Meteora
Object number2007.131.9
Artist
Peter A. Contis
(died 1973)
Date1972
MediumAcrylic; canvas; paper; glass; metal
Credit LineGift of Helen Contis
DescriptionAcrylic painting on canvas. Eight white buildings, five possibly churches with crosses at top, with red roofs atop squared mountain tops with tracks and coal elevators(?) leading down to large assembly of white, yellow, and pink houses. House on top left and on bottom right corner have text, the latter with people and car. Black trees accented with multi-colored dots.Dimensions35.5 x 1.5 x 21 in. (90.2 x 3.8 x 53.3 cm)Signed"P.A. Contis" in white, lower right corner on art.
InscriptionsHouse on top left, "Me(a?)tLoza / COFFEE / HOUSE"; house on bottom right corner, "COFFEE HOUSE".
Historical NotesThis painting is part of a large collection of paintings and sketches by Peter and Helen Contis. Peter visited Meteora, Greece in 1961. The same houses and roads are seen in Peter's American houses. Churches, forts, temples, symbolized the binding relationship between Greece and America. Meteora in Greek means "suspended rocks, in the heavens above". One of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox Monasteries in Greece. Six total monasteries built on natural sandstone. The white buildings depicted are monasteries. First people to live in Meteora lived in hollows and fissures in rock towers. The tall cliffs kept away most visitors. Monks were safe from political upheaval and had completely control of entry into the monastery. Only way to reach the monastery was climbing a long ladder that could be drawn up whenever the monks felt threatened. 14th century Byzantine empire's 800 year reign over Northern Greece was threatened by Turkish invaders who wanted control over the fertile land (made it inaccessible to the Turkish invaders). Natural part of Greece with the buckets to pull up supplies and people (kept Turkish invaders out). 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
