Description:

Edward Eugene Boccia
American (Missouri), 1921-2012
Untitled
Acrylic on canvas
Signed lower right. Abstract composition in a palette of bright green and pink, with accents of blue and goldenrod. Ebonized frame.

The post war Italian American painter Edward E. Boccia was born 1921 in New Jersey and died 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri. Boccia was best known for his large-scale panel painting depicting contemporary life and religious iconography. The artist whose work is often described as expressionist was a classically trained painter with roots in the Italian renaissance but a distinctly modern aesthetic. He taught at the Washington University in St. Louis for over 30 years and served as a Dean at the Columbus Art School where he taught in the "Bauhaus method."

A member of the covert Ghost Army, Boccia served in WW II and was a favorite of the prestigious art collector Morton D. May, the top American collector of German Expressionism. Primarily figural, Boccia's style appears to be different from the contemporary Abstract Expressionist movement of the mid-century, however the gestural quality and scale show a certain similarity or sensibility. And while the scale and complexity of his painting required a great deal of solitary time in his studio, Boccia is considered to be part of the St. Louis artist community centered around expatriates and Washington University during the war and postwar period, including luminaries such as the collectors Joseph Pulitzer and Morton May, the art historian H.W. Janson, curator Perry Rathbone, as well as the painters Philip Guston, Stephen Green and Max Beckmann among others.

Boccia has been in the subject of 50 + solo exhibitions and his work may be found in over 600 private collections and more than 100 public collections including major museums, universities, and religious organizations.

Subjects and styles and other distinctive characteristics for which the artist's work is best known:
Boccia's lifetime oeuvre showcases various stylistic modes, including formal experiments in Abstraction, Neo-Expressionist, Expressionist, Magical Realism, Surrealist, and contemporary religious painting. The most important works include approximately 15 large scale multi-panel paintings depicting various scenes with motifs of Catholicism, contemporary mid-century life, mythology, and personal narratives. The triptych is the most common format, and almost all the pictures are characterized by the use of grotesque imagery, motifs from the Passion of Christ, and puzzling hybrids of modern life and Greco-Roman myths.

Formal education and training and other professional influences such as individual artists: Edward E. Boccia earned his BFA, Pratt Institute, New York, MA, Columbia University, served as Dean, Fine Art, Columbus School of Art, Ohio and Professor of Fine Art, Washington University in St. Louis. He was a member of the covert Ghost Army of WW II. The artist was recruited by Ken Hudson to work for WU, following in the footsteps of former faculty members such as Philip Guston, Stephen Greene and Max Beckmann whose work would be a major influence. Boccia's primary patron Morton May held the most important American collection of German Expressionism which Boccia was given frequent and unrestricted access.

Geographical areas of special interest to the artist's career included St. Louis, Missouri, Rome, Italy, New York, New York.

Art Movements of special influence included German Expressionism, namely the work of Max Beckmann, Emile Nolde, the work of Paul Cezanne, Northern Italian Renaissance, American Modernism including the work of Joseph Stella.

Relevant Personal Background such as places lived, family, studio locations, etc. Italian-American Artist, worked as a Fine Art Professor, Washington University in St Louis + Studio in Webster Groves, Missouri. Pre-deceased by son David, survived by wife Madeleine, daughter Alice Boccia, and granddaughter Jennifer Paternikis.

Special Awards. The Cavaliere Al Merito Della Repubblica, Italy knighted the artist and the Italian government chose Boccia for the prestigious Borso di Studio. In 1990, Saint Louis University bestowed upon him membership in the Order of the Crown of King St. Louis IX.

Museums (name, city, and state) that hold works by the artist in their permanent collections.

Dartmouth College museum, Hanover, New Hampshire
Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
Wilbur D. May Museum, Reno, Nevada
Drury College Museum, Springfield, Missouri
Fontbonne University Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
Kansas State College Museum, Manhattan, Kansas
Joe and Emily Lowe Gallery, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
The Lowe Art Museum, The University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida
The National Picture Gallery and Alexander Soutsous Museum, Athens, Greece
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
The Margaret Harwell Art Museum, Poplar Bluff, Missouri
The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
Museu De Montserrat, Montserrat, Spain
The Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis
Seton Hall University Museum, South Orange, New Jersey
The St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
The St. Louis University Museum of Art, St. Louis, Missouri
The State Historical Society of Missouri Art Gallery, Columbia, Missouri
Florissant Valley Community College Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
St. Bonaventure University Museum, St. Bonaventure, New York

Required: Sources for the above information and name of person submitting. The Edward E. Boccia and Madeleine J. Boccia Artist Trust, St Louis, and New York.

Select Sources include
E. Boccia: A Retrospective Exhibition, Catalog, October 30 – December 8, 1960, St. Louis University, M. B. McNamee, Editor, 1960.

A Galaxy of Treasures from St. Louis Collections, Collection Catalog, January 18 – February 12, 1961, City Art Museum of St. Louis, 1961.

An Artist Views the Evolution of Exchange and the Rise of Banking in the Mississippi Valley, First National Bank in St. Louis, 1966.

Ten Missouri Painters, Exhibition Catalog, Missouri State Council on the Arts, 1968.

Edward Boccia: A Ten-Year Retrospective 1959-1969, Exhibition Catalog, September 6 –28, 1969, Spanish International Pavilion, St. Louis.

Edward E. Boccia, Dada Gallery, Exhibition Catalog, Athens, Greece, 1981.

Edward E. Boccia: A Retrospective, Exhibition Catalog, April 23 – May 29, 1983, Catalog, Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon Illinois.

Boccia: The Triptychs, December 8, 1985 – January 5, 1986, Exhibition Catalog, School of Fine Arts, Washington University/Art St. Louis II, Thompson Center, Exhibition Catalog, St. Louis Artists Coalition, 1986.

Nexus – Generations of the Artistic Spirit, Exhibition Catalog, October 29, 1995 – January 14, 1996, St. Louis Artist' Guild.

Halpert, V. B. Continuing Tradition: Doubly Gifted Artists, February 5 – May 30, 1999, Atelier A/E, New York.

Edward Boccia, Exhibition March 23 – April 16, 2000, Dresser Foundation Gallery, The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, St. Louis.

Edward E. Boccia: A Retrospective, Exhibition Catalog, McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri, 2005

Boccia and Friends, A Spring Drawing Exhibition, Catalog, April 14 – April 28, 2007, McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts Gallery, St. Louis.

Good Friday, Exhibition Catalog, February 15 – April 26, 2009, Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis University.

Ed Boccia: Multi-Paneled Paintings, Exhibition Catalog, September 8 – October 3, 2010, Boyle Family Gallery, Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Missouri.

Friedman Hamilton, Lynn. Maturity and Its Muse, Exhibition Catalog, October 1, 2010 – February 5, 2011, Sheldon Art Galleries & Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Gallery, St. Louis.

Berland, Rosa JH, Alice Boccia and Petra Lipan. Edward Boccia: Figurative Expressionist, Exhibition Catalog, January 18 – March 3, 2013, St. Louis University Museum of Art.

Berland, Rosa JH. "New Research, Recently Discovered Artwork by the American Painter: Edward E. Boccia, St. Louis (1921-2012)." Forma Revista d'Humanitats, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Summer 2015.

Berland, Rosa JH. "Cezanne's Apple and Edward E. Boccia. Hierarchy, Revolt and Artistic Innovation in Twentieth Century America." Ekphrasis Journal. Images, Cinema, Theatre, Media. Babe?-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania, Summer 2015.

Andrew Lipstein interviews Rosa JH Berland about Edward E. Boccia in Meural, Deep Cuts, June 21, 2016. Episode 6.

Submitted by Edward E. Boccia Artist Trust

  • Dimensions: Stretcher: 16 x 20 in. (40.64 x 50.80 cm.), frame: 17 x 21 in. (43.18 x 53.34 cm.)
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas

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October 1, 2022 10:00 AM CDT
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