Louis George Bouché (March 18, 1896 – August 7, 1969) was an American artist, muralist, and decorator. He was a 1933

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

Life

Bouché was born in New York City. He traveled to Paris at age thirteen in 1909 to live with family and studied at the

Lycée Carnot The Lycée Carnot is a Public school (government funded), public secondary school, secondary and higher education school at 145 Boulevard Malesherbes in the XVIIe arrondissement, 17th arrondissement, Paris, France. The Lycée Carnot was founded in ...

, Académie Colarossi, and the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acadé ...

. He studied at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

in 1915, with

Dimitri Romanovsky Dimitri may refer People * Dmitry, a male given name, Slavic version of Greek name Demetrios * Dimitri (clown) (1935–2016), Swiss clown and mime * Dimitri Atanasescu, Ottoman-born Aromanian teacher * Dimitri from Paris, French DJ * Dimitri Flower ...

and

Frank Vincent DuMond Frank Vincent DuMond (August 20, 1865 – February 6, 1951) was one of the most influential teacher-painters in 20th-century America. He was an illustrator and American Impressionist painter of portraits and landscapes, and a prominent teach ...

. In 1921 he married Marian. Bouché curated an art gallery in

Wanamaker's John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...

department store, from 1922 to 1926.

Murals

He painted murals for the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, and

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

. He designed club cars for the Pennsylvania Railroad. and was a member of the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

. Bouché was commissioned to paint murals at the Eisenhower Presidential Museum, Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building,

Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building is the headquarters of the United States Department of Justice. The building is located at 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, on a trapezoidal lot on the block bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue to the ...

and the

Ellenville, New York Ellenville is a village within the town of Wawarsing, Ulster County, New York, United States. Its population was 4,135 at the 2010 census. Geography The village of Ellenville is about 90 miles northwest of New York City and 90 miles southwest ...

post office. His art is held by the U.S. State Department, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

, the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

, and

The Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips (art collector), Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the ...

. He taught at the Art Students League in New York,

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

, and

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. His ...

. His papers are held by the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

. Louis Bouché died on August 7, 1969, in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

References

External links

An oral history interview with Louis Bouché, 1959 Aug. 7askart.comartnet.com
1896 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Art Students League of New York faculty American muralists Federal Art Project artists Painters from New York City University of Cincinnati faculty Drake University faculty 20th-century American male artists American expatriates in France {{US-painter-1890s-stub