Aqueducts
Object number2007.131.81
Artist
Peter A. Contis
(died 1973)
Date1962-1973
MediumAcrylic; canvas; paper; glass; metal
Credit LineGift of Helen Contis
DescriptionAcrylic painting on canvas. Multicolored. Top: grey aqueduct, with white houses with gold dots and red/black roofs vertically on right side. Lower left sides: gardens and colored cars. Black trees with yellow, white, and orange dots. Blue sky.Dimensions28 x 1.25 x 21.375 in. (71.1 x 3.2 x 54.3 cm)Signed"P.A. Contis" in black, center right corner on road.
Historical NotesThis painting is part of a large collection of paintings and sketches by Peter and Helen Contis. While visiting Greece with his parents, went to see his mother's sister in a village near Sparta and came across old Roman aqueducts. 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)
On View
Not on view
