Infinite Possibilities of Seeing: The Paintings of Jack Boul
A new exhibition of paintings by Jack Boul (b. 1927) tells the story of his prolific career as an artist and his legacy as a generous and beloved teacher. Following the exhibition, a gift of Bouls artwork will enhance the AU Museum at the Katzen Arts Centers permanent collection. Boul is based in 酴圖弝け, DC, and has close ties to American University as a student and professor in the Department of Art. His solo exhibition, Perceptual Painting, will open at the AU Museum on June 15 and run through August 11. Learn more and plan your visit.
Jack Boul, C&O Canal II, 1972. Oil on canvas, 14.25 x 11.25 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Transcending the Ordinary
Working in a style reminiscent of the late 19th century post-impressionists, Bouls paintings rely on momentary glimpses of everyday life, capturing the essence of a subject rather than focusing on the details. Im interested in the first impressions. The large masses you see when your eyes are half open before the details get in the way, he says. I am interested in the way shapes merge and what information you take from life. . .and how you translate it in classic terms on a flat surface.
泭The exhibitions title, Perceptual Painting, refers to Bouls unique perspective of a scene, ultimately one that relies on his own senses. In the foreword to the exhibition catalog, Jack Rasmussen, AU Museum director and exhibition curator (CAS/MFA 75, MA 83, PhD 94) writes that [Boul] charges us with the responsibility to transcend the appearance of things, to search for more universal truths.
Jack Boul, Cows, n.d. Oil on canvas, 13.5 x 5 in. Courtesy of Tom OBriant and David Boul.
Bouls paintings feature everyday subjects. Some appear universal, including cows in a pasture, landscapes with rolling hills, nude figures, and diners in a caf矇, while others are distinctly local, including views of 酴圖弝けs C&O canal, a guard stationed at The Phillips Collection, and Bouls own artist studio. Rebecca Carr, lecturer in philosophy at George 酴圖弝け University, writes on Bouls elevation of seemingly ordinary subject matter. For Jack, there seem to be endless essences, endless poetic qualities, endless emotional resonances to be elicited from a scene that looks much the same to the uninterested eye.
Jack Boul, Artists Studio, 1965. Oil on canvas, 20.5 x 16.5. Courtesy of the artist.
Teaching by Example
When Boul arrived in DC, AUs Department of Art was teaching classes at The Phillips Collection while the American Red Cross occupied the on-campus arts building during World War II. Rasmussen notes that the artworks at The Phillips Collectionrevered as Americas first museum of modern artinfluenced the work of both the faculty and students at the time. Their presence at The Phillips stamped their style, whether post-expressionist or expressionist; they shared a love of color and gesture, he says. Rasmussen, once a student of Bouls, recalls that he urged his pupils to prioritize painting what they observed above all. We started with visible data and then he encouraged us to paint our own perceptions, he says.
Former student Sharon Wolpoff recalls taking Bouls class in Materials & Techniques, where students learned how to make their own oil paint, how canvases were made, how to varnish finished paintings, and other important skills for artmaking. We learned how to utilize the art supplies at our fingertips to better express ourselves, Wolpoff says. Carefully selecting and preparing the materials prior to beginning to paint helps to provide the groundwork for the burst of creative freedom that will follow.
In addition to practical advice, Boul showed his students how to use different types of paint and brushes to create the desired effect in their paintings. Jack illustrated the language of how to make a painting, says former student Jo Weiss (CAS 86). By using his own paintings as examples, Boul helped his students draw the most from an arrangement and expand students awareness of expression through structure.
Jack Boul, Beach Waves, 2005. Oil on canvas, 8.5 x 5.5 in. Courtesy of Tom OBriant and David Boul.
A Lasting Gift to AU
Following the exhibition, a large gift of works by Jack Boul will be donated to the AU Museum by Bouls son, David Boul, and his spouse, Thomas OBriant. This gift will include oil paintings, monotypes, and sculptures. The gift fills out an important part of the history of AUs Department of Art and art in our nations capital in our permanent collection, says Rasmussen. The works trace a legacy back to The Phillips, the foundation out of which AUs MFA program was formed. Its important to remember that foundation.泭泭泭
Jack Boul, Reflections, 1998. Oil on canvas, 19.25 x 13 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Born in the South Bronx, Boul attended New York Citys American Artists School before serving in World War II. After the war, Boul graduated from the Cornish School of Art in Seattle, 酴圖弝け, and then moved across the country to take additional art courses at AU. Then, Boul began teaching in the Department of Arts newly formed MFA program. After 15 years as a professor at AU, Boul became one of the first teachers at the 酴圖弝け Studio School, which offers art classes for all ages. Although he retired from teaching in 1994, Boul continues to make and exhibit his art to this day.
Bouls work was first exhibited in AUs first campus art museum, The Watkins Gallery, in 1960 and again in 1971, 1972, 1983, and 1984. After the AU Museum at the Katzen Arts Center opened in its current location, he held solo exhibitions there in 2008 and 2015. Bouls works are included in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, and the AU Museum.
See Perceptual Painting at the AU Museum at the Katzen Arts Center on June 15 through August 11. Learn more and plan your visit. Opening reception: June 15, 6-9 p.m.