Aaron Sopher (1905–1972) was an American artist who is known for his depictions of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, United States.

Early life and education

Aaron Sopher, the tenth of the thirteen children of Samuel A. Sopher and Jennie Saperstein, was born in East Baltimore,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, on December 16, 1905. His father owned a small cigar factory and tobacco shop near the Baltimore harbor. Sopher attended Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts, now known as the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, it is regarded as one of ...

, where he trained with Alon Bement, the director of the institution. When a new director replaced Bement, Aaron Sopher was not awarded his diploma in 1925 due to his frequent absences and lack of discipline.

Work

Following his stint at the Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts, Sopher worked as a freelance illustrator for ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'', where his drawings began to appear regularly. In 1927, he received his first large commission from the newspaper to illustrate a story about the Baltimore waterfront, which was the first illustration to bring him wide recognition. Sopher then moved to New York City in 1929 where he resided until 1931. His cartoons appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', and his sketches of week were often included in ''

The New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). It was the successor to both '' The Masses'' (1911–1917) and ''The Liberator'' (1918–1924). ''New Masses'' was later merge ...

'', a leftist publication devoted to social commentary. During the Depression, Sopher portrayed the devastation faced by the American people. Several of his ink

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

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

s from this period were done under the auspices of Writers Sapos, a program for public works projects administered in

Publication and exhibition

Sopher's work appeared in prominent magazines and newspapers such as ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', '' Johns Hopkins Magazine'' (pub.

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

), ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

'', and '' Vanity Fair''. Sopher's drawings and watercolors have been featured in exhibitions at

, Carnegie Institute,

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

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 ...

San Francisco Museum of Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art, and has b ...

Denver Art Museum The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With an encyclopedic collection of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums betwe ...

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, and

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. During his career, he was supported by many Baltimore and Washington, D.C., institutions such as the Corcoran, the

Peale Museum The Peale is a community museum in Baltimore, Maryland, which opened in 2022 after a 5-year renovation. It occupies the first building in the Americas, Western Hemisphere to be designed and built specifically as a museum. Rembrandt Peale's ori ...

, and the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of modern art, ...

References

External links

Three Drawings by Aaron Sopher from the Evening Sun
" The Baltimore Museum of Art.
Editorial on Aaron Sopher's second place win in The Evening Sun sketch contest
from the Evening Sun, December 6, 1947. The Baltimore Museum of Art.
Calendar drawn by Aaron Sopher
May–August 1949. The Baltimore Museum of Art.
Letter written to Aaron Sopher from J. Blankfard Martenent
February 28, 1949." The Baltimore Museum of Art.
9th Annual Maryland Show no.9.
Enoch Pratt Free Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sopher, Aaron 1905 births 1972 deaths Artists from Baltimore American watercolorists American satirists Comedians from Maryland Maryland Institute College of Art alumni 20th-century American Jews