[1] Boissevain studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London and the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris.
He arrived in Australia in 1947, became naturalised in 1949,[2] and established a studio at Glen Forrest in the Darling Range near Perth.
His portrait of the art dealer and benefactor Claude Hotchin was an entry in the 1957 Archibald Prize.
His first wife Rhoda Elsie Boissevain (1918–1999), was also a fine portrait painter and runner-up in the Rubinstein Prize for portraiture 1960.
[8] The National Library of Australia holds her portrait of Katharine Susannah Prichard, completed ca.