In the early 1960s, Gregorio Cuartas moved to Europe where he attended several courses at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Marco in Italy. In 1962, he was accepted at the Monastery of Saint Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire, in Saint-Léger-Vauban in France; 5 years later, he retired from the monastery before taking his vows.

In his paintings, where faces, fruits and buildings appear in solitary landscapes, synthesis, silence, tranquility and contemplation are a search for a counterbalance to the violence and frivolity of the material world.

In addition to painting, during his formative years he restored religious art and liturgical garments. In 1995 he designed the monastery of Santa María de la Epifanía, located in a village in
Guatapé, Colombia.