Gallerist Jean Boghici Dies at the Age of 87

Boghici was born in Romania in 1928 and moved to Brazil in 1948 to escape the Second World War. In his early days in the city of Rio de Janeiro he slept on the beach and made a living fixing radios on the busy Avenida Atlántica. His knowledge and talent as a draftsman and cartoonist always connected him to bohemian and intellectual groups. His skills as a draftsman and his ability with tools contributed to his participation in cutting some of the famous "Bugs," by Lygia Clark, with whom he also had an affair. Boghici became a gallery owner after winning first prize in a famous competition in which he had to answer questions about the life of Vincent Van Gogh. The prize he won was the equivalent of US$200,000 at that time and was also granted the recognition of most popular personality. From that moment on his life changed. He bought an apartment in Copacabana in which he lived the rest of his life, also purchased a car and traveled. On his return he teamed up with Jonas Prochovnick and Eimar Carneiro to open the Galería Relevo in 1960. His accomplishments as a gallery owner were paramount because he was not solely responsible for launching the careers of artists like Antonio Dias and Rubens Gershman, but also for introducing foreign artists, little known in Brazil at the time, like Joaquin Torres-Garcia, Veira da Silva and Alexander Calder, among others. Besides being a neighbor of Di Cavalcanti in the Copacabana district, he was also his art dealer and friend. "He (Boghici) was someone who taught me to bet on new people"* said gallery owner Thomas Cohn who represented many of the Brazilian artists from the 1980s, like Leonilson, Daniel Senise, Beatriz Milhazes and Adriana Varejao. Boghici created one of the most important 20th century art collections in Brazil, with works by Tarsila do Amaral, Portinari, Di Cavalcanti, Volpi, Lucio Fontana, and Alexander Calder, among others. In 2012, because of a fire in his apartment, Boghici lost some of the works in its collection, including the very important painting by Di Cavalcanti titled Samba, which was valued at $2 million reais. In addition to his role as art collector and gallery owner, Boghici contributed to the fight against the counterfeiting of works by Brazilian artists. According to Jones Bergamin, owner of the auction house Rio Bolsa de Arte, "He was the commissioner against counterfeiting (...) did not let thieves fulfill their purpose." * During his stay in Paris, from 1960 to 1970, with his wife Genevieve, Boghici tracked highly important works by Brazilian artists that had been lost in Europe. "Thanks to him many works by Tarsila do Amaral, Di Cavalcanti and Vicente do Rego Monteiro ended up returning to the country." * He advised local collectors on building their collections, as was the case with Sergio Fadel: "His word was definitive. Jean was the teacher of the art dealers." * He is survived by his wife Genevieve and two daughters. *Sources: Folha de São Paulo, Brazil; Silas, Marti, June 1, 2015. Revista Veja, Brazil; Livia de Almeida and Fatima Sa, April, 2000