Leonard Ahneman was born in the Bronx in 1914. He graduated from the Cooper Union School of Art and Engineering in 1937 and taught mural painting at Cooper Union after that. In 1939 his art was exhibited at the New York World's Fair, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, and elsewhere. His one Post Office mural, for the Montpelier, Ohio Post Office was entitled "Harvest, the Annal of America."
Ahneman enlisted in the army in 1941. He continued to paint and must have served in the Pacific Theater, as he took part in an art exhibit at the Honolulu Academy of Art in 1942 and in the Southwest Pacific Service Exhibition in 1944.
Following the war, Ahneman continued his education and embarked upon a career in architectural design. He received a Bachelor's degree from New York University in 1953, followed by a Master's in Education from NYU in 1955. The same year he married Irene A. Podgorski, who was also a 1937 graduate of Cooper Union.
Ahneman and his wife lived in New Jersey, and he held a succession of jobs in New York as an architectural designer, first for Raymond Loewe (1955-1960), then for Webb & Knapp (1960-1965), and, finally, for Harrison & Abramowitz (1965-1983). From 1983 until 1995, when he retired, Ahneman worked with the Essex County Planning Division.
Ahneman continued to do art, but apparently only as an avocation. His obituary listed his interests as ice skating, golfing, and art. He was also an active member of the New Jersey Sail and Power Squadron. He died in Caldwell, NJ in 2002.
Ahneman is one of those many artists whose well-being was helped by the Depression Era art programs, but whose longer-term career veered away from fine art. His Montpelier, OH Post Office mural might simply be described as "enjoyable." It depicts a farmer sitting on a mowing machine behind a team of four horses under a blue sky with some truly fantastic clouds. The machine on which the farmer sits is neatly labeled with Ahneman's name, and the blinkered horses are marching steadily but quietly across the luxuriant field of wheat. It's a very orderly world, probably one that suited Ahneman to conjure up at the tail end of a brutal Depression and on the eve of an even more brutal war. Perhaps it's an example of art transcending the ugly reality of the moment. Or, more optimistically, it's a reminder that, even in the worst of times, there are still areas of peace and beauty to enjoy.