MARY LOUISE BOEHM 1925 - 2002
Pianist and Painter
Mary Louise Boehm passed away on November 29, 2002 in her beloved Spain. Mary Louise Boehm was both an internationally known concert pianist and a painter of stature who has exhibited in the United States and in Europe.
Miss Boehm received her art education in Amsterdam, in Bogota and at the New School and the Art Students League in New York.
Miss Boehm began painting in the 1960s, working in oils, watercolor and inks. While on concert tours in South America she became interested in textiles, which led to her involvement with weaving, textile design and the complicated field of dye and color chemistries. Eventually she chose batik as a painterly textile medium. She studied the traditional Indonesian batik techniques and pioneered modern adaptations, and had major shows in the United States.
Lily and Roses
In the 1980s Mary Louise went back to watercolors. Her studies in New York and Amsterdam, included courses in portrait and figure painting, oriental art and Chinese calligraphy. For several years now Miss Boehm has been fascinated with the possibilities of mixographica in which she can combine her extensive skills and knowledge of different mediums. Her Collograph are made with oils, pastels, acrylics, watercolor, inks and texturized surfaces which under high pressure in a printing or etching press are made to interact with special paper into one-of-a-kind artworks, classified as monotypes or monographs.
Her latest project was a painterly interpretation of Debussy's 24 Preludes for Piano. Her idea was that at the exhibit a recording of her own playing of the Preludes will be heard, while at the same time Debussy's graphic manuscripts can be seen alongside her collographs. Miss Boehm did not intend to 'translate' the music into visual images, but rather express her own awareness of Debussy's ideas, gestures and colors, the way she would at the piano.
Piano soloist, chamber musician and recording artist Miss Boehm has appeared in North and South America, Europe, Russia and the Far East. Critics praise her insight and rich palette of tonal colors. Miss Boehm has made a lasting contribution to the world of music by reintroducing into mainstream repertoire neglected masterworks of once famous composers from the time of Hayden, Mozart and Beethoven. Her impressive discography includes works by C.P.E. Bach, Abel, Schroeder, Gyrowetz, Field, Hummel, Kalkbrenner, Moscheles, Spohr. The Double Concerto of Johann Pixis was nominated for the Grammy Award.
by: Shirley C. Lally, Director – Chapellier Fine Art