Aaron Bohrod Works
Aaron Bohrod (1907-1992) spent his early career in Chicago where he was born on the West Side. In 1948, he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he became a long-time a member of the art faculty and satisfied the inclinations of many artists who leaned towards European-influenced modernism. In this university position, he replaced John Steuart Curry, Regionalist painter from Kansas, who had died.
In the late 1920's, Bohrod studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and then went to New York City to attend the Art Students League. He returned to his hometown in 1930 and resided there until the move to Wisconsin.
Influenced strongly by the Social Realism of John Sloan, whom he knew from New York, Bohrod painted the people of the city people. One of his subjects explored in a series of paintings was the neighborhood where he grew up on the North Side of Chicago. Many of them convey the loneliness and poverty of the Depression years.
In the late 1940's Bohrod began working with ceramics, which he said influenced him towards surrealism with odd juxtapositions that embraced the style of trompe l'oeil (fool-the-eye). Unlike many surrealists, his work did not have nightmarish undertones. During this period, his painting became increasingly realistic.
In the late 1920's, Bohrod studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and then went to New York City to attend the Art Students League. He returned to his hometown in 1930 and resided there until the move to Wisconsin.
Influenced strongly by the Social Realism of John Sloan, whom he knew from New York, Bohrod painted the people of the city people. One of his subjects explored in a series of paintings was the neighborhood where he grew up on the North Side of Chicago. Many of them convey the loneliness and poverty of the Depression years.
In the late 1940's Bohrod began working with ceramics, which he said influenced him towards surrealism with odd juxtapositions that embraced the style of trompe l'oeil (fool-the-eye). Unlike many surrealists, his work did not have nightmarish undertones. During this period, his painting became increasingly realistic.