Charles Cohen's scholarship has included research on the Italian Renaissance and Mannerist art. Currently he is examining the works of Venetian and other northern Italian artists as well as the themes of provincialism, religious art before the Council of Trent, and the changing role of drawing in the creative process in Italian art.
His latest book is The Art of Giovanni Antiorio da Pordenone: Between Dialect and Language and his other books are I disegni di Pomponio Amalteo and The Drawings of Giovanni Antonio da Pordenone. Currently, Cohen is working on a monograph on Lorenzo Lotto and a book on Venetian art of the 1530s.
Cohen has been the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship and a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship among numerous other awards. During his tenure at the University he has served as Chair of the Department of Art History for 10 years, as a Resident Master of Pierce Hall for 22 years, and as Chair of the Department of Visual Arts for three terms. Before joining the Chicago faculty in 1970, Cohen taught at Harvard University.
M.F.A., Princeton University. Ph.D., Harvard University.