Aaron Bohrod's Barn and Signboard as a New Deal Document
Learn about the artist's life and the symbolic meaning of his art during the Great Depression by exploring his painting, Barn and Signboard.
By Myron Davis LIFE Photo Collection
About the artist
Born in Chicago, Aaron Bohrod (1907-1992) studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He became a leading Social realist artist, known for urban scenes conveying the hardships of the 1930s. He later became a prominent war artist and trompe-l'oeil painter.
Cover of "This Work Pays Your Community Week" booklet (1940) by WPA Oklahoma Art Center Oklahoma City Museum of Art
The Works Progress Administration
The WPA was a New Deal program created in 1935 to combat mass unemployment. Its Federal Art Project (FAP) hired artists to create public art, providing income and promoting American art and culture nationwide.
Village in the Smokies (1938) by Richard H. Jansen Oklahoma City Museum of Art
WPA and the American scene
The WPA Federal Art Project championed styles like Social Realism and Regionalism. Artists depicted American life, from city streets to rural landscapes, celebrating perseverance and community while also confronting themes of struggle, hardship, and poverty.
Barn and Signboard (1936) by Aaron Bohrod Oklahoma City Museum of Art
Barn and Signboard (1936)
This oil on hardboard painting in the collection of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, is a prime example of Bohrod's WPA-era work. It depicts a dilapidated barn next to a large, weathered signboard in a seemingly desolate landscape.
Discarded machinery
In the foreground, a rusty, broken industrial mixer lies abandoned. This piece of machinery could represent economic decay. Once meant to signify progress and efficiency, it now stands as a monument to a broken system and the failure of industry in a time of crisis.
The barn
The decaying barn could symbolize the agricultural crisis of the Great Depression. As rural Americans lost their farms, the barn–a traditional symbol of sustenance and prosperity–becomes a powerful image of economic failure, a relic of a more prosperous past.
The signboard
The large, crude signboard, possibly advertising a failed business, could represent the collapse of commerce. It stands as a monument to broken promises and stalled progress, a stark reminder of a stagnant economy.
The human presence
The two small hitchhikers in the distance are a powerful symbol of displacement and migration. Their journey represents the thousands of Americans who traveled across the country in search of work and a better life, highlighting the personal struggles of economic hardship.
The desolate landscape
The barren, uninviting landscape speaks to the environmental and economic "dust bowl" of the era. A broken leafless tree in the foreground reinforces the them of decay and loss, suggesting a place where nothing can thrive.
Color and mood
The painting's palette of browns, grays, and muted blues creates a somber, melancholic mood. The overall lack of vibrancy may reflect the lack of hope felt by many during the Depression. The heavy sky adds to the sense of foreboding.
Social Realism in practice
Barn and Signboard is a powerful example of Social Realism. Bohrod avoids sentimentality, instead using a straightforward, honest depiction of decay and hardship to provoke thought and empathy for those suffering.
Barn and Signboard is more than a landscape. Through its stark symbolism and evocative style, Aaron Bohrod transforms a rural scene into a poignant commentary on the Great Depression.
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