Aaron Gelman (; November 24, 1899 – May 1970) was an

American art Visual art of the United States or American art is visual art made in the United States or by U.S. artists. Before colonization, there were many flourishing traditions of Native American art, and where the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial arc ...

ist. He worked on

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturat ...

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

s and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

s. Gelman was born to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

immigrant parents from

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

, The Ottoman

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

(present-day

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

). He died in Israel, where he had returned later in life.

Life

He studied at the Hartford Academy of Art, the Art Students’ League and 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 ...

. Gelman was a member of the New York School of Painting, of which

George Luks George Benjamin Luks (August 13, 1867 – October 29, 1933) was an American artist, identified with the aggressively realistic Ashcan School of American painting. After travelling and studying in Europe, Luks worked as a newspaper illustrator a ...

was the best known member. This school followed the Hudson School of Painting. He was also a WPA artist. His painting "Across the Gowanus Canal" is in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Family

He was a brother-in-law to Philip Solomon, uncle to

Linda Solomon Linda Solomon (born May 10, 1937, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American music critic and editor. Although she has written about various aspects of popular culture, her main focus has been on folk music, blues, R&B, jazz and country music. Livin ...

, and one of his grandchildren is the actress

Kimiko Gelman Kimiko Gelman (born February 20, 1966) is an American actress. Gelman is best known for starring in the television series ''Rags to Riches'' from 1987 to 1988, where she played the role of Rose. She has also made appearances on a number of othe ...

. His grandfather, Avraham Yaakov Gelman was one of the 11 founding families of

Mazkeret Batya Mazkeret Batya () (lit. "Batya Memorial") is a local council in central Israel located southeast of Rehovot and from Tel Aviv. Mazkeret Batya spans an area of 7,440 dunams (7 km2). In it had a population of . The mayor of Mazkeret Batya i ...

(Ekron). These emigrant families came from

Ruzhany Ruzhany, also spelled ''Rozana'' or ''Ruzhana'', is an urban-type settlement in Pruzhany District, Brest Region, Belarus. As of 2025, it has a population of 2,642. Geography Ruzhany is situated on the river Ruzhanka and surrounded by pictu ...

, with support from the Baron de Rothschild, to settle Moshav Ekron. He was a close friend of fellow artist Harris "Harry" Rodvogin.

References

1889 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American painters American emigrants to Israel American male painters American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American people of Israeli descent Federal Art Project artists Jewish American artists Jewish Israeli artists Jews from Mandatory Palestine 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-1890s-stub