James Emery Greer

Untitled (Colorado Mountains)

James Emery Greer was born in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1903. He was educated in New England. The majority of his pieces are of landscapes, especially the grandeur of mountains and the streams rushing through. Before relocating to Colorado, Greer worked as a minister in Massachusetts. Once in Colorado, he became the director of graphics and publications for National Jewish Hospital. In 1971, he was interviewed for an article in the Colorado newspaper Rocky Mountain News in which he said, “I was always drawing and sketching but I never thought to do anything with it. It was a chance invitation to the Boston Business and Professional Art Club that triggered the painting." Greer had an interesting technique of working on his paintings from top to bottom. He has a mural of Wilson Peak behind the teller’s desk of the Colorado State Bank located in Denver. He continued to paint over 40 years and created a body of work that rivals his contemporaries. Greer’s paintings are in the permanent collections of the University of Indiana and Boston University as well as many private collections. Greer died in 1990.