To developers eyeing D.C.’s Southwest, the Cohen Building is an imposition on prime real estate. Much like the unassuming exterior of the Sistine Chapel, the humble facade of the Cohen Building disguises the art trove it holds. In 2007, the Cohen Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but such a designation doesn’t exempt it from the wrecking ball. “For all the stuff that the New Deal created — art, theater, literature, archives, museum collections — there is no New Deal art museum. The Abstract Expressionist Arshile Gorky famously called New Deal art “poor art for poor people,” Murphy notes.

Source: Washington Post January 23, 2026 11:56 UTC