Southold, Long Island

Object number2007.131.40

Artist Helen P. Contis (died 2004)

Date1977

MediumAcrylic; wood; paper; glass

Credit LineGift of Helen Contis

DescriptionAcrylic painting on canvas. Beach scene. Multi-colored. Five buildings at top, including white church and building with black car and sign with location text out front. Flowers and shrubs, steps to hotel, grass, and few trees lead to beach at bottom. Rocks in water, some with seagulls on them. People laying on beach and swimming.Dimensions29.365 x 0.75 x 23.5 in. (74.6 x 1.9 x 59.7 cm)
Signed"Helen P. Contis / 7-31-77" in white, lower right center on art.
InscriptionsBuilding with black car and sign, "SOUTHOLD L.I." out front.
Historical NotesThis painting is part of a large collection of paintings and sketches by Peter and Helen Contis. 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 Peter A. Contis (died 1973)

Subjects