David Lee DeVary

David Lee DeVary

Died Aug. 4, 2020

BLOOMINGTON - The Western art world lost New West artist and former Bloomington resident, David Lee DeVary, 77, on August 4, 2020, in Atlanta, Georgia. David was born and raised in Bloomington, Illinois, and he received most of his formal education in the Catholic school system of Bloomington, graduating from Trinity (now Central Catholic) High School in 1960. He went to work at Kane's Advertising in Bloomington while still finishing high school.

His innate creative talent, intelligence, and exuberance allowed him to begin living The American Dream just a few years later. He married Barbara Urbaniak of Bloomington in 1963. They lived in Chicago and had two children, David Brian and Angela Christine. Rising quickly through the ranks of the big-name ad agencies -- Foote, Cone, & Belding; Leo Burnett; and Needham, Harper, and Steers -- David was a key contributor to such memorable campaigns as McDonald's "You Deserve a Break Today" and State Farm's "Like a Good Neighbor . . ."

By age 42, David had been named Senior Vice President and Creative Director at J. Walter Thompson. There, he was responsible for Clio-, Cannes-, and Addy-winning work for many of the agency's largest clients. At the same time, his paintings were being sold at Gallery Lillian Francois in Paris and Chicago's Pavilion of the Arts. Truly self-made, he did all of this with only a few night courses at The Art Institute of Chicago and a lot of hard work.

Four years later, with the constant encouragement of his father, David broke free from the "velvet handcuffs" of agency life and headed for Santa Fe to focus solely on his art. He and Barbara had divorced. He later married a colleague, Lora Morton, and they welcomed a daughter, Lee Lindsay. David's career as a New West painter was successful -- both commercially and artistically. He created a unique, stylized, idealized, and romanticized vision of the West -- iconic "Marlboro" men and cowgirls with attitude.

His work can be found in the permanent collections of four major art museums as well as many prestigious corporate and private collections worldwide.

To know him was to love him, and David touched more lives than he could ever know. Many of his friends and colleagues credit his example with allowing them to break away and follow their own dreams in the creative arts. Always recognizable by his radiant, full-body smile, David was a gentle man, a kind man, a charmer, and a ""hoot.""

In addition to his family and friends, he loved fried chicken, dancing, his 1968 Olympic sneakers, traveling, looking good, bright colors, babies, beautiful women, New York City, the movies, and anything Joan Didion wrote.

He never lost his marvelous sense of humor or his fun-filled memories of a life well-lived or the people in it. He experienced much more than his share of tragedy, but he handled it all with grace, dignity, and optimism, believing firmly that "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it."" As a result, his life overflowed with friendship, love, and impressive accomplishment.

He leaves a legacy of beautiful memories and beautiful art. He is also survived by his life partner, Judith Griffey; his two daughters Angela DeVary Maxwell and Lee DeVary; his five grandchildren, Dylan, Petey, Grace, Sarah, and Zach Maxwell; his brother, Dennis DeVary; his cousin, Linda Judd; and many, many beloved friends. He was preceded in death by his grandparents; his mother, Maxine DeVary; his father, Leo DeVary; his brother, Michael DeVary; and his son, David Brian DeVary.

When large gatherings are again safe, David's ashes will be brought to rest in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Bloomington after a formal funeral and mass. A Celebration of Life will also be held in Atlanta at a later date.

If you were considering sending flowers, the family requests that you instead perform an unexpected and deliberate act of kindness in David's name. He would have loved that.

If you would like to see his work, please visit www.daviddevarystudio.com