Homer Boss
Homer Boss (1882–1956) was a painter, printmaker and advanced art instructor of the early 20th century Modern art movement in America. He first taught at the Henri School of Art in 1909. Boss ended up purchasing the school in 1910 from his former teacher, Robert Henri, and later renamed it the Independent School of Art.
Homer Boss

Homer Boss · Public domain
- Name
- Homer Dean Boss
- Born
- 1882
- Birthplace
- Blandford, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Died
- 1956
- Place of death
- Santa Cruz, New Mexico, U.S.
- Occupation
- Painter, printmaker, art instructor
- Spouse
- Suzanne/Susan Kutka Boss (married 1927)
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q18238861 · wikipedia · Homer Boss
In this article
Biography
Biography
Among those that gave Boss accolades for their own success was famed Brazilian modernist Anita Malfatti, and many of her most lauded paintings were created during this period while she was under his instruction. Boss later taught for two decades at the Art Students League of New York where he met his future wife, Suzanne Kutka. He also taught at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later known as the Parsons School of Design) and for a few years at the New York School of Applied Design for Women. Boss had a studio in Santa Cruz, New Mexico for the remaining 25 years of his life and it was there that he painted many of his most famous landscapes, as well as portraits of American Indians. His oil paintings have appeared in many exhibitions, including the original Armory Show of 1913 and the 1913 Armory Show 50th Anniversary Exhibition of 1963. Boss illustrated two books by German author Waldemar Bonsels: the children's book Maya the Bee (1912) and the young adult book Heaven Folk (1915). His wood cuts, portraits and landscapes can be found in many prestigious museums including a full length portrait, among others, at the Chazen Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a woodcut in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Some other galleries with Boss works in their permanent collections include the Baltimore Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, Georgia Museum of Art, Hunter Museum of American Art, Mennello Museum of American Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the National Arts Club.

The Adventures of Maya the Bee - Chapter 1 headpiece
Homer Boss

The Adventures of Maya the Bee - Facing page 42
Homer Boss
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Homer Dean Boss • Born — 1882 • Birthplace — Blandford, Massachusetts, U.S. • Died — 1956 • Place of death — Santa Cruz, New Mexico, U.S. • Occupation — Painter, printmaker, art instructor • Spouse — Suzanne/Susan Kutka Boss (married 1927) • Children — 0 • Relatives — Anne Kutka McCosh (sister-in-law) David McCosh (brother-in-law)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1882
Homer Boss born at Blandford.
1956
Homer Boss died at Santa Cruz.
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Blandford.
Birth place
Santa Cruz.
Death place
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Homer Boss, revision 1364544101 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Homer Dean Boss - art auction records. www.askart.com.
- 2.Homer Boss Online. www.artcyclopedia.com.
- 3.Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of New Mexico files, 1897-1984 Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. www.aaa.si.edu.
- 4.Stewart Klonis papers, 1886-1982 Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. www.aaa.si.edu.
- 5.A Finding Aid to the A. S. Baylinson papers, 1929-1955 Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. www.aaa.si.edu.
- 6.Girl in Black - Homer Boss. Google Arts & Culture.
- 7.Wisconsin poets at the Elvehjem Museum of Art. 1995. 0-932900-38-0.
- 8.Homer Dean Boss Biography, Auction Records, Buying Homer Dean Boss Paintings. Taos and Santa Fe Painters. November 2017.
- 9.Homer Dean Boss (1882-1956) Biography. Medicinemangallery.com.
- 10.SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. siris-artinventories.si.edu.
- 11.Boss, Homer. Homer Boss: the figure and the land. Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 1994. 0-932900-36-4.
- 12.An Atlantic Connection: Anita Malfatti's Contributions to Modernist Art. www.lehman.cuny.edu.
- 13.Homer Boss. Espanola Valley News. 1. January 18, 1956.
- 14.Artist Dies at His Home. Albuquerque Journal. 2. January 17, 1956.
- 15.xroads.virginia.edu.
- 16.Jaffe, Irma B. The Story of the Armory Show. The Art Bulletin. 46. 3. 420. September 1964. 0004-3079.
- 17.The Adventures of Maya the Bee from Project Gutenberg. onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu.
- 18.Young Woman in Black 935. Chazen Museum of Art.
- 19.Homer Boss. National Gallery of Art.
- 20.Rider on the Mesa. collection.artbma.org.
- 21.Search Denver Art Museum. www.denverartmuseum.org.
- 22.Young Woman in Blue and Gold, (painting). siris-artinventories.si.edu.
- 23.Homer Boss – Artists – eMuseum. emuseum.huntermuseum.org.
- 24.Mennello Museum of American Art City of Orlando. www.mennellomuseum.org. 10 July 2020.
- 25.Pueblo Indian. sam.nmartmuseum.org.
- 26.Los Caballos. philamuseum.org.
- 27.The Collection - The National Arts Club. www.nationalartsclub.org.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Wilfer, Joseph. Homer Boss: American Painter 1882–1956: A Traveling Exhibition. Madison Art Center. 1978. 8712964.
- Udell, Susan S. Homer Boss: The Figure and the Land. Elvehjem Museum of Art. 1994. 9780932900364.
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.
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