St. Louis painter Edward Boccia's career fills Philip Slein Gallery

Philip Slein Gallery in the Central West End has filled its entire floor with more than 30 paintings by Edward E. Boccia. The exhibition, titled Edward E. Boccia: An American Modernist, opens with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on October 23. It remains on view through December 19. The gallery, located at 4735 McPherson, rarely devotes all of its space to a single artist. Owner Philip Slein noted that this is a rare occurrence in the gallery's 23-year history.

Slein described the show as substantial, stating, "The only thing that could be bigger than this would be at an institution." Boccia lived in St. Louis for six decades. He was born in New Jersey in 1921 to Italian parents. He served in the World War II Ghost Army and studied at the Pratt Institute and the Art Students League in New York. He earned degrees from Columbia University after the war and taught at the Columbus Art School in Ohio, where he introduced Bauhaus principles to his students.

Washington University in St. Louis hired Boccia in 1951. He retired in 1986 as professor emeritus after more than 30 years on staff. Rosa Berland, a New York-based art historian and curator, described his teaching style as rigorous but open. She said he encouraged students to find "their own kind of fire." Boccia continued producing work until his death in 2012 at age 91. Slein remarked, "If he wasn't sleeping or eating, he was drawing."

The exhibition features large-scale pieces in the front room, including the nine-panel polyptych "Eugene's Journey." The 2004 triptych "David's Death" is also on display, part of a series of works meditating on the death of Boccia's son. A hallway displays mythic ocean scenes, while the final room features a salon wall tracing his artistic evolution from the 1950s to 2012. Influences from Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, and Max Beckmann appear throughout the collection.

Hirmer will publish a companion book, Edward E. Boccia: Painter of Nightmares and Dreams, during the exhibition run. Berland wrote the monograph after 14 years of research. It is the first major publication on the artist and includes fold-out plates and scholarly essays. Berland credited Morton D. May, whose collection was gifted to the Saint Louis Art Museum, as Boccia's greatest patron.

Berland described Boccia as a polymath who studied philosophy, theology, and psychoanalysis. A pamphlet for the show advises viewers to simply experience the work rather than worry about its meaning. Berland said the work matters now because it demands engagement. "We don't slow down anymore," she said.