Cheap rents … and de Kooning revisits the New York downtown art scene between 1957 and 1963, when the 10th Street galleries were the center of the art world and inexpensive lofts were still available. Living in this dynamic neighborhood, John Cohen photographed a series of its famous and infamous artists’ haunts—among them the legendary Cedar Bar, the Artists’ Club and the Tanager Gallery—creating a definitive impression of a hell-bent, headstrong era. De Kooning’s studio was in the midst of this avant-garde bloc, where Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Performance Art and Happenings all ambitiously made their mark alongside the Beat Generation.