Joseph Edgar Boehm was born Josef Erasmus Böhm in Vienna, Austria on 4 July 1834 and was the son of Josef Daniel Böhm (1794–1865), court medallist, engraver, and director of the Hauptmünzamt [Imperial Mint] in Vienna. After attending Leigh's Art Academy in London from 1848 to 1851, he returned to Vienna where he studied medal design and modelling at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. He then visited Italy before working as a medallist in Paris from 1859 to 1862. In 1862 he settled in London where he soon established a reputation as a sculptor. He came to prominence with his statuette of the writer William Makepeace Thackeray, exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1864. He subsequently created sculptures of Queen Victoria and the royal family, and in 1881 was appointed 'Sculptor in Ordinary' by her.
Boehm was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1862 to [posthumously] 1891. He also exhibited at Dudley Gallery, Grosvenor Gallery and New Gallery in London. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1878, and a full Academician (RA) in 1882. He was also elected to the Academy in Rome in 1880 and Florence in 1881, and to the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna in 1890. He lectured on sculpture at the Royal Academy in London.
Boehm took British nationality in 1865. For most of his career in England his address was given as 34 Euston Square, London. He died suddenly at his home, The Avenue, 76 Fulham Road, London, on 12 December 1890.
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
