Harold Cohen, computer-generated art pioneer, 87

Former UC San Diego art department chairman Harold Cohen, an abstract painter who developed AARON, one of the first and eventually one of the most complex computer software programs for generating works of art, died April 27 at his home in Encinitas. The cause was congestive heart failure, said his son, Paul. "Harold came as close as anyone has ever come to capturing the creative instinct and judgment of a human artist in software," said Mark-Elliott Lugo, an independent curator and art adviser who served as the San Diego Public Library's visual arts curator from 2000-2012. "What really made AARON so successful was that the quality of the work was exceptional. It was world-class," he said.