Jeanne Lawson Bultman

PROVINCETOWN — Jeanne Lawson Bultman, 90, one of the last pivotal participants in the American abstract expressionist art scene of the 1950s and 1960s, died at her summer cottage in Provincetown on Thursday evening, Dec. 18, 2008.

It was in a cottage next to her late husband Fritz Bultman's studio that Jeanne would spend her last year, surrounded by some of her art collection and her devoted caregivers.

It was the Russian painter Igor Pantuhoff whom she credited with playing a pivotal role in transforming her from a showgirl into a vital participant in the emerging American abstract expressionist scene. It was in the summer of 1941 that Pantuhoff, on the rebound from Lee Krasner, who had dumped him for Jackson Pollack, loaned her his convertible so she could drive to Cape Cod for a stint as an artist's model in Hans Hofmann's (1880-1966) studio in Provincetown. In 1935 Hans Hofmann, an intimate of Braque and Picasso, had come to Provincetown to open a summer painting academy on Miller Hill Road. Over the years, his school attracted such artists as Lee Krasner, Myron Stout and Giorgio Cavallon. It was there the 24-year-old Jeanne Lawson met the artist whom Hans Hofmann described as his most talented student, Fritz Bultman.

Jeanne Bultman is survived by two sons, Anthony Frederick Bultman IV of Covington, La., and Ellis Johann Bultman of New Orleans; five grandsons, Emerick Bultman of New Orleans, Grayson and Daniel Hirshhorn Bultman of Metairie, La., and Gwyther and Tristan Bultman of New York City; and two great-grandchildren, Samantha and Andrew Bultman of Metairie, La.

The Gately-McHoul Funeral Home, 94 Harry Kemp Way, Provincetown, is in charge of the funeral arrangements. A funeral Mass will be held at 1 p.m. today at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, 11 Prince St., Provincetown. Interment to follow at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, at the Pine Grove Cemetery in Truro.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to one of the following: The Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center Inc., 24 Pearl St., Provincetown, MA 02657; Office of the Council on Aging, Grace Gouveia Building, 26 Alden St., Provincetown, MA 02657; or St. Peter the Apostle Church, 11 Prince St., Provincetown, MA 02657.