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 (; 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 Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

, 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 former Oklahoma Baptist University Green Campus, being the campus of the former St. Gregory's University. In June 2024, over six years si ...

Shawnee, Oklahoma Shawnee () is a city in and the county seat of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklah ...

. Gerrer founded the museum in 1919 and it was later renamed in his honor. His work is also in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

art collection, Rome, Snite Museum of Art in South Bend, Indiana, and Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

. 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; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

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