Henry Boese

(1824-1864)

When a young starting collector wants a central picture to represent a particular school, he may have to settle for the best he can afford of a lesser name— and I certainly did in the late 1960s. Seeking a Hudson River School example, I discovered a really little-known upstate New York artist named Henry Boese (even the spelling of his last name was disputed). Boese’s birth and death dates were unknown. Nevertheless, I bought a big panoramic view with a figure and river in the distance, and I kept this example for many years until the early 1980s, when a friend found a major—and I felt better—example by Boese. I decided to part with the first example in order to obtain the present major—and absolutely best—example I’ve seen by this early and shortlived artist, whose dates were eventually established as 1824–1864. In recent years, many examples, often large and ambitious, have come to light, and often held up very well to bigger-name artists. With Henry Boese, I learned there’s as much likelihood that a minor-name artist can produce a masterpiece as a major-name can produce a ‘clunker.’ Never prejudge based on name alone.