Aaron Bohrod (21 November 1907 – 3 April 1992) was an American artist best known for his

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

still-life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

paintings.

Education

Bohrod was born in Chicago in 1907, the son of an emigree Bessarabian-Jewish grocer. Bohrod studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League of New York between 1926 and 1930. While at the Art Students League, Bohrod was influenced by

John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight (Ashcan School), T ...

and chose themes that involved his own surroundings.

Career

He returned to Chicago in 1930 where he painted views of the city and its working class. He eventually earned

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

s which permitted him to travel throughout the country, painting and recording the American scene. His early work won him widespread praise as an important social realist and regional painter and printmaker and his work was marketed through

Associated American Artists Associated American Artists (AAA) was an art gallery in New York City that was established in 1934 and ceased operation in 2000. The gallery marketed art to the middle and upper-middle classes, first in the form of affordable prints and later in ...

in New York. Bohrod completed three commissioned murals for the Treasury Departments

Section of Fine Arts Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

in Illinois; Vandalia in 1935, Galesburg in 1938 and Clinton in 1939. During World War II, Bohrod worked as an artist; first in the Pacific for the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

' War Art Unit, then in Europe for ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine. In 1948, he accepted a position as artist in residence, succeeding

John Steuart Curry John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...

, at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, and remained in that capacity until 1973. (Both artists contributed to the Rivers of America book series.) In 1951, Bohrod was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1953. He died from liver cancer at his home near Madison, Wisconsin on 3 April 1992, at the age of 84.

Trompe-l'œil

In the 1950s, Bohrod developed the

style of highly realistic, detailed still-life paintings which give an illusion of real life. It was this style with which he became internationally identified.

Works

Bohrod's works can be found in the collections of many American museums such as the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

in New York, and the

Hirshhorn Museum The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...

in Washington, D.C. The Aaron Bohrod Gallery at the

University of Wisconsin–Fox Valley A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

was named in his honor.

Eulogy

"Plastic fish, rubber ducks, broken dolls, toy soldiers, souvenirs of every sort find their way into and fill the compositions of Aaron Bohrod. In doing so, the objects take on meanings far surpassing their original ones, taking on an importance never originally intended for them ... His works often take the form of visual jokes, riddles, or puns in which the artist has fun with the double meanings of commonly used words. Bohrod has a great sense of humor, but beneath it is a bite of the utmost seriousness—often a criticism of the folly and silliness of mankind, his actions and concerns, as exhibited by the faster and faster pace of an ever twisting stream—the spectacle of life." Words of Everett Oehlshlaeger of Everett Oehlschlaeger Galleries Inc., Chicago.

References

Bibliography

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External links

''LIFE'' April 30, 1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohrod, Aaron 1907 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Art Students League of New York alumni Painters from Chicago Jewish American artists Deaths from liver cancer in the United States School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Trompe-l'œil artists University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty American war artists American muralists Section of Painting and Sculpture artists Deaths from cancer in Wisconsin American people of Russian-Jewish descent National Academy of Design members Federal Art Project artists People from Monona, Wisconsin 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male artists