Artworks

Sister Gertrude Morgan (1900-1980)

Sister Gertrude Morgan was a preacher turned artist, musician, and poet, who dedicated her entire life to her faith. Morgan was born in 1900 and raised in the Baptist Church. At age 39, she moved to New Orleans, where she became a missionary and singing street preacher. Soon after, she built and operated both a small chapel and center for orphans with two other missionaries. 

In 1966, Morgan’s faith turned her to art when she claimed God was instructing her to draw pictures of the world to come. With this direction, Morgan started to draw and paint images of the “New Jerusalem,” as well as her interpretations of the Book of Revelation, and images from her life. She believed that her works were not made by her, but God himself, saying “through his Blessed hands as he take my hand and write… I just do the Blessed work.” Morgan ended her art career in 1974, as she claimed the fame and fortune she acquired through it was contrary to her religious work. Despite her ambivalence towards success, Morgan’s work retained its prominence and remains in several notable collections.