John Bosson

John E. "Jack" Bosson
September 18, 1937 - November 1, 2012
Beloved artist, instructor, animation professional, husband and father, was found dead of apparent natural causes in his Hollywood apartment on Saturday, November 3, 2012. He was 75 years old. Jack Bosson was born in Charleroi, PA; lived in St. Petersburg, FL, and served in the U.S. Navy. He received his Diploma of Design from The Cooper Union; and studied painting and drawing at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris on a Fulbright Fellowship, receiving his Master of Fine Arts from Cornell University in 1966. In addition, he was awarded prestigious grants in drawing and painting by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. Bosson was a practicing and exhibiting fine artist, freelance illustrator, and educator for over 40 years. Jack lived in New York City before moving to Los Angeles in 1987. A prolific painter, his work was exhibited internationally and included in the permanent collection at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Among his commissions, was a series of paintings for NASA. He was a founding member of the seminal 55 Mercer Gallery in New York, and was shown at Tortue Gallery in Los Angeles. Jack was employed briefly by Hanna Barbera as a background painter and was hired as a training manager in Feature Animation at Disney in 1995. In addition he taught drawing and painting at Cornell University, SUNY Albany, College of New Rochelle, University of Southern California, and Otis College of Art & Design. More recently he taught at Gnomon School of Visual Effects where he produced the popular lecture DVD series: "Drawing the Figure;" as well as Loyola Marymount, and Woodbury University where he founded and chaired their animation department for three years. Jack is survived by his wife Kristin Draudt, three sons, Matthew, Sam, and John Henry as well as his sister Barbara and brother Richard.
A memorial service is planned for Sunday, January 13, 2013, at 3:30pm, at Bergamot Station, Building I, in Santa Monica. Please send an email to mattbosson@gmail.com for more information.