Textile, Country Auction

Aaron Bohrod, the social realist and regional painter who spent 35 years as an artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was an early member of Associated American Artists. His affiliation with the group began in 1939.
Bohrod’s Country Auction was one of eight designs included in the Pioneer Pathways collection released by Riverdale Fabrics in 1952. (1) The imagery includes an array of flea-market finds, including lawn jockeys, barber-shop poles and penny-farthing bicycles. Teal, olive green, salmon, gold, and charcoal antiques—the type Bohrod might have encountered during his own time in the Midwest—appear within cubby-like partitions on a cream-colored ground.
Country Auction is included in the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art’s traveling exhibition, “Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists, 1934-2000.”
There are currently two examples of Bohrod’s work in the museum’s collection, a textile called Pagan Magic (1995-48-2) and designs within a sample book from the Galleries of Associated American Artists, “Masterpiece Interiors” (1954-22-1-1/116).
(1) Gail Windisch, Sylvan Cole Jr., and Karen J. Herbaugh, Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists, 1934-2000 (Manhattan: Marianna Kistler Beach Museum, Kansas State University, 2016): 191.

Textile, Country Auction; Designed by Aaron Bohrod (American, 1907–1992); Produced by Associated American Artists (United States); cotton; H x W: 209.6 × 116.8 cm (82 1/2 in. × 46 in.); American Textile History Museum Collection, gift of Gail Windisch; 2016-35-56