Yvonne Boseker, center, honors her late husband by offering the Dr. Edward H. Boseker award to artist Ebrahim Amin, left, at the 2013 Plein Air Invitational with president Greg Vail, right.
Some art collectors hide their cache, allowing only a chosen few to see their prized possessions. Others, such as the late Edward H. Boseker and his wife Yvonne, found a mission in sharing their collection of historic California art with the museum-going public.
Such generosity by Ms. Boseker, who collected the art with her late husband, an orthopedic surgeon and former member of the Laguna Art Museum board, earned her the museum’s Wendt Award this past Sunday, Nov. 13. Executive Director Malcolm Warner describes their collection as one of the most substantial and important in the field.
She recently established the Edward H. and Ivonne Boseker Fund at the museum, which will be used for conservation and framing works in the permanent collection and also to help fund exhibits and programs centered on historic California art.
“We shared a vision that we are simply caretakers of these outstanding pieces of California art,” said the Santa Ana resident in an email. “The paintings will be here after we are long gone; we must take good care of them, protect them but continually share them with the public as the artists intended.”
Boseker recognizes that museum directors face a harder task wooing funds to underwrite preservation and restoration, compared to gaining support for the opening of new exhibitions. She takes pride in the role of helping to preserve the museum’s permanent collection.
Boseker is the fourth recipient of the award, established in 2012 as the California Art Award, renamed this year as The Wendt Award. Previousfourth recipients include art scholar Ruth Westphal and artists Wayne Thiebaud and Peter Alexander.
“We are delighted to give the award this time to a remarkable collector, especially one as compelling in her enthusiasm and generous sharing of her collection as Yvonne Boseker,” said Warner.
Named after William Wendt, a California painter and pillar of the early Laguna Beach art colony, the award was given out this year at a special dinner at The Ranch resort in Aliso Canyon. Warner found the venue especially befitting as the event followed the museum’s annual Art and Nature Festival.
[…] Read the article here. […]