Downtown Pittsburgh

Object number2007.131.10

Artist Peter A. Contis (died 1973)

Date1962-1973

MediumAcrylic; canvas; wood; paper; glass; plastic

Credit LineGift of Helen Contis

DescriptionAcrylic painting on canvas. Cityscape of Pittsburgh. Buildings: white, blue, yellow. Some green areas with potted treed and flowers in bed. Bottom center: Point State Park with fountain. Fort Pitt Museum, Block House, and American Flag on right with two bridges and rivers. Three people sitting on bench and outline of Fort Pitt with blue eye inside to left with two bridges and rivers. Dimensions37 x 1.25 x 31 in. (94 x 3.2 x 78.7 cm)
Signed"P.A. Contis" in white at lower center under Fort Pitt outline.
Historical NotesThis painting is part of a large collection of paintings and sketches by Peter and Helen Contis. This painting depicts Downtown Pittsburgh. Frontal towers, foreshortened Point State Park. Shows corporate buildings: U.S. Steel Tower, Alcoa, Koppers, and Gulf. Three Pittsburgh citizens sitting on a park bench. Peter Contis emigrated to Pittsburgh in 1910 and began working in the restaurant business with his brothers. Peter later returned to his homeland of Greece and met Helen in 1928; they married three months later. Moving back to Pittsburgh, Peter eventually opened a restaurant called the Neon Grill in 1932, while Helen raised their three children. Nearly thirty years later, the restaurant was closed and razed, allowing the Contis' to realize their talent in art. A religious man all his life, Peter began painting landscapes, both of Pittsburgh and Greece, and other still lifes, focusing on God's perfect affection in nature: his buildings are symmetrical and colors are vivid. Helen's talents were not revealed until after Peter's death in 1973, when she began to paint poetically the landscapes and still lifes on her own. Helen died in 2004.

Related person Helen P. Contis (died 2004)

Subjects