Planes of Light Fresno Art Museum

“From the beginning Nancy Genn recognized that her lifework would be that of an artist. Her mother, Ruth Wetmore Thompson Whitehouse, born in San Francisco in 1896, studied at the California School of Fine Art and the University of California, Berkeley and exerted a strong and profound influence upon Genn's development. Passionate about both art and the environment, Thompson-Whitehouse participated in the San Francisco exhibition of Women Artists – 100 Years in 1994. Because of her mother's life a s an artist, Genn's childhood was enriched by exposure t o other women artists of her mother's generation, Adeline Kent, Ruth Cravath and Claire Falkenstein. It is interesting to note that the notebooks of the Japanese master Hokusai, which her mother purchased in 1917, clearly exerted an influence on the line and structure of Genn's paintings. This early connection with Asian art has enriched Genn's mode of geometric abstraction—Eastern forms and thought continue to be a vital source of inspiration for her art.”

– From Nancy Genn: Planes of Light by Jacquiline Pilar, 2003