Fishermen

Max Arthur Cohn

Cohn's subjects for this screenprint are fisherman who are using a row boat to be transported to their moored fishing boats in the bay. The early sky is dark and ominous, but there is a wind and they will be fishing soon.

Though he was in the WPA as an easel painter, Cohn probably learned serigraphy there. Throughout the 1940s, Cohn continued to produce his fine screenprints. To introduce his methods to other artists, he co-authored a book in 1942 with J. I. Beigeleisen titled 'Silk Screen Stenciling as a Fine Art.'

Looking back on this important time in his career, Cohn said: "With the usual method of silkscreen, the colors come on very heavy. I tried to make the silkscreen more or less imitate the quality of a watercolor in its transparency." In the 1950s, Cohn owned a graphic arts business in Manhattan where he demonstrated and helped a young Andy Warhol do his first silkscreen prints.