Mary Gehr
Mary Gehr (1910–1997) was an American painter and printmaker.
Biography
[edit]Born in Chicago, Gehr studied at Smith College, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology; her instructors included Paul Wieghardt and Misch Kohn.[1] Gehr left Smith before graduation to pursue a career in dance. she danced with the Chicago Opera Company for four seasons, and she spent three years with the notable Ruth Page dance company: the Page-Stone Ballet;[2] she had a featured role in the premiere of the ballet Frankie and Johnny.
Dancer turned artist
[edit]Her father's death in 1936 precipitated her return home to Chicago, where she got a job working in advertising. She began classes at the Art Institute during this time, to aid her in her new career. The classes made Gehr realize she wanted to be an artist.[3] During her career Gehr specialized in batik and intaglio. She worked as an illustrator as well, producing illustrations for over two dozen books for Children's Press, some of which she also wrote.[2] Several of her pieces are in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago;[4] she is also represented in the holdings of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the Library of Congress.[1] Gehr was married to the designer Burt Ray, who predeceased her; she was also a loving stepmother to Burt’s daughter, Virginia, and to two granddaughters, Sharon and Diane.
Works
[edit]https://www.artic.edu/artworks/45106/danzantes
References
[edit]- ^ a b Jules Heller; Nancy G. Heller (19 December 2013). North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-63882-5.
- ^ a b Heise, Kenan (21 November 1997). "Mary Gehr, 87, Ex-dancer, Artist And Book Illustrator". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017.
- ^ "Mary Gehr (American, 1910 - 1997) - Richard Norton Gallery". richardnortongallery.com. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ^ "Gehr, Mary – The Art Institute of Chicago". The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
External links
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- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Artworks by Mary Gehr at the Art Institute of Chicago". The Art Institute of Chicago. 1910. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- 1913 births
- 1997 deaths
- 20th-century American painters
- 20th-century American printmakers
- 20th-century American women painters
- Artists from Chicago
- American female dancers
- Musicians from Chicago
- American women printmakers
- American women illustrators
- 20th-century American illustrators
- 20th-century American women writers
- 20th-century American writers
- American women children's writers
- American children's writers
- Writers from Chicago
- Smith College alumni
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
- Illinois Institute of Technology alumni
- 20th-century American dancers
- American painter, 1910s birth stubs
- Batik