Cohen, and Cohen’s painter friend Lois Dodd bought a house together outside the town of Lincolnville, on the seacoast near Camden. Together, Cohen and Dodd opened a gallery in an old barn on the property.
Cohen was a member of the Area Gallery and showed her work in the Tanager Gallery. In 1951, Katz held his first exhibition jointly with Jean Cohen at the Peter Cooper Gallery. Cohen exhibited at Tanager's first exhibition in 1952 and in several Tanager group exhibitions. She had a solo exhibition at Tanager Gallery in 1959.
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