WHAT THOUGHTS LOOK LIKE

THE FABRIC OF JOHN COHEN’S LIFE

OCTOBER 22 - DECEMBER 22, 2022


Gospel Church, Harlem, 1958

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Gospel Church, 1958

Gelatin silver print, printed 1958-1960

Print size: 13 3/8 x 9 1/8 inches

Mounted to board. Signed, titled, dated, “print from Image Gallery” in pencil,
and artist’s copyright stamp in ink on mount verso

(P5313JC)


Untitled(children running, New Haven), 1955

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Untitled(children running, New Haven), 1955

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 11 x 14 inches

Mounted on dark board

Signed, dated, and “Credit John Cohen” in ink on print verso

(P5375JC)


Josef Albers at Yale, 1955

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Josef Albers at Yale, 1955

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 8 x 10 inches

Image size: 6 3/8 x 9 1/4 inches

Nothing on print verso

(P5321JC)


Boxer With Towel, Elm City Gym, New Haven, 1954

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Boxer With Towel, Elm City Gym, New Haven, 1954

Gelatin silver print, printed 1954-1960

Print size: 8 x 9 3/4 inches

Mounted to board. Signed, titled, dated in pencil and artist stamp on print verso

(P5354JC)


Woven Textile, Pre-Columbian

 

Woven Textile, Pre-Columbian

17 x 17 inches

(P5357AFK)


Rev. Gary Davis at Grocery Store, 1954

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Rev. Gary Davis at Grocery Store, 1954

Vintage gelatin silver print

Paper size: 5 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches

Image size: 4 7/8 x 7 inches

Artist copyright stamp on print verso

(P5318JC)


Elizabeth Cotten “Libba” at Her Home in Wash. D.C., 1960

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Elizabeth Cotten “Libba” at Her Home in Wash. D.C., 1960

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 8 x 10 inches

Image size: 6 5/16 x 9 1/4 inches

Signed, titled, dated in pencil, with artist stamp on print verso

(P5358JC)


Woody Guthrie and Jack Elliott, 1961

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Woody Guthrie and Jack Elliott, 1961

Gelatin silver print, printed 1999

Paper size: 8 x 10 inches

Image size: 6 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches

Signed, titled, with print and image date in pencil on print verso

(P1530JC)


Muddy Waters, 1959

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Muddy Waters, 1959

Gelatin silver print, printed 1970s

Paper size: 8 x 10 inches

Image size: 6 x 9 inches

Signed, titled, and dated in pencil with artist stamp on print verso

(P1218JC)


Bob Dylan on my Roof, 1962

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Bob Dylan on my Roof, 1962

Vintage gelatin silver print

Paper size: 15 x 10 inches

Image size: 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches

Mounted onto Bainbridge board; tracing paper with diagram pencil drawing over the image and printing notes; target stickers on either side of mounted image. Used for “Dylan” book co-published by Rolling Stone Press and Doubleday, 1984. This is the earlier known image of the print, likely made by a commercial printer shortly after it was taken.

(P2365JC)


Bill Monroe in Hazard KY, 1962

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Bill Monroe in Hazard KY, 1962

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 8 x 10 inches

Image size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches

Artist copyright stamp on print verso

(P1154JC)


Black Gold, E. Kentucky, 1959

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Black Gold, E. Kentucky, 1959

Vintage gelatin silver print on single weight paper

Paper size: 10 x 8 inches

Image size: 9 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches

Signed, titled, and dated in pencil on print verso

(P5352JC)


Family on Porch, 1959

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Family on Porch, Hazard KY, 1959

Vintage gelatin silver print on single weight paper

Paper size: 10 x 8 inches

Image size: 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches

Signed and dated in pencil on print verso

(P5353JC)


Untitled, date unknown

smith, harry (1923 - 1991)

Untitled, date unknown

String figure glued to black construction paper

Frame size: 10 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches

Image size: 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches

(P5363HS)


Rooster and Hen, Unknown

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Rooster and Hen, date unknown

Ink drawing

Paper size: 14 x 17 inches

Image size: 14 x 17 inches

(P5362JC)


Isle Taquile, Religious Procession,, Peru 1956

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Religious Procession, Isle Taquile, Peru, 1956

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 11 x 14 inches

Image size: 8 5/8 x 13 1/4 inches

Signed, titled, dated, and artist negative number in pencil on print verso

(P5360JC)


Train to Huancavalica, Huancayo, Peru, 1964

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Train to Huancavalica, Huancayo, Peru, 1964

Early gelatin silver print

Paper size: 11 x 14 inches

Image size: 8 5/8 x 12 3/4 inches

(P5361JC)


Girl with Ox, Peru, date unknown

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Girl with Ox, Peru, date unknown

Early gelatin silver print

Paper size: 11 x 14 inches

Image size: 8 5/8 x 13 1/4 inches

(P5359JC)


Funeral, Huancayo, 1956

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Funeral, Huancayo, Peru, 1956

Gold toned gelatin silver print, printed 1981 – 1982 on Agfa Paper

Paper size: 10 x 8 inches

Image size: 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches

Signed in pencil on print verso

(P2895JC)


Lima, Peru, 1957

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Lima, Peru, 1957

Gelatin silver print, printed 1970s or earlier

Paper size: 11 x 14 inches

Image size: 9 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches

Signed, titled, and dated in pencil on print verso

(P2548JC)


Road to Ayacucho, 1956

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Road to Ayacucho, Peru, 1956

Gelatin silver print, printed 1960s

Print size: 9 x 6 inches

Mounted to wood block. Signed, titled, dated in ink, and noted in pencil on mount verso

(P5356JC)


Quero, Peru, 1957

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Quero, Peru, 1957

Gelatin silver print, printed 1960s

Paper size: 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches

Image size: 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches

Mounted to wood block. Signed, titled, and dated in ink on mount verso

(P5355JC)


Collage, 1955/1957

 

COHEN, John (1932 - 2019) & ISRAEL, MarVin (1927 - 2007)

Collage, 1955/1957

Collage made for artist’s exhibition at Yale University Art Gallery, 1958

Size: 14 x 9 inches

Collage on board with printed text. Mounted on cardboard.

Signed, titled, dated 1955 and "John Cohen + Martin Israel 1957" in pencil on verso

(P5364JC)


Harry Smith at the Chelsea Hotel, 1969

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Harry Smith at the Chelsea Hotel, 1969

Gelatin silver print, printed 2000 by Sid Kaplan

Paper size: 14 x 11 inches

Image size: 12 1/4 x 8 inches

Signed, titled, and dated with print and image dates in pencil on print verso

(P5365JC)


Gregory Corso, Pablo, Mary and Robert Frank, “Pull My Daisy”, 1959

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Gregory Corso, Pablo, Mary and Robert Frank, “Pull My Daisy”, 1959

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 14 x 11 inches

Image size: 13 1/2 x 9 1/8 inches

Signed, titled, and dated in pencil with negative number in pencil on print verso

(P5366JC)


Frank with Camera in Kitchen, 1959

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Frank with Camera in Kitchen, 1959

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 10 x 8 inches

Image size: 9 x 6 inches

Signed and dated in pencil on print verso

(P5142JC)


Richard Bellamy (as Angel) talks with George Segal, 1960

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Richard Bellamy (as Angel) talks with George Segal during filming of “Sin of Jesus”, 1960

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 8x 10 inches

Image size: 6 x 9 inches

Signed, titled, and dated in pencil with artist’s stamp on print verso

(P1512JC)


Untitled, still life from garden (flower), date unknown

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Untitled still life from garden (flower), date unknown

Watercolor painting

Paper size: 10 1/8 x 14 1/8 inches

(P5367JC)


Untitled, still life from garden (lettuce), date unknown

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Untitled, still life from garden (lettuce), date unknown

Watercolor painting

Paper size: 10 1/8 x 14 1/8 inches

(P5368JC)


Untitled, still life from garden, 2017

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Untitled, still life from garden, 2017

Ink drawing

Paper size: 18 1/8 x 11 7/8 inches

Dated in pencil on recto

(P5369JC)


 

Sing Out Magazine, July 1964

Includes photographs and essays by John Cohen

Click here to read John Cohen’s articles


Exhibition Announcements

 

Exhibition Announcements:

Image Gallery Christmas Show (1960)

Limelight: John Cohen (1957)


 

Sing Out Magazine, 1961

Includes photographs and essays by John Cohen

Click here to read John Cohen’s articles


John Cohen, 1958

 

FRANK, Robert (1924 - 2019)

John Cohen, 1958

Gelatin silver print, printed later

Paper size: 14 x 11 inches

Image size: 9 1/8 x 6 1/8 inches

Titled, dated and “print by: Robert Frank” in pencil on print verso

(P5372RF)


The New Lost City Ramblers: On the Great Divide, 1973

 

The New Lost City Ramblers: On the Great Divide, 1973

12.5 x 12.5 inches

Record


Downhill Strugglers, date unknown

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Downhill Strugglers(Jackson Lynch, Eli Smith and Walker Shepard), c. 2012

Gelatin silver print, print date unknown

Paper size: 11 x 14 inches

Image size: 6 x 9 3/16 inches

Nothing on print verso

(P5371JC)


Chairs and Teacup, Leatherwood, Kentucky, 1959

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Leatherwood, Kentucky, 1959

Gelatin silver print, printed 1970s or before

Paper size: 11 x 14 inches

Image size: 7 x 8 1/2 inches

Mounted to matt board.

Signed twice, titled, dated twice in pencil on mount recto. Label from Bowdoin on mount verso

(P1605JC)

Exhibited: The Spirit of the New Landscape, 1978, Bowdoin College Museum of Art., Brunswick, Maine.


New Lost City Ramblers Volume 4, 1962

 

New Lost City Ramblers Volume 4, 1962

Left to right: Tom Paley, Mike Seger, John Cohen (with guitare)

Cover photograph by Robert Frank

12.5 x 12.5 inches

LP Record


What Do Thoughts Look Like? 1949

 

COHEN, John    (1932 - 2019)

What Do Thoughts Look Like? 1949

Handwritten note on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper

 

This homework assignment, written by Cohen age 17, serves as inspiration for the title of this exhibition. Note his teacher’s comments.


High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina collected by John Cohen in 1965

 

High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina collected by John Cohen in 1965

Cover photograph of Appalachian musician Lloyd Chandler by John Cohen. Chandler is credited with writing O Death, a song featured in the Coen Brothers’ film, O Brother Where Art Thou

12.5 x 12.5 inches

LP Record


Mailboxes, Perry County, Kentucky, 1959

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Mailboxes, Perry County, Kentucky, 1959

Gelatin silver print, printed 1970s

Paper size: 14 x 11 inches

Image size: 9 x 6 1/4 inches

Signed, titled, and dated in pencil on mount recto

Details of print in another hand in pencil on mount verso

(P1606JC)

Exhibited: The Spirit of the New Landscape, 1978, Bowdoin College Museum of Art., Brunswick, Maine.


Chickens at E.C. Ball’s Mountain Form, Rugby N.C.(aka Abby Road), 1965

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Chickens at E.C. Ball’s Mountain Form, Rugby N.C.(aka Abby Road), 1965

Gelatin silver print

Paper size: 8 x 10 inches

Image size: 4 7/8 x 7 3/8 inches

Signed, titled, dated, “EC Ball in background” and “(Abby Road)” in pencil on print verso

(P5374JC)


Jazz Dancer James “Jimmy” Berry, 1955

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Jazz Dancer James “Jimmy” Berry, 1955

Vintage gelatin silver print

Paper size: 11 x 14 inches

Image size: 9 3/16 x 11 1/2 inches

Artist copyright stamp in ink on print verso

(P5370JC)


Woven Textile, Pre-Columbian

 

Woven Textile, Pre-Columbian

16 7/8 x 16 7/8 inches

(P5482AFK)


Untitled (tree trunk), date unknown

 

COHEN, JOHN (1932 - 2019)

Untitled (tree trunk), date unknown

Ink drawing

Paper size: 13 3/4 x 11 inches

Nothing on print verso

(P5373JC)