Peter and Helen

Object number2007.131.20

Artist Peter A. Contis (died 1973)

Artist Helen P. Contis (died 2004)

Date1974

MediumAcrylic; wood; paper; glass

Credit LineGift of Helen Contis

DescriptionAcrylic painting on canvas. Left side: four buildings--two yellow, two white; right side: garden--red fruit tree, white flowering tree and plants; pathway in white with pink and blue flowers; diagonally connects both sides; two people stand at bottom center: man with white hair and woman with grey hair. Dimensions16.75 x 0.75 x 13.625 in. (42.5 x 1.9 x 34.6 cm)
Signed"Peter & Helen Contis 6.16.74" in white, bottom right corner on art, written by Helen.
Historical NotesThis painting is part of a large collection of paintings and sketches by Peter and Helen Contis. This painting is Helen's first. Peter had begun the painting on its left side, but died before he could finish the right side. Helen finished the painting when she came across it a year later, then realizing her passion--and talent--as an artist. 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.

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