A painter of portraits, landscape, and genre, Joseph Boston began his training in 1875 at the age of fifteen in the Academy school's antique class. He attended the school for five seasons into spring 1880, and exhibited his first work at an Academy annual in 1884. He was a consistent contributor throughout his long life, his work appearing in a total of fifty-eight annual exhibitions.
In 1887, Boston moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn, where he remained until 1909. He was an instructor at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. The Society of American Artists elected Boston a member in 1896, and in 1898, he joined the Salmagundi Club. He was also a member of the Brooklyn Art Club, the National Arts Club, and the Lotus Club. When Boston left Brooklyn, he took a studio apartment in Carnegie Hall, which he kept until his feeble condition necessitated his removal to Goldwater Memorial Hospital. His last years were troubled by ill health.
Boston's work is characterized by a noticable impasto and a stylish impressionistic handling. He specialized in "society" portraits; in landscape his favorite subjects were the Hudson River Valley and the Adirondack Mountains. In Manhattan, the artist exhibited at the Babcock Galleries.