Beehives at Kollinas

Object number2007.131.87

Artist Helen P. Contis (died 2004)

Date1974-1998

MediumAcrylic; canvas; paper; glass; metal

Credit LineGift of Helen Contis

DescriptionAcrylic painting on canvas. Multicolored country scene: hills, three houses and one church; five large trees with flowers and fruit ; in center to right center: white boxes with black designs and painted in white on ground by boxes, English and Greek text; two red birds atop large center tree; one man by beehives, two women by church, one man by apple tree. Flowers and smaller trees throughout; blue sky with white and yellow accents. Dimensions41.5 x 0.75 x 23.625 in. (105.4 x 1.9 x 60 cm)
Signed"HELEN P CONTIS" in white, lower right corner on art.
InscriptionsIn center to right center: white boxes with black designs and painted in white on ground by boxes, "Bee Hives" and a word in Greek.
Historical NotesThis painting is part of a large collection of paintings and sketches by Peter and Helen Contis. Lower left hand corner is Kollinas church in Greece. 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