30 Paintings Fill All Three Rooms of Slein Gallery for Boccia Retrospective

More than 30 paintings now occupy every square foot of the Philip Slein Gallery at 4735 McPherson Avenue. The exhibition, titled Edward E. Boccia: An American Modernist, opens with a reception on October 23 from 5 to 8 p.m. and runs through December 19. This marks a rare instance in the gallery's 23-year history where a single artist claims the entire space, including the back rooms typically reserved for other uses.

Gallery owner Philip Slein noted that the venue usually limits individual exhibitions to the front room. For this show, however, the walls are filled with works spanning Boccia's career. Slein described the scope of the exhibit as substantial, stating, "This is a very significant show. The only thing that could be bigger than this would be at an institution."

Boccia was born in New Jersey in 1921 to Italian parents. After serving in the World War II Ghost Army, he studied at the Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, and Columbia University. He taught at the Columbus Art School in Ohio, where he introduced Bauhaus sensibilities to his students. In 1951, he was hired by Washington University in St. Louis, a position he held for more than 30 years until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1986.

Rosa Berland, an art historian and curator based in New York, characterized Boccia's teaching style as rigorous but encouraging of individual expression. She noted that he allowed students to find their own creative direction. Boccia produced thousands of paintings over his lifetime, ranging from small seaside scenes to monumental multi-panel works. His style blended classical traditions with experimental surrealism, and he continued working until his death in 2012 at age 91.

Slein recalled the artist's relentless work ethic, saying, "If he wasn't sleeping or eating, he was drawing." The current exhibition features large-scale pieces in the front room, including the nine-panel polyptych "Eugene's Journey" and the 2004 triptych "David's Death," a meditation on the loss of his son. A hallway displays mythic ocean scenes with figures that appear to emit inner light.

The final room features a salon wall that traces Boccia's artistic evolution from a 1950s portrait to a work painted in 2012, shortly before his death. Influences from Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, and Renaissance masters are visible throughout the collection. Local artist Max Beckmann is also cited as an influence.

A companion book, Edward E. Boccia: Painter of Nightmares and Dreams, will be published by Hirmer during the exhibition. Written by Berland after 14 years of research, it is the first major monograph on the artist. The volume includes dozens of images, fold-out plates showcasing the scale of his multi-panel works, and scholarly essays.

Berland described Boccia as a polymath who studied philosophy, theology, psychoanalysis, and history. She credited Morton D. May as Boccia's greatest patron, noting that May's collection was gifted in part to the Saint Louis Art Museum. A pamphlet prepared for the show includes a quote from Boccia: "Don't worry about what my art means. Just experience it."

Berland argued that Boccia's work demands active engagement from viewers. She compared the experience to reading a poem or a philosophical text, noting, "We don't slow down anymore." The exhibition serves as a survey of a career that began in New York and found its primary home in St. Louis.