Tom Bostelle

Chester County artist Tom Bostelle dies at 83

JOHN CHAMBLESS, Staff Writer

02/19/2005

Tom Bostelle, who was an influence on generations of Chester County artists, died on Thursday evening at his home studio in Pocopson. He was 83.

Bostelle -- a painter, sculptor and author -- was a lifelong Chester County resident, and he exhibited new works as recently as last year in West Chester.

Born in 1921, the youngest of eight children, he made his mark as an artist in his early teens.

When he was 16, he befriended primitive artist Horace Pippin and convinced Pippin to pose for a portrait. That painting is now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

His works are also part of the permanent collections of the Delaware Art Museum, the Chester County Historical Society, West Chester University and hundreds of private collections here and abroad.

Bostelle quit school at 17 and worked as a selt-taught artist for the rest of his life, supporting himself and his family with a succession of jobs, portrait commissions and by teaching art students at his home.

In 1947, influenced by ragged crowds of soldiers he saw while serving in World War II, he painted the first of his "shadow" paintings, in which the distorted shadows of people to express emotions beyond their literal likeness.

He explored the technique for the rest of his life, sometimes working on huge panels that would fill a gallery wall.

Fiercely independent, Bostelle worked with a succession of gallery owners in the 1950s and 1960s, but preferred to handle his own career. In the late 1960s, he set up his Aeolian Palace gallery and studio in a former dance hall on the Brandywine Creek, and painted whatever he wished.

Friends supported his work, but the dark subject matter alienated many others.

Bostelle reveled in his ability to polarize the public, but his own personality was sunnier than his paintings would suggest.

Bostelle’s onetime student and longtime manager, Tania Boucher, was unavailable for comment on Friday.

In a 2002 biography of the artist, though, she wrote: "Arrogant, egocentric and charismatic, he has the personal magnetism of a guru. His fierce dedication to his work has made him an artist’s artist among his circle of peers, and an admired teacher and critic. ... He has been able to maintain complete autonomy in every aspect of his life’s work."

Bostelle had struggled with emphysema for years, but his death surprised many of those who knew him.

West Chester artist Philip Jamison, 80, who discovered Bostelle’s work when he was still in grade school, said on Friday, "I’ve always admired his work, and I own several of his paintings. I think he’s a truly great fine artist. He’s never gotten the attention that he deserved because he didn’t pay attention to gallery owners. ... But he’s the best artist that ever came out of this area in his generation."

Bostelle had a longtime relationship with the Chester County Art Association, despite once cutting his ties with the group by abruptly withdrawing his entire exhibit from the walls.

Decades later, he agreed to exhibit there again, and found a welcoming home.

Art Association Executive Director Darcie Goldberg said Friday, "Tom left a huge mark in our history. Over the last few years, we had a really good working relationship with him.

"This is what I remember most about him: We once had a push-pin art show. There was a young kid, maybe 10, and he had done his version of a Bostelle shadow figure. It was on sale for $5. As soon as I saw it, I bought it and gave it to Tom for a Christmas gift. He laughed. He loved it, and he kept it at his house.

"To him, the most important thing about my job was educating the kids. Someone who can still be such an influence on people in the art world -- that’s to be admired."

Brett Walker, a painter and sculptor who befriended Bostelle several years ago, said, "Chester County has lost a great artist and friend. As an artist, the loss cuts even deeper. He has always been a leader, marching toward new directions, opening doors for the rest of us to walk through.

"Before the Christmas holiday, Tom sat for me so I could make sketches for his portrait. I told him that this painting would resemble the sculpture of Balzac, the great French writer of the 19th century, done by the equally great sculptor Rodin. He said he liked that."

For the past three years, Garrubbo Bazan Gallery in West Chester has been Bostelle’s main exhibition space. Gallery owner Patricia Bazan said she and her husband met Bostelle about six years ago, before they opened the space.

"We feel very privileged to have worked with him," she said. "We began as collectors. We had two solo shows for him, but he’s been part of many other shows. Whenever we had a show for him, we would see a parade of artists coming through, again and again, visiting his work. And these were artists working in very different styles and mediums.

"We had lectures and book readings for him, and a lot of his former students would come. He had really touched them, and taught them how to think independently. He didn’t follow any art trends or movements. Everything came from within him."

Steve Debottis, owner of Debottis Gallery in West Chester, had two consecutive exhibits for Bostelle several years ago. "It was quite an honor to work with him, a real coup," Debottis said. "I admired the work and the man himself quite a bit. At a time like this, it’s easy to mourn, but we should also celebrate the fact that he lived his life exactly as he wanted. ..He called his own shots, and lived his life the way he wanted."

Author Warren Hope, who now lives in Haverford, was a longtime friend of Bostelle. "I had dinner at his place Wednesday night," he said on Friday. "It was a 30-year friendship. A recent book of poems of mine has his artwork on the cover. He was one of a kind, and one of the most literate painters I’ve ever come across. He just loved language and reading."

Stephen Bruni, who is retiring as the executive director of the Delaware Art Museum next month, met Bostelle at a drawing class in 1971.

"His classes were about all the arts in one, not just drawing," Bruni said. "Those sessions were pretty influential in my deciding to pursue a career in the arts."

The Delaware Art Museum had a show for Bostelle in the 1970s, Bruni said, and exhibited his metal sculptures in the 1990s. Bostelle also taught classes and workshops that always drew an enthusiastic audience.

The museum owns a cross-section of Bostelle’s paintings and sculptures, including about five of his life-size metal shadow figures. The institution will reopen soon in Wilmington, Del., after a major expansion project.

"In the future, with the art museum reopening, it’s my hope that some of those outdoor pieces will be incorporated into the sculpture park," Bruni said. "It’s important that he stays in the public eye. That’s something I will pursue, even in retirement."

He is survived by two sons, James M. Bostelle and Jonathon T. Bostelle; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Services are private.

©Daily Local News 2006