Jeane Granada Coutts Anguiano passed
away peacefully and surrounded by her family
on May 9th, 2017, of complications from
Parkinson’s. Jeane was born on November
2, 1922, in Granada, Spain, to Gordon
Coutts, the renowned Scottish artist, and
his musician/artist wife, Gertrude. The family
moved to Palm Springs in 1925 where Gordon
built “Dar Morroc,” their “Moorish Castle,” now
known as “Korakia Pensione”. John Lavery,
the well-known Irish artist and family friend,
was an occasional visitor to their home and
mentored Jeane during his stays. Because
of her extraordinary artistic capabilities, at 15
Jeane attended the Otis Art Institute, where
she received a full-time scholarship.
Her father’s protégé, she became a wellknown
artist in her own right, exhibiting her
paintings in the desert communities as well as
San Francisco, San Diego, New York and Los
Angeles where she contributed to LACMA’s
California Centennial Exhibition.
She was also instrumental in keeping the
focus of the Palm Springs art scene alive by
teaching about the meaning of art and its
importance in our society through media. While
living in Palm Springs, she helped to establish
the Allied Arts Association of Palm Springs,
now known as The Desert Art Center. In the
early 1970s, she hosted “Gallery,” an hour
long television program, shown once a week
in the Coachella Valley, where she chose and
interviewed guest artists and writers as well
as demonstrated figure painting.
Jeane was a prolific artist who thoroughly
enjoyed using her talent in a variety of ways.
She was not only known for her realistic portrait
paintings, but had also been commissioned
to paint a series of twelve large paintings
celebrating the peoples of West Africa for the
PanAmerican-PanAfrican Foundation in New
York; sketched paintings at the World’s Fair
in San Francisco; drew images for The New
Yorker magazine, and she opened the Gordon
Coutts Art Gallery in Palm Springs, where she
was the curator and taught art classes for
eight years. She was just as adept in using
a palette knife to bring to life her subjects, as
she was using delicate brush strokes.
Jeane loved to teach and help others express
themselves through art. She earned a B.A. in
Art from the University of Redlands, as well
as four teaching credentials which included
teaching art to those with disabilities as well
as for therapy, even writing a book on the
subject titled, “Song of the Meadowlark.” An
avid swimmer who enjoyed walks on the
beach, she never wanted to be too far from
the water and swam daily into her late 80s.
With her parents passing away within the
same year, when she was only 15, Jeane
yearned for a large family and married Mele
Anguiano in 1950. She showered her eight
children with Mele with love and encouraged
their own creativity. She was known for being
non-judgmental and compassionate, her
quick wit and mischievous spirit. Jeane will be
greatly missed by many.
Jeane was preceded in death by her parents,
her husbands, Lee Knight and Mele Anguiano,
and her daughter, Bernadette. She is lovingly
survived by her children, Vickie Bridgman,
Mark, Kent, Kurt and Bruce (Leah) Anguiano,
Roxanne (Ike) Eilers, Maristella Bachelder,
and Tamara (Mark) Chafin, her sister, Mary
Coutts-Korst, her nieces and nephews as well
as 15 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.
A memorial in her honor will take place on June
24th, from 12- 2pm at the Mariners Church,
5001 Newport Coast Dr., Irvine, CA 92603