Mary Gehr (American, Illinois, 1910-1997) Blue Grotto, oil on masonite, signed lower left, titled verso, framed. 11.5 in. x 15 in., 17 in. x 20.5 in. as framed Condition: Good with surface grime and accretions.Chicago artist and illustrator Mary Gehr was locally and nationally renowned for her positive influence on her community, on the art world, and in the sphere of children's illustrating.Gehr was born in Chicago around 1910. She attended Highland Park High School and Smith College before leaving school to pursue a love of dancing. She toured as an ingénue with the Chicago Opera Ballet for four years, spent a summer with the Schubert Light Opera Company, and worked with the Page-Stone Ballet Company for three years. Upon the death of her father, Gehr quit dance and theater and returned to Chicago to work in advertising. To aid her in her job, she began attending school at the Art Institute of Chicago. She realized immediately that she wanted to pursue art and children's illustration as a full-time career. Painting studies with Paul Weighardt and lithography studies with Max Kahn were extremely important to her development as an artist.Over her long and fruitful career, Gehr had more than fifty one-woman shows, most in the Midwest, San Francisco area, and Greece. She traveled for years at a time, gathering materials and techniques that deeply influenced her art. During the time between the late forties and early seventies, she illustrated more than two dozen books, most published in Chicago.Gehr passed away in November 1997. She was 87 years old. She left behind extensive private and public collections of her art and children's illustrations. She also left many of her personal papers, sketches, and artwork to the Newberry Library in Chicago. **Askart