Rev. Gregory Gerrer, OSB (July 23, 1867August 24, 1946) was a Benedictine Priest at Sacred Heart Abbey (later, St. Gregory's Abbey), artist, art historian and museum founder.

Art career

From 1900 to 1904, Gerrer studied art in Rome. Shortly after the election of

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

, Gerrer participated in a competition of artists to paint the official portrait of the new pope. When Pius saw the finished portrait by Gerrer, he selected it to be his portrait. Pius said that he choose it because the artist painted him true to life and did not minimize his facial warts. Gerrer also painted portraits of two World War I Choctaw code talkers: Otis Leader and Joseph Oklahombi. The largest collection of his paintings is at the

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is a non-profit art museum in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. It is located on the Oklahoma Baptist University Green Campus, being the campus of the former St. Gregory's University. The museum operated independently of St. ...

in Shawnee, Oklahoma. His work is also in the Vatican art collection, Rome, Snite Museum of Art in South Bend, Indiana, and Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman, Oklahoma. Gerrer was a co-founder and first president of the Association of Oklahoma Artists.

Notable portraits

* Joseph Oklahombi * Otis Leader * John Benjamin Murphy

Honors

Gerrer was inducted into the

Oklahoma Hall of Fame The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Cer ...

in 1931. The

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to Gerrer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrer, Gregory 1867 births 1946 deaths American Benedictines Painters from Oklahoma People from Ortenaukreis St. Gregory's University 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists