Notes
About The Artist: The following biography was created by the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art from Fr. Gerrer's own notes as well as his autobiography. Robert Francis Xavier Gerrer was born on July 23, 1867 in the village of Lautenbach, Alsace, and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1872 to escape the reign of German troops who had once again invaded the region. His family initially settled in St. Joseph, Missouri, but soon moved to Bedford, Iowa where Robert attended school. He demonstrated marked scholastic ability, and was allowed to skip more than one grade. At an early age he manifested an aptitude for art and music. Robert entertained other youngsters with drawings on school slates and used native clay to create sculpture. As he grew older he learned to play various musical instruments and even tried his hand at musical composition. His guitar became an intimate friend. At the age of 19, Robert and his brother Albert traveled the Pacific Coast. Upon returning to Bedford, Robert continued his musical training, and joined the Fifth Regiment Band of the Iowa National Guardsman. He expanded his repertoire to include playing the clarinet. Early in 1891 the Hurlbert and Leftwich Circus came to town; their orchestra and band needed a clarinetist, and thus began Robert's brief career as circus performer. Robert became a member of the Luther West band, and also taught guitar. He decided not to participate in the land run that fall, and planned to try his luck the following spring. During Christmas 1891, Robert met Abbot Thomas Duperou, Superior of the Benedictine community at Sacred Heart Mission, Oklahoma. Robert struck up a conversation with him after confession one day, and shared with him the fact that he had considered becoming a priest, but his family did not have the money to support his studies. Fr. Thomas invited Robert to consider joining the community at Sacred Heart, and it would not cost him a thing. Robert accepted, and a few days later took the train to Purcell to begin the 40 mile trip by prairie schooner to the Mission. Robert wrote to his family upon his arrival, to tell them that he had joined the Franciscans; he discovered soon that the community was Benedictine. In mid January of 1892, Robert received the Benedictine habit, and was given the religious name of "Gregory." He found other musicians in the community, and it was not long before they had formed their own orchestra. Under the guidance of several priests at Sacred Heart, Br. Gregory pursued his education to become ordained. He was also allowed to join in the art lessons being taught by Miss Kate Weyneck in Purcell, and gave all this spare time to it. His talent was recognized by Abbot Visitor Leander Le Moine, who proposed that Br. Gregory be sent to Europe to further study art. And so, shortly after his ordination at Buckfast Abbey in Devonshire, England in September 1900, Fr. Gregory Gerrer was sent to Rome to study art. He heeded their criticisms, but he soon realized that the student with initiative is not told how to paint. He may acquire certain skills and knowledge, but his inspiration and attitudes must come from the artist himself who is bound to record what he sees, what he feels. Equally as important as developing his own skill in painting was his development of critical analysis for all art. With professor Guisepi Gonnella, he learned the delicate art of pictorial restoration. Fr. Gregory also had ample opportunity to travel throughout Italy and the Near East during his time there. His journals detailed visits to all the major art centers: Rome, Florence, Venice, Vienna. On a mission to the Holy Land, Fr. Gerrer was presented with a gift, a small Egyptian scarab with a goose hieroglyph—the symbol for 'A', and to Gregory, the beginning of a museum collection. In 1917 representatives of the University of Notre Dame contacted Fr. Gerrer and requested that he apply his knowledge and talents to their growing art collection. He spent much time that year cleaning, classifying, and arranging the works that would come to be known as the Wightman Memorial Gallery. Fr. Gerrer would continue to act as an advisor and art instructor at Notre Dame for the next 15 years, spending summers in South Bend, autumns and sometimes winters in eastern cities as an artist, critic, or collector, and the remaining months devoted to the gallery and museum in Shawnee. In 1919 Fr. Gerrer moved his treasures from his studio to the newly constructed St. Gregory's College. There, several rooms were dedicated to exhibiting the museum collection of unusual objects, while the paintings were hung in the foyer and first floor hallway. No longer hindered by the constraint of the size of his studio, the collection began to grow. Before he was finished, Fr. Gerrer had amassed over 200 paintings representing the history of art from the time of the Egyptians into the 20th century, and more than 6400 objects from cultures around the world. Fr. Gerrer took advantage of every opportunity to travel. In 1907, he helped establish the landing place of Columbus in the Caribbean, visiting Cuba along the way. Throughout 1917 he traveled through northern New York, Canada, and later New Mexico. He made several trips through the northeast part of the country. And, in 1930, he returned to Europe, and northwest Africa. In his final trip, Fr. Gerrer spent the summer in Mexico in 1936. All these places continued to fuel his painting. Fr. Gerrer was commissioned to paint no less than 79 portraits during his lifetime. Half of these were portraits of ecclesiastical figures: a Pope, a cardinal, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priests, and nuns. The other half is represented by professional men, statesmen, heroes of war, friends, and relatives. Rev. Gregory Gerrer, a monk of St. Gregory's Abbey, set out just after the turn of the century to create a museum for all of Oklahoma to enjoy. His tireless efforts are evidenced by the number and kinds of things he collected. Before he was through, he had amassed some 6555 objects that included beautiful paintings and sculpture from the middle ages to early 20th century, artifacts of Western civilization, material examples from cultures around the world, botanical specimens, zoological specimens, mineralogical specimens, and oddities such as a block of tacks from the great Chicago fire. Nothing was outside his range of interest.
