Gregory Kondos (American, born 1923)

Sacramento River , 1981

About

• Painter Gregory Kondos executes thickly painted landscapes known for their buttery spread of bright, warm color. Even the cool tones of the color blue in a Kondos painting are heated, evoking sun-warmed expanses of summer sky and waters. Perhaps this is because of the intense light that drenches the Sacramento and Napa Valleys that he likes to depict. Heat also plays a role, causing the regional landscape to shimmer in a veil of heavy air that mutes the intensity of color and broadly flattens detail. This, of course, is common in Sacramento, home to the artist, where he has painted and taught for half a century. In his use of high-keyed color and broad paint handling Kondos shows an affinity to artists such as Wayne Thiebaud, with whom he shares an abiding friendship, Roland Petersen, and Bay Area artist Raimonds Staprans. Unique to Kondos, however, is his verity to subject. Arguably, Petersen and Staprans overtly generalize the landscape, while Thiebaud’s landscape forays are about pattern and its role in establishing illusion. Kondos’s compositions are balanced in order to express not only the tranquility of the scene, but also the pleasure of solitary communion with nature. The artist offers, “If you look at my work, you will find qualities of quietness and cleanliness, but, above all, you’ll find that I’m a loner.” 1. Bill Bradley et al., “Sacramento’s 100,” Sacramento News & Review, 22 February 2001.