April 5, 1861; The Charleston Mercury
In our remarks yesterday, we lost sight, in consequence of his absence from the city, of one of our native artists, of whom our State may well be proud. LAWRENCE L. COHEN is a pupil of the great modern school. He completed his studies at Dusseldorff. COHEN’S absence from the city for the last three months shows the material of which our Carolina young men are composed. When the first liberty pole was erected in this city, the honor of firing the salute for the Southern States was executed by that veteran corps, the ‘Lafayette Artillery;’ and the banner of the South first flung to the breeze on that occasion by the Lafayette was painted, at their request, by COHEN, who, animated by the spirit of resistance to Northern aggression, immediately volunteered his services to the gallant Capt. POPE–flung down his brush–abandoned his studio–and has been on active service from the first moment the banner was unfurled, and is now on duty with his corps at Fort Palmetto, Coles’ Island. His paintings of the ‘Puritan’ and the ‘Pious Godmother,’ as well as his portraits of the Rev. JAS. P. BOYCE, and the Hon. MITCHELL KING, are fresh in the memory of all. We do not think that it would be (proper) to employ a Northern artist to portray the lineaments of the members of our Convention, whilst we have gifted native artists.