Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Robert Douglas Genn

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus overall, but one could argue keep straightout since the rewrite. Not that it matters, really. - Daniel.Bryant 07:00, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Robert Douglas Genn

Robert Douglas Genn (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) – (View log)

Please note: the article has been moved to Robert Genn. Tyrenius 01:08, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Autobiography. Is he notable? -- RHaworth 13:25, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

• Weak Delete article asserts notability - "Robert Genn is one of Canada's most popular and collected painters" - but doesn't provide evidence of external coverage by independent sources. Delete unless sources can be found. Walton monarchist89 13:35, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
• Delete unless sourced and referenced i.a.w. WP:BIO by end of this AfD Alf photoman 16:06, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
• Delete I think the subject may possibly be notable per WP:BIO, but the article as it stands is a mass of unverifiable and unsourced information which would need a major rewrite. Unless someone can deal with these issues before this AfD ends, it has to go. CiaranG 22:47, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

• Keep with additions below. If the article is improved, I don't mind it being here, although this does bring up the problems with people writing their own articles and why conflict-of-interest concerns are important. I don't think WP:BITE is an issue: if you write your own article, you're setting yourself up to be bitten (as per WP:WWIN and WP:NPOV--wikipedia should not be self-promotional). But having said that, if all the sources check out, I believe it satisfies WP:BIO. Freshacconci 18:54, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

• Very emphatically Keep and tag for citations, this is a well-known artist, with work in at least a dozen galleries, as well as in Western Canada's largest museum. His work has been purchased by the government of Belgium, by the Winston Churchill Foundation, the University of Alberta, Bank of Montreal and Air Canada.

He served on the board of directors of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design.

He is known as somewhat of an expert in art history, techniques, and criticism and has written essays articles and books on those subjects... I don't know of any (readily available) sources for information about him, but I've seen his art in galleries in the L.A. area and read a book and some reprints of articles he wrote. He has several short articles at this website. I'm in favor of keeping the article and addressing the verification issues on a fact-to-fact basis. He is certainly a notable artist with a long career. He wrote 'The Dreamway'; Robert Genn, in praise of painting ISBN-10: 0920886175 and ISBN-13: 978-0920886175; and The Painter's Keys A Seminar With Robert Genn User:Pedant 00:29, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm adding some material I found as extra references, which was easily found in a brief time... I'm sure more can be found with a little effort and perhaps the assistance of the article's author. I think that this artist's notability is well established, and that it should pose no great difficulty to verify the claims in the article. We are very fortunate that the artist himself took the "bold" step of writing his own article, and it would be worth our while to not bite him for it, and to courteously offer advice and assistance in bringing it up to wikipedian standards. User:Pedant 01:33, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

• Please note: references supplied by Pedant have been moved from here to the talk page, but should be studied before finalising an assessment on this article. Tyrenius 00:58, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

They have now been mostly incorporated into the article.Tyrenius 04:03, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

• COMPLETE REWRITE: I have completely rewritten this article at this point, only relying on the original for mundane details such as birth date, education, family etc. Comments prior to this are about the original version, which had no references at all. Tyrenius 04:00, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
• Keep per rewrite as above. Sufficient notability established for inclusion, particularly through work in collections, including Government of Belgium and Glenbow Museum, and amount of gallery representation and shows. I would like to say that the nom was quite correct in asking the question. Tyrenius 04:09, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
• Keep. Meets WP:BIO easily and the article is in good shape. John Vandenberg 06:03, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
• Keep per rewrite above, with thanks to Tyrenius for his extraordinary efforts in saving the article. User:Pedant 06:32, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.