Ode to Fré Cohen | Pioneering in upper cabinet

By Anke Visser29 oktober 2024

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An ode to graphic artist Fré Cohen (born Amsterdam August 11, 1903-self-inflicted death Hengelo June 12, 1943).

Dag Fré, your work was more familiar to me than your person because of AJC brochures and posters, Arbeiderspers book covers and title pages of De Toorts. Strong graphics in black and white with red as a spot color. That lino and woodcut making is literally and figuratively unruly remains virtually invisible in your graphics.

Jan Peters, Jan De jeugd voor het Plan. Amsterdam, C.P.C., A.J.C. en Jeugdraad N.V.V., 1936. Vormgeving Fré Cohen

Jan Peters, Jan The Youth for the Plan. Amsterdam, C.P.C., A.J.C. and Youth Council N.V.V., 1936. Design Fré Cohen

What is also not visible is the road you traveled to become a celebrated graphic artist. Because you did not have the time, your environment or your sex. As a young working woman you 'did it on the side', drawing and designing, in addition to your office job. You wanted to become a draughtswoman from childhood, but were only able to attend the graphics course at Het Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs (now the Gerrit Rietveldacademie) when you were 25. Did you connect there as the daughter of diamond workers from Amsterdam East? Did you have female fellow students? Were you an odd duck?

At least you were in the print shop. For you were not limited to image and illustration, layout and layout also had your attention. Working for De Vooruitgang, the publishing house of the Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij, you literally interfered with typesetting, while “typeface and typesetting” were an undisputed male affair.

Fré, you were born and raised in Amsterdam and remained so. The social democratic institutions you were associated with all had their headquarters in Amsterdam. You not only made your mark in the “red corner. You found a job at the Amsterdam City Printing Office. There you designed the printed matter for the municipal services, such as posters for the City Cleaning, as well as the wedding book and the checkbook of the Amsterdam municipal giro. Your work was visible everywhere in Amsterdam's “public space” in the 1930s and 1940s.

De typische hoekige, maar sierlijke typografie van Fré Cohen in het Giro Boekje, 19, Collectie Stedelijk Museum

Fré Cohen's typical angular yet graceful typography in the Giro Booklet, 19, Stedelijk Museum Collection

Prentbriefkaart voor de Stadsreiniging Amsterdam. Vormgeving Fré Cohen

Picture postcard for the City Cleaning Amsterdam. Design by Fré Cohen

Even when you were fired as a Jewish employee during the Nazi occupation, you continued to create graphic work in hiding: greeting cards and children's books in pastel colors. Light tones in dark times.

Sources:

'The Letterbox; novel about the life of Fré Cohen', Edith Brouwer. Publisher Orlando 2021

Fré Cohen: Form and Ideals of the Amsterdam School (Exhibition 2021-2022)

https://www.hetschip.nl/tentoonstelling/expositie-fre-cohen

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9_Cohen

Stadsdrukkerij Affiche Zomerfeesten Amsterdam, Vormgeving Fré Cohen, 1932, collectie Amsterdam Museum

Stadsdrukkerij Poster Zomerfeesten Amsterdam, Design Fré Cohen, 1932, Amsterdam Museum collection

Stadsdrukkerij Affiche Zomerfeesten Amsterdam, Vormgeving Fré Cohen, 1934, Collectie Amsterdam Museum

Fré Cohen Stadsdrukkerij Poster Zomerfeesten Amsterdam, 1934, Collection Amsterdam Museum

About

Ode by Anke Visser to Fré Cohen.

Your spirit would not be broken. You chose, you chose your wayward life path and your end when you fell into the hands of a Jew hunter. Fré, I admire you, your creativity, your vitality, your direction. And last but not least your craftsmanship, I know from experience how difficult graphic techniques are.