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 C ...

, 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 The Choctaw code talkers were a group of Choctaw Indians from Oklahoma who pioneered the use of Native American languages as military code talkers, code during World War I. The government of the Choctaw Nation maintains that the men were the fi ...

: Otis Leader and

Joseph Oklahombi Joseph Oklahombi (May 1, 1895, Bokchito, Blue County, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory - April 13, 1960) was an American soldier of the Choctaw nation. He was the most-decorated World War I soldier from Oklahoma. He served in Company D, First Batt ...

. 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 The Snite Museum of Art is the fine art museum on the University of Notre Dame campus, near South Bend, Indiana. With about 30,000 works of art that span cultures, eras, and media, the Snite Museum's permanent collection serves as a rich resource ...

in South Bend, Indiana, and

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is an art museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Overview The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art holds over 20,000 objects in its permanent collection. The museum c ...

in Norman, Oklahoma. Gerrer was a co-founder and first president of the Association of Oklahoma Artists.

Notable portraits

* Otis Leader * John Benjamin Murphy

Honors

Gerrer was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame 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 research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

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