Aaron Bohrod in his Studio

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Caption with image reads: "Aaron Bohrod, pictured here in his studio, is the established American master of trompe l'oeil ('fool the eye') painting. This is the technique used in the seven original Bohrod medical still life paintings now owned by the State Medical Society's Charitable, Educational and Scientific Foundation. The philosophy behind his paintings, Mr. Bohrod says, is to 'squeeze the reality out of the object.' He also refers to his technique as magic realism. The artist says: 'The magical quality comes into being through a heightening of the object. Magic realism involves the object itself, plus the artist's interpretation — how he feels about the object, how he perceives it.' And then, each object becomes part of a complex symbolism that he hopes will stimulate thought in the viewer. His philosophy grew from his studies with well-know[sic] urban realist, John Sloan. He admired Sloan's 'ash can' style and eventually he became to Chicago what Sloan was to New York — the portrayer of the shabbier side of city life. From this grew his aim to transfer everyday scenes into meaningful and beautiful works of art. During World War II he became known to millions of Americans for his work as an artist-correspondent of LIFE magazine. Then he used his realistic style to picture the soldier in his environment — digging trenches, unloading barracks bags, writing a letter home. The shift into magic realism came in 1953, when Aaron Bohrod was artist in residence at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a position he held from 1948 to 1973. During that period his unique style came to have a sizable impact on the American artistic scene."