H 101.6 cm x W 71.12 cm x D 5.08 cm
A 1/2 length portrait of John P. Gerretsen. He is facing forward, standing behind a waist-high table/lectern (?) with a green surface, and holding a sheet of paper in front of himself with his right hand, the fingers of his left hand barely touching the bottom corner of the sheet. He wears a hold ring on his left hand. The figure has short grey hair and light coloured eyes, and is wearing silver-rimmed glasses. He has a somewhat earnest expression and looks as if he is about to speak, looking directly at the viewer. the figure is wearing a navy suitcoat, a white collared shirt, and a red tie, and is standing in front of an indeterminate background with blue forms at the top 1/3 that suggest windows, and red in the bottom 2/3 of the composition. The painting is signed "Awelsh" in red paint in the lower right corner.
The painting is housed in a contemporary laminate and moulded wood frame. Plain black back edge, black acanthus and shield top edge; redwood scotia, black acanthus and shield sight edge.
John Gerretsen was born in Hilversum, Netherlands and immigrated to Canada in 1954. He studied law at Queen’s University and briefly worked in Toronto as a corporate solicitor. First elected as a Kingston alderman in 1972, Gerretsen was reelected twice as mayor. He also served as a trustee of Queen’s University and president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Gerretsen entered Ontario provincial politics in 1995 as a Liberal and later held several cabinet posts before retiring in 2013.
