The Austrian Harlequin
, 1962
61 x 50.8 cm (h x w)
P.V.A./Casein on paper mounted to board
Private Collection
© Estate of Alfred Cohen 2020
Many of Cohen’s male commedia dell’arte figures wear carnivalesque masks. Often it is hard to tell where the painted mask ends and the face – also painted – begins. Here, the Harlequin wears a half-mask, the animation of his eyes and mouth producing an uncanny effect.