Benny Cohn/Benny Collin

The book first and foremost tells the story of the Danish-American painter Benny Cohn (1896-1980) and his artistic development. Based on the awarding of the small gold medal from the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, he stayed through the 1920s in Paris, where he became a permanent exhibitor at the Salon d'Automne and also exhibited regularly at Charlottenborg. He was in the United States several times, The first time in 1928, where he painted an altarpiece to order. From 1939 he traveled to the United States with his father, where he obtained citizenship under the guise of Nazism. He returned in 1946, but settled permanently in the United States from 1950, where he died in Florida in 1980. Benny was a technically proficient painter who mastered all directions. From the late 1950s, he developed his own art form, "Symfonic Art". Through family relations, Benny, who was Jewish, also became involved in the dissolution of the Communist Party in Germany, where the book tells the story of some of the main characters and their fate. The book is also a story about the Cohn family in Denmark told by his niece and about the Danish art scene in the first half of the 20th century.

Bogen fortæller først og fremmest historien om den dansk-amerikanske maler Benny Cohn (1896-1980) og hans kunstneriske udvikling. Med udgangspunkt i tildelingen af den lille guldmedalje fra Kunstakademiet i København opholdt han sig gennem 1920'erne i Paris, hvor han blev fast udstiller på Salon d'Automne og udstillede også regelmæssigt på Charlottenborg. 00Han var i USA i flere omgange, Første gang i 1928, hvor han på bestilling malede en altertavle. Fra 1939 rejste han til USA med sin far, hvor han fik statsborgerskab i ly for nazismen. Han vendte tilbage i 1946, men slog sig permanent ned i USA fra 1950, hvor han døde i Florida i 1980. Benny var en teknisk dygtig maler, der beherskede alle retninger. Fra slutningen af 1950'erne udviklede han sin egen kunstretning, "Symfonic Art".00Via familierelationer blev Benny, der var jøde, også involveret i kommunistpartiets opløsning i Tyskland, hvor bogen beretter om nogle af hovedpersonerne og deres skæbne. Bogen er samtidig en fortælling om familien Cohn i Danmark fortalt af hans niece og om det danske kunstmiljø i første halvdel af 1900tallet.