Florence May Boefer

Florence May Boefer was a St. Louis painter active primarily in the 1930s.  Born in St. Louis, she attended McKinley High School and later studied at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts under Gustav Goetsch. Boefer was a bright and active student, and was involved in Shikari, the honorary women’s art fraternity at the School of Fine Arts. Boefer was a key member of the organization, serving as president from 1933 to 1934.

Even as a young student, Boefer’s work gained recognition through her involvement with Shikari, which hosted an annual exhibition at the Scruggs, Vandervoort and Barney Department Store. Boefer was described as the most prolific and versatile member of the group, due to her experimentation in multiple different media and types of art, including pastels, batik, portraits and landscape paintings.

Boefer was the first woman to win the St. Louis School of Fine Arts foreign travel scholarship, affording a year of study abroad. Upon her return, Boefer mounted a solo exhibition of twenty-eight paintings from her travels in Europe.

Apart from her year-long stay in Europe, Boefer lived most of her life in St. Louis. She was a member of the St. Louis Society of Independent Artists and also exhibited with the St. Louis Artists’ Guild. While the excitement of Europe influenced Boefer’s student and early professional work, she was equally interested in the natural scenes and landscapes of Missouri, which she depicted in watercolor and oil.

Boefer’s career was most active throughout the 1930s, but she remained involved in the St. Louis Artists’ Guild later in life, occasionally providing demonstrations or directing activities for members of the community. She died in 2002 at the age of ninety-six.