David Cohen remembers Vita Petersen (1915-2011) on the eve of the exhibition Vita Petersen: In Black and White: The Last Works at the New York Studio School, on view from January 27 – March 10, 2012.

Cohen writes that Petersen, "one of the last survivors on the New York School, died this last October in her ninety-sixth year. She was indefatigable in her pursuit of sensual form; when an eye condition made it impossible for her to continue to work in color she switched to black and white. It is not fanciful to see in her last works… a nostalgia for the vibrancy and surprises of color evoked despite its absence."