Description:

Edward Eugene Boccia
Italian/American, (1921-2012)
Self-Portrait at Easel, 1982
oil on canvas
signed and dated lower left, and again with title and date verso, framed.

Born to Italian parents in New Jersey, Edward Eugene Boccia studied art at Pratt in New York City before moving to St. Louis where he taught at Washington University for over 30 years. Boccia became famous for his neo-expressionist style, and hundreds of his paintings were collected by Morton D. May (heir to May Department Stores, an avid art collector of expressionist works, and a great philanthropist), among others.

Over the course of his long career, Boccia created over 1500 paintings and another 50 large-scale polyptychs in which he engaged in ethical, religious (both pagan and Christian) and philosophical topics. Here using dramatic dark blue-grey tones highlighted with pastel touches including a whitish beard, we see Boccia reflecting on his own image in a surreal, magical and mysterious fashion. The carefully striped shirt and easel serve as his attributes, and his poignant gaze with one eye toward the viewer and one eye toward the easel give us a self-constructed hint about how he was able to see and paint in an extraordinarily open fashion while employing vast perspective. His predominantly sorrowful tone might have had to do with the long-term sickness of his son who passed away in the early 1980s. A critical monograph of the artist is expected to be released sometime in 2024 or 2025; see www.edward-boccia.com for more information.

  • Dimensions: 24 x 20 inches
  • Medium: oil on canvas

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February 10, 2024 10:00 AM CST
St. Louis, MO, US

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