Gennie DeWeese

Genevieve "Gennie" DeWeese (née Adams; January 10, 1921 – November 26, 2007) was a modernist painter and prominent member of the art community in Bozeman, Montana. Gennie and her husband, Robert "Bob" DeWeese were notable for the major role they played in the development of the Montana contemporary arts community.

Early life Genevieve Adams was born on January 10, 1921, in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she spent the first five years of her life. She also lived in St. Louis, Missouri, then Gross Pointe, Michigan for eight years, and finally Columbus, Ohio, where she attended high school. Gennie was the youngest of four girls in her family.

DeWeese graduated from Ohio State University, where she studied with Hoyt Sherman, with a bachelor's degree in fine arts. There, she also met her future husband, Bob DeWeese.

Art style Gennie DeWeese's early work is characterized by thick brushwork and domestic subjects. Later in her career, she moved toward landscapes and non-objective abstractions. DeWeese was known for her landscape paintings and woodblock prints. She and her husband were credited with “bringing modernism and non-objective expressionism” to Montana and other regions of the West. The subjects of her early work were primarily landscapes and her family, including her children.

After moving to the Cottonwood Canyon in 1965, DeWeese began creating contemporary non-objective work. She moved from the oils and ink sketches that she had used previously and began utilizing new mediums, including cattle markers, pigment sticks, and paint sticks to create new modernist work based on the landscapes around her. DeWeese also expanded into creating giant scrolls rather than traditional canvases

In 1965, the DeWeeses purchased land in Cottonwood Canyon and built a house. In 1977, DeWeese and her husband made their Bozeman home into a gallery, where they exhibited work by local artists. The house became a meeting place for the Montana art and intellectual community, including Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Awards and recognition “DeWeese has won numerous awards and been featured in workshops and publications. In 1983, she served as juror for the Women's Show, at the Black Orchid Gallery in Butte, Montana, and was featured in the October 31 issue of Newsweek in article on Montana artists. In 1985, she was featured as part of a Wall Street Journal article on the Western Arts Foundation. In 1986, she was the curator for Women's Work the Centennial Exhibition. In 1994, she was honored as ‘Printmaker of the Year' by the Billings Print Club. In 1995, DeWeese received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts and a Governor's Award for the Arts.” In 1996, a major retrospective of DeWeese’s works was presented at the Missoula Art Museum.

Later years Gennie DeWeese died on November 26, 2007.