Aaron Bohrod
American, 1907-1992
Slag Heaps, 1938

Although he became famous for his post-World War II trompe-l'oeil still-life paintings, Bohrod spent his early career painting images of working-class Chicago. Bohrod continued to document American life and landscapes as a Works Progress Administration artist during the Great Depression. Slag Heaps demonstrates Bohrod's attention to American landscapes and his sympathy for American workers, as represented by the slouching man in the foreground, walking the tracks to an unknown destination. Slag heaps are hills of waste from coal mining. The residue of the industrial landscape, the lost promise of the great railroads and their industries, surround the lonely human figure.

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