Born in Victoria, BC in 1936, he attended Victoria College and the University of British Columbia and in 1958 the Art Centre School in Los Angeles. A painter of landscapes and genre subjects of British Columbia, especially the native peoples and the art and villages of the Northwest Coast but also the North American Indian culture in general. He painted the interior of BC including the Kootenay and Slocan districts, Caribou North, Skeena Valley, also Queen Charlotte Islands, the highlands of Vancouver Island and in eastern Canada he painted in Northern Ontario, Algonquin Park, also New Mexico and elsewhere. During 1973 he used an Alpine trail bike to reach areas above the snow line.
Genn carried on the tradition of the Canadian Landscape with fresh, painterly techniques and strong design, often exhibiting his devotion to painting by reducing grand themes to small panels painted in the wilderness he loved. He painted mainly in oils, acrylics and his drawings have also been reproduced by lithographs. Viewing Genn’s work in 1976 Victor Arcega noted, “He still keeps within the bounds of a happy medium between literal and painterly imagery… In addition to his obvious technical ability, Genn is a sensitive and powerful painter. His view of reality, although somewhat romantic and very therapeutic, is physically intense.” Genn’s paintings have been exhibited in galleries across North America and he is represented in numerous private collections.
Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume II”, compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1979
