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Bob and Gennie DeWeese papers, 1929-2025

Overview of the Collection

Creator
DeWeese, Robert, 1920-1990; DeWeese, Gennie, 1921-2007
Title
Bob and Gennie DeWeese papers
Dates
1929-2025 (inclusive)
Quantity
27.6 linear feet, (64 boxes)
Collection Number
2640
Summary
Personal files and artwork of Bob and Gennie DeWeese, two Bozeman-based artists and teachers who helped to build Montana's modernist art scene.
Repository
Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Robert (Bob) and Genevieve (Gennie) DeWeese were pioneers in the modernist movement in the state of Montana. Primarily painters and printmakers, both artists influenced a generation of students through their teaching and involvement with the Montana arts community. Bob was Professor of Art at Montana State University from 1949 to 1977. Prior to that, he taught classes at Texas Tech University and Ohio State University. He earned his B.S. from Ohio State University and his M.F.A. from University of Iowa in 1948. In 1946 he married Gennie, who was a fellow art student at Ohio State.

They had five children together: Cathie, Jan, Gretchen, Tina and Josh. According to Tina, "Art was certainly their common ground, but family is what held them together." Both were also committed to "equal studio time"; Tina has observed that "Gennie was a feminist before the word was known."

Both Bob and Gennie exhibited extensively throughout the state and major retrospectives of their works were presented at the Montana State University School of Art (1979) and the Yellowstone Art Center (1991) for Bob, and at the Missoula Art Museum (1996) for Gennie. In 1995 Bob and Gennie received the Montana Governor's Award for the Arts. That same year, Gennie was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Montana State University in Bozeman.

Bob and Gennie were a hub for a very lively community of intellectual, modernist thinkers and artists of their generation, mostly a cross section of university faculty. They loved to stay in touch with what people were thinking about and what was new in their respective fields through hosting parties which provided them with lifetime friends. Bob DeWeese passed away in 1990, and Gennie in 2007. The DeWeese children continue to honor their parents' life work.

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Content Description

The collection focuses on the professional work and personal lives of both Bob and Gennie DeWeese, including sketches of commissioned artwork (murals for Bob, book illustrations for Gennie). It has examples of art done by both, such as illustrations done by Gennie DeWeese for the book Hamlet's Planets, items related to the Bob and Gennie DeWeese Gallery, and exhibitions such as Robert DeWeese, a Retrospective. A subseries of sketchbooks documents Bob's ways of interacting with the world, and especially his service in World War II.

Also within the collection is correspondence with other Montana artists such as Jerry Rankin, Jessie Wilber and Frances Senska, reflecting the DeWeese's extensive social and professional network with creatives of significane in twentieth century Montana.

The collection also has a large variety of exhibit catalogs and flyers for the Yellowstone Art Museum and the Missoula Art Museum, among others. In addition to examples of his artwork, the collection also has items from Bob DeWeese's career as an art professor at Montana State College (now Montana State University).

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph], [Year if available], [Collection title], Box [Box number], Folder [Folder number], Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Divided into the following series: 1. Bob DeWeese-Biographical Files, 2. Bob DeWeese--Working Files, 3. Bob DeWeese--Correspondence, 4. Gennie DeWeese--Biographical Files, 5. Gennie DeWeese--Working Files, 6. Gennie and Bob DeWeese Gallery, and 7. DeWeese Web Archive

Acquisition Information

Gift of Tina DeWeese on behalf of the DeWeese Family, 2018, 2019, and 2024.

Custodial History

Prior to its donation to MSU, the collection was held by the DeWeese Family, specifically Tina DeWeese, who performed curatorial work on it including identifications and dates.

Processing Note

This collection was initially processed in 2019-2020. Tina DeWeese provided assistance with identification. An inventory was made of the collection, and this was used as the basis for creating the listed series. All items were reboxed into acid-free containers and sorted into the series. While some items were also refoldered, the bulk of the collection was left in its original folders.

In 2023, the collection was rehoused to provide easier access. Some folder titles have been edited for clarity, and loose items that were not in folders were given titles by the archivist. Materials were condensed within boxes to make better use of space, but they have been retained in their original order. Where possible, titles assigned to folders by Bob and Gennie DeWeese have been retained.

In 2024-2025, Bob's sketchbooks and sketches were added as a subseries. Tina DeWeese assisted with identifying and dating this material.

Separated Materials

The first donation included a box of materials about Gennie DeWeese collected by Terry Karson, which was separated into its own collection.

A pair of Gennie DeWeese's Birkenstock sandals included in the collection were not retained.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Artists--Montana

Corporate Names

  • Montana State University--Bozeman--Faculty

Geographical Names

  • Montana

Form or Genre Terms

  • Artist files
  • Biographies
  • Biography
  • Correspondence
  • Sketchbooks
  • Web archives
  • Works of art

Finding aid prepared by Sophia Phillips, 2020. Collection rehoused and box numbers and folder titles updated by Heather Mulliner with the assistance of Kristin Chibroski and Harley Robinson, 2023. Addition of sketchbooks by Jodi Allison-Bunnell.
2025

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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