Unveiling highlights recently completed portrait commissions and figurative works by some of the Portrait Society of America’s most accomplished and active members. This month, Kimberly Azzarito, Director of Programs for the Portrait Society of America, speaks with Laurel Stern Boeck about the people, stories, and serendipitous connections that have shaped her career, including a recent commission for the University of Pennsylvania.

Unveiling

History and Humanity: Laurel Stern Boeck

By Kimberly Azzarito

For more than two decades, portrait artist Laurel Stern Boeck has celebrated the achievements of leaders in government academia and industry through her work. She recently unveiled her portrait of Dr. David B. Roth for the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Selected from a distinguished group of portrait artists, Boeck viewed the commission as both an honor and the start of a meaningful creative partnership. Working closely together, Boeck and Dr. Roth aligned expectations, timelines and sources of inspiration, laying the foundation for a thoughtful and collaborative artistic process.

Laurel Stern Boeck, Dr. David Roth, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, oil on linen, 38 x 28 in.

The portrait that followed draws its strength from quiet storytelling. Dr. Roth’s warm, inviting library offered the setting to evoke his accomplishments and his professional stature. By placing him in a relaxed pose, she aimed to create a sense of approachability. Throughout the commission, Boeck paid close attention to the subtle interplay of light, color and personal artifacts within Dr. Roth’s environment. She took time to observe not only the formal aspects but also the quiet moments that revealed his personality, books well-loved, framed photographs and the gentle presence of his dog at his side. These details, woven seamlessly into the portrait, offer viewers an intimate glimpse into Dr. Roth’s everyday world and enrich the narrative behind the painting.

This balance between personal story and institutional legacy is at the core of Boeck's broader body of work, with each portrait requiring curiosity, sensitivity and a willingness to look beyond outward accomplishment. For a portrait of the former Secretary of the Navy, John Dalton, Boeck and the sitter rearranged his office together, selecting an Iwo Jima painting as a powerful backdrop. A tour of the Pentagon became an education in its own right, as Dalton narrated the history embedded in each portrait-lined hallway. At Weill Cornell Medical College, she captured the formidable spirit of Dr. Laurie Glimcher, her framed arms and visible hand embodying confidence and authority. The portrait of Reverend Howard, Rutgers University, bathed in stained-glass color, invited her to study hands once more—those subtle, expressive features that reveal the inner life as surely as the face.

In addition to steady commissions, teaching workshops, especially at the Art Students League, have become a parallel source of inspiration for Boeck. Guiding emerging and established artists feels like a natural extension of her craft and a chance to share the lessons gained across years of painting practice. She believes traditional portraiture is experiencing renewed appreciation, even as technology reshapes how artists work, share and connect. Yet the heart of the discipline remains unchanged. A portrait rises above likeness, she believes…when the talented hand captures not only the face, but the full story waiting quietly beneath it. —