Cooper Hewitt says...
Aaron Bohrod (American, 1907-1992) studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1926-1928 and at the Art Students League of New York from 1929-1932. He then returned to Chicago, where he painted urban street scenes.
Two Guggenheim fellowships allowed him to travel the country from 1936-1938, painting American scenes. His early work won him praise as a social realist and regional painter and printmaker. He completed three murals for post offices in Clinton, Galesburg, and Vandalia, Illinois; all three are still extant. In 1939, he was accepted into the Associated American Artists.
In 1941, he taught at Southern Illinois University. In 1942, he left to serve in the U.S. Army’s War Art Unit during World War II. He was later an artist correspondent for Life magazine.
His paintings appeared in Fortune, Look, Coronet, Esquire, and Time magazines, as well as in books and on wallpaper, fabrics, and ceramics.
In 1948, Bohrod became an artist in residence at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He remained there until his retirement in 1973.
When Bohrod died at age 84, he had been married for 63 years to Ruth Bush. They had two sons, Mark and Neil, and a daughter, Georgi Rothe.
His works are included in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. The Aaron Bohrod Gallery at the University of Wisconsin, Fox Valley was named in his honor.
