Painting
Object number2007.131.61 a-d
Artist
Helen P. Contis
(died 2004)
Date1974-1998
MediumAcrylic; canvas; wood; paper; glass; metal
Credit LineGift of Helen Contis
DescriptionFour acrylic paintings on canvas.
Top left painting. Blue sky, green and grey house, palm trees, purple flowers, ocean, two people in ocean.
Top right painting. Blue sky, white house, palm trees, stream diagonally through painting with bridge across center, yellow and pink flowers.
Bottom right painting. Blue sky, yellow building with sign, red and green flowers, people: laying out, in pool, and in ocean.
Bottom left painting. Blue sky, palm trees, pink flowers, white house, red flowered tree.Dimensions17.75 x 0.875 x 14.75 in. (45.1 x 2.2 x 37.5 cm)Signed"Helen P. Contis" in brown marker(?), lower right, on mat.
Inscriptions(c)
Building with sign, "HOTEL".
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)
On View
Not on view
