Editor's note: The Cedarhurst Center for the Arts
/ Mitchell Museum provided source material to Resource Library for
the following article. If you have questions or comments regarding the source
material, please contact the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts / Mitchell Museum
directly through either this phone number or web address:
Harold Gregor's Illinois
July 29 - October 29, 2006
As familiar as the
people of Illinois are with the its landscape, its farmland with barns,
silos and corn and soybean fields, they may have overlooked its true beauty,
its character and its strength. Artist Harold Gregor's love of this simple
terrain lies at the heart of his majestic paintings of the American Midwest,
urging viewers to recognize its wonder and power.
Considered by many to be the dean of contemporary American
landscape painting, Gregor is featured in a major retrospective exhibition
at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts. Presented in the Mitchell Museum's Main
Gallery. Harold Gregor's Illinois includes 35 major paintings from
every aspect of Gregor's distinguished career and reveal the artist's dedication
and vision that have made him the great landscapist of his generation.
Based in Bloomington, Illinois, and professor emeritus
at Illinois State University, Gregor has trained countless artists as he
set the standard for representing the broad panoramas of the Midwest. Harold
Gregor's Illinois will be the defining retrospective of this important
artist's career.
Originally from Detroit, Gregor is best known for his Flatscapes,
aerial views of the Illinois landscape that transform well-ordered farms
into almost abstract arrangements of color. He has also produced large bodies
of panoramic landscapes and photo-realist paintings of central Illinois
corncribs. The large works in Gregor's Trail Series feature
swirling brushwork that expresses the labyrinthine nature of a path through
a dense wood.
While developing these landscape themes, Gregor has explored
endless variations and experimented tirelessly in developing new ways to
conjure the beauty and bounty of the Illinois landscape.
The book Harold Gregor's Illinois accompanies the
exhibition and documents the landmark retrospective devoted to of one of
this state's most important artists. Published by Cedarhurst Center for
the Arts, the beautifully illustrated catalogue commemorates this exhibition
and is available for purchase in the museum's gift shop. Major support for
the publication has been provided by Richard Grey Gallery, Chicago; Gerald
Peters Gallery, Santa Fe and Dallas; and The Richard and Jane Manoogian
Foundation. Keith and Nita Kattner have underwritten the project. (right:
Harold Gregor's Illinois catalogue cover)
The exhibition, which continues through October 29, 2006
is sponsored by St. Mary's Good Samaritan, Inc. and cosponsored by Fifth
Third Bank. Support for this program has been provided, in part, by the
Schweinfurth Foundation. An activity of the John R. and Eleanor R. Mitchell
Foundation. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois
Arts Council, a state agency.
Wall labels for paintings in the exhibition:
- HAROLD GREGOR: TWO DECADES OF ON-SITE PAINTING
-
- Painting on-site has long been the domain of the watercolorist.
It was particularly so in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, prior
to the invention of a portable camera. The camera usurped the documentary
role watercolor played, and in the latter half of the 19th century the
introduction of oil paint in tubes made oil painting the preferred medium
for on-site painting. Landscape, the dominant subject for European and
American painters in the 19th century, gave way in the 20th century to
Cubism, Fauvism and a host of other "isms," none of which were
rooted in on-site documentation. Nonetheless, painters, no matter what
their preferred medium and idiom, have always found delight and inspiration
in on-site painting.
-
- At various times in my career I have returned to on-site
painting as a means to refresh my eye, expand my skills and explore new
directions. In 1960, after completing graduate school, I spent an entire
summer in the Canadian north woods doing nothing but watercolors. Later
in the sixties when I taught in California, I tried on-site painting. When
I moved to Illinois in 1970, my California on-site experience led to my
interest in landscape painting as a dominant artistic concern.
-
- On-site watercolor painting has always given me more
than the pleasure of discovering or documenting a new location. After I
settle into a site I try to "follow the brush" and let the watercolor
do it for me. With this approach, results are not guaranteed and frequently
are disappointing, but occasionally something new, delightful and unexpected
happens.
-
- I have traveled and painted at many locations in the
U.S. and in Europe. The works displayed here were all done on-site between
1984 and 2005.
-
- - Harold Gregor
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Borghese Garden II, Rome, Italy, 1984
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Line of Palms, Deia, Majorca, 1994
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Sunset I, Saugatuck, Michigan, 1984
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- I taught a painting workshop at the Ox-Box School of
Art in Saugatuck, Michigan. The sunsets were overwhelming so I decided
to challenge myself to see if I could capture the grandeur of this natural
display. I was aware that sunsets are so dramatic that they seem to be
readymade art. Of all the sunset paintings I tried, this one seemed to
come closest to embracing the theatrical energy and color shifting excitement
that a sunset inspires.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Colorado Hills, Florissant, Colorado, 1987
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- Western Colorado offers an unusual combination of dark
green foliage nestled besides huge boulders that emerge from rugged, undulating,
sand-colored hills. This combination of texture and colors I found to be
very difficult to approximate. I think this painting may have come close.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Fall Splendor, Johnson, Vermont, 1992
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- I was invited to the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson,
Vermont to teach during the month of September when the colors were most
radiant. I tried to match the color energy that charged the entire setting.
Enlarged version of this painting and other similar ones eventually led
to a whole new approach for me.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Olive Trees, Spanish Highway,
Spain, 1994
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- The Spanish island of Majorca in the Balearic Islands
in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea is probably the most beautiful place
I have visited. We stayed at the La Residencia Hotel, a lovely mountainside
resort on the outskirts of Deia, a town noted for its artistic community.
Gardens, citrus, palms, olive trees and plants of every kind offered a
bewildering array of challenging subjects.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Date Palms, Bahamas,
1995
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- In the Bahamas the obvious subject to paint seemed to
be the palm trees, cacti and tropical plants that confronted me at every
turn. I yielded to temptation and tried to paint this too-often chosen
subject. This painting seemed to offer an unexpected freshness reminiscent
of the way the overbearing sunshine reveals the fiercely competitive plants.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Cardrick House, Churchstow Devon County, England, 1995
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- We visited some friends who lived in a rehabilitated
16th century English manor house in southern England. Since the garden
was spectacular, I featured it more than the house.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Spring Willows, Bloomington/Normal, Illinois, 1995
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Light That Smiles, Bloomington/Normal, Illinois, 1996
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- False Spring, Bloomington/Normal, Illinois, 1996
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Path: Hyde Farm, near Springfield, Missouri, 2003
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Citadel Rock (Early Evening), Missouri Breaks,
Montana, 1997
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- Colleague Ken Holder led a group on a raft trip up the
Missouri River to camp and paint at the actual sites in Montana where Lewis
and Clark encamped in 1804. This site, The White Cliffs, is still virtually
undisturbed because no roads lead to it. This painting was done rapidly
because the late setting sun quickly revised the shadows.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Serpentine Wall, Collidi, Tuscany, Italy, 1998
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Iron Gate, Collodi Garden, Collodi, Tuscany, Italy, 1999
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Cloudy Ozark Day, near Springfield, Missouri, 2003
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- Jan Hyde, owner of the Walnut street Gallery and member
of the Springfield Museum of Art Board, offers some of her gallery artists
the opportunity to stay in a farmhouse that she and her husband own on
their 800-acre farm, just southeast of Springfield. It is an exciting place
to do on-site painting. Sharp edge foothills dotted with cows slide into
round hills decorated with horses, clumps of oaks and bright green grass.
There is a worthwhile view in every direction. I selected three of my paintings
to suggest the scenic diversity offered by Jan Hyde's farm.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- A La Dufy: Sestri Levante, Sestri Levante, Liguria,
Italy, 2004
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Dark Stairway: Sestri Levante, Sestri Levante,
Liguria, Italy, 2005
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Westin Pool, Maui, Hawaii,
2005
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
- A visit to Maui offered an array of inspiring views,
particularly the tropical plants and flowers. But these seemed too accessible,
too obvious, so I searched for something characteristic of the scene, but
seldom approached. The hotel swimming pool which featured lava rocks, waterfalls,
and potted plants, attracted me because it seemed to offer a truth about
Maui. Maui, although beautiful, is now largely a man-made vacation paradise.
-
-
- HAROLD GREGOR
-
- Bike Path: December, Bloomington, Illinois, 2005
- Watercolor on paper
- Courtesy of the Artist
Artist's statement:
- NEITHER ABOVE YOU, NOR BELOW YOU - ALWAYS WITH YOU
-
- Harold Gregor
- Bloomington, Illinois
-
- When I think back to my childhood in Depression-era Detroit, I am amazed
by the range of artistic styles that emerged during my own lifetime. Many
of these styles I experienced, tried to understand, emulated, and finally
in my own art, either incorporated or rejected.
-
- At the outset my teachers were Social Realist artists, who supported
the idea that art could make a political, social, and even spiritual difference.
They believed that the artist's role was to examine the social conditions
of their own epoch with a critical eye toward change. Consequently, I became
imbued with the same sense of artistic social responsibility, accepting
the premise that an artist's task was to point out and offer correctives
to social ills.
-
- The belief that art can make a difference is still ingrained in me
today. I hope that my positive portrayal of the Illinois landscape contributes
to a greater love and understanding of the prairie's bountiful virtues
and complexities. All paintings have a political component, and to that
extent, I wish that my efforts might promote an awareness of our place
in the larger harmonic natural order. We are part of nature and nature
is part of us. Perhaps my paintings can serve as a reminder of this.
-
- In the late 1950s while studying for my Ph.D. in painting at Ohio State
University, I thoroughly embraced Abstract Expressionism. After completing
my dissertation in 1960, I took a teaching job in southern California and
devoted myself to gesturally-derived pictorial order and color composition.
But even in the early 1960s, abstract painting was beginning to fade from
the vanguard, and it had always seemed more like something I had learned
than something I felt deeply. During my decade in California, to a greater
or lesser degree, I explored most of the dominant styles of the 1960s
geometric abstraction, pop art, minimalism, and conceptual art but
I never felt beholden to any of them. As the decade closed, I began to
make landscape paintings.
-
- In 1970, I was offered a teaching position at Illinois State University
in Bloomington-Normal. My attempts at painting the California landscape
prepared me to see the seemingly infinite farm country of Illinois as a
source of inspiration. I began to paint close-up, views of corncribs, a
form of vernacular farm architecture that was new to me. A year later,
some of my corncrib paintings were shown in New York at the O.K. Harris
Gallery, and I came to be counted among the first wave of American Photorealists.
My rural subject matter distinguished me from most of the other Photorealists,
but of greater importance to me, I felt I had found a subject and a mode
of expression that was my own. I have been inspired by the Heartland landscape
ever since.
-
- I try not to stray far from my sources. I hope that my panorama paintings
are suggestive of the way most of us experience the prairie farm scene.
My aerial Flatscapes harmonize color-formed pictorial space with
realistic but color-modified land patterns, while my Trail Series
paintings are meant to express and actualize the experiences felt when
enjoying our local walking trail. All of these approaches derive from my
observations when driving by, flying over, or walking through the prairie
landscape. I do not see the approaches as conflicting or denying one another,
but as mutually reinforcing explorations, each expressing an important
aspect of the region in which I live.
-
- Two years ago while climbing a cliff trail in Italy, I fell and broke
my right wrist. With my arm in a cast for what I felt was a very long time,
I painted with my left hand. The more I practiced, the more the paintings
began to offer what seemed to be a synthesis of my previous styles. When
the cast came off, I began to produce right-handed versions of the left-handed
paintings. I am not certain where this will lead, but I am very excited
by my new Vibrascapes. I intend to pursue this direction as far
as it will go, but will continue painting panoramas, Flatscapes,
and trail pictures too.
-
- For whatever success I can claim as an artist, I am indebted to many
individuals for their encouragement. Several of these people have passed
away, but I would like to thank them anyway. My professor, Hoyt Sherman
at Ohio State, gave me "art eyes" and opened for me a still expanding
world of aesthetic delight. In California, Bill Bowen encouraged and mentored
me as an artist and teacher. Chicago art dealer Nancy Lurie showed my early
works in her gallery, helping launch my career. In New York, Tibor de Nagy
showed my work for seventeen years and I owe much of my success to his
support. I cannot omit Detroit surrealist Hughie Lee Smith who was the
first "real" artist I knew. Sadly these folks who encouraged
my artistic aspirations, are no longer with us, but I remain grateful to
them all.
-
- In 1921, my father, a steamfitter and engineer, emigrated from Scotland
to Detroit where he began working production for the Ford Motor Company.
Within a year he saved enough money to bring my mother to Detroit and they
were married the day she arrived. I was always impressed by the daring
and risk this story entails. On the voyage to America my mother traveled
in steerage and struck a friendship with a couple who recently graduated
from the Royal College of Art in London. They both prospered as commercial
artists in Detroit and I owe much to Nell and Laurence Andrews for showing
me what an artist can be and do. Laurence was my godfather.
-
- I have an identical twin brother, Norman, who died in 1979. He, too,
was blessed with artistic strengths, pursuing a career as an architectural
designer. We were close and I owe much to his understanding and support.
My older brother Bob was a successful ceramic engineer and businessman
whose achievements and civic contributions I admire very much. As we have
grown older, we have become mutually proud of the other's accomplishments.
-
- Unquestionably, the person who has offered me the most support on every
level has been my wife Marlene. She manages countless details each day,
keeping up with my communications, arranging our travels, and taking care
of the myriad intrusive details that would take me away from the work I
love. Marlene handles these matters efficiently and gracefully, and there
is not a painting or watercolor I have produced in the last quarter century
that has not benefited from her management of our household and my studio.
I thank her profusely for all she has done for me.
-
- My two daughters, Kathy and Matissa, despite experiencing travail in
their lives, have both forged rich and satisfying lives. I have learned
much from both of them, and I am as proud of their achievements as they
are of mine. They have also blessed me with grandchildren, who have opened
a whole new dimension of delight for me.
-
- To Richard Gray and Paul Gray of the Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago
I extend my deepest thanks for representing my work so expertly these past
twenty years. Many career moments came about because of their efforts and
promotions. I also offer my thanks to Gerald Peters and Gayle Maxon-Edgerton
of the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe. Their representation has been
generous and supportive, not only in New Mexico, but in Dallas, where Ashley
Tatum Casson has arranged my shows so skillfully. I also would like to
thank Katharina Rich Perlow, my energetic and thoroughly connected New
York dealer, and Tory Folliard, who handles my work in Milwaukee, for their
continued support. There have been many other friends, colleagues, students
and collectors too numerous to list here, who have enriched my life and
contributed to my career, and I thank them all.
-
- My relationship with the Mitchell Museum at Cedarhurst Center for the
Arts has not been a long one, but it has been most satisfying. I exhibited
my work there for the first time in 2004, and was impressed by the skill,
dedication and professionalism of the staff, and by the hospitality of
the people of Mt. Vernon, Illinois and surrounding communities. I would
like to offer my thanks to all the staff, who have contributed to this
project, but especially to executive director, Sharon Bradham, for her
guidance of this marvelous institution, and to Kevin Sharp, director of
visual arts, who did a superb job organizing the exhibition and writing
the catalogue.
-
- I may be risking banality, but I am sincere when I say how blessed
I feel to lead a life that allows me to do what I enjoy most teaching
and painting. In my studio I display a copy of a Chinese proverb to remind
me of how fortunate I am. Growing old is often accompanied by pain and
unforeseen difficulties, but the proverb helps to remind me of the blessings
I enjoy.
-
- "What happiness to wake alive again into this same gray world
of winter rain"
-
Introduction to the catalogue:
- HAROLD GREGOR'S ILLINOIS
-
- Sharon Bradham
- Executive Director
- Cedarhurst Center for the Arts
-
-
- Cedarhurst Center for the Arts was introduced to Harold Gregor and
his beautiful paintings of the Illinois landscape relatively late in our
two respective histories. It was only in 2004 after the artist and
Cedarhurst had been hard at work in Illinois for more than three decades
that Harold's canvases were first shown here in an exhibition called
Lucky 13: The Artists of Bloomington, Illinois. Through that project,
we came to admire Harold's paintings, but we also learned of his profound
influence on the thriving art scene in Bloomington, and his important place
in the national conversation about contemporary American painting.
-
- With Harold Gregor's Illinois, we are making up for lost time.
Within weeks of closing the 2004 Bloomington show, Kevin Sharp, director
of visual arts at Cedarhurst, approached Harold about the possibility of
the museum organizing and hosting a retrospective of his career in Illinois.
Harold agreed immediately, and he has been very helpful in securing loans
for this show and providing the crucial information that informs this handsome
catalogue. We are grateful to Harold and Marlene Gregor for all they have
done to make this project a success and for becoming such supportive friends
of Cedarhurst.
-
- Exhibitions of this scope require contributions from many individuals.
The trustees of Cedarhurst always lend wise counsel and authorize generous
financial support to the projects we develop. I will take this opportunity
to thank board members, Karen Bayer, Hunt Bonan, Bill Howard, Doug Kroeschen,
Dennis McEnaney, Jane Rader, and Jim Sanger for their dedication and inspired
leadership. Cedarhurst also benefits from a volunteer body of Administrative
Counselors, who bring energy and commitment as well as financial support
to the work we do. I offer the museum's appreciation to counselors, Cindy
Addington, Barbara Beck, Robert L. Brown, Marian Erb, Norma Fairchild,
Gino Federici, Toni Federici, Beverly Fisher, Cheryl Foley, Jack Goldman,
Dell Hill, Linda Hoffman, Jeff Howard, Sheila Jones, Rick Kirkpatrick,
Barbara Lawrence, David Lister, Beth McDonald, Carol Rudman, Kathy Sees,
Kevin Settle, Norma Shreve, Christina Stables, Dee Stewart, Kathy Withers,
and David Wood. Some of these board members and counselors also serve on
the museum's visual arts committee, advising staff in the development of
undertakings such as Harold Gregor's Illinois. To the list of individuals
already mentioned, I extend Cedarhurst's gratitude to Frank Davidson, Florence
Glass, Gene Hawkins, Annelies Heijnen, Cyndy Mitchell, Dorothy Moore, Jayne
Setzkorn, Marejon Sue Shrode, Sue Stotlar, and Nivedita Trivedi, all of
whom are among Cedarhurst's most ardent supporters.
-
- Every staff member at Cedarhurst contributes to the success of every
project we take on, and it is my pleasure to acknowledge their hard work
at this time. I appreciate the efforts and the professionalism of David
Adams, Sarah Lou Bicknell, Laura Chamness, Greg Hilliard, Liz Hinman, Manny
Ortiz, Vonda Rister, Jennifer Sarver, Kevin Sharp, Linda Short, Shawn Taylor,
Heath Tupper, Linda Wheeler, and Ralyn Woodrome. I am also grateful to
Kathy Fredrickson, Cheryl Towler Weese, Renata Gokl, and Carolyn Heidrich
at Studio Blue in Chicago for the design and production of this important
book, and to Xxxx Xxxxx for editorial support.
-
- The publication of Harold Gregor's Illinois would not have been
possible without the financial support of a few key donors. To Jane and
Richard A. Manoogian and the Manoogian Foundation, we offer our deepest
thanks for their kind contribution to this catalogue. We also thank Jonathan
Boos, curator of the Manoogian Collection, for his advocacy of our funding
request. When we petitioned Harold's dealers, the Gerald Peters Gallery
in Santa Fe and Dallas and the Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago, for financial
assistance, both of these great organizations came forward instantly in
support of the project. For their generous contributions, we extend our
sincerest thanks to Gerald Peters, Gayle Maxon-Edgerton, and Ashley Tatum
Casson of the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe and Dallas, and to Paul
Gray and Richard Gray of the Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago. We would
also like to thank Dr. Keith and Ms. Nita Kattner, good friends of Harold's
and collectors of his work, who made a meaningful contribution to this
catalogue.
-
- Many individuals, institutions, and corporations have loaned paintings
from their collections or have granted us permission to reproduce works
of art they own. Cedarhurst thanks Heidi Becker; Gene and Terry Carr, Glenview,
Illinois; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago; John R. and Barbara Gregor, Carlisle,
Pennsylvania; Katherine Gregor, Austin, Texas; Ron and Nancy Guthoff, Bloomington,
Illinois; Sally Hewlett and Patrick Duke, Chicago; Dave and Pearle Jeffries;
Nita and Keith Kattner, Bloomington, Illinois; Krannert Art Museum, University
of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; Rod Krueger, Fresno, California; Maddie
Leiker, Austin, Texas; Matissa and Tim Leiker, Austin, Texas; Paul and
Margaret Lurie; Robert and Judy Markowitz, Bloomington, Illinois; Monsanto,
St. Louis; Northern Trust Company, Chicago; Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa
Fe and Dallas; Adeline Rose Gregor Poris, Austin, Texas; Southwestern Illinois
College, Foundation Collection, Belleville; State of Illinois Library,
Springfield; Terry Swanlund, Bloomington, Illinois; University Gallery,
Illinois Sate University, Bloomington-Normal; David and Kathryn Vitek;
and other private collectors who wish to remain anonymous.
-
- Cedarhurst's presentation of Harold Gregor's Illinois is supported
by St. Mary's Good Samaritan, Inc. in Mt. Vernon, and we extend to them
our sincere thanks. Additional funding for the exhibition and catalogue
is provided by the John R. and Eleanor R. Mitchell Foundation, and the
Illinois Arts Council, a stage agency.
-
- By the time Harold Gregor's Illinois opens, Cedarhurst Center
for the Arts will have announced a capital campaign and the eventual expansion
of the Mitchell Museum. It seems only appropriate that our new friend,
Harold Gregor, one of Illinois's most distinguished artists, would join
our many longtime friends in helping us to inaugurate a new era in the
history of Cedarhurst
Captions to plates in the catalogue
- "Operating out of central Illinois, it is no surprise that a thinking
artist might begin to concern himself with cornbut it is surprising that
anyone could do such wonderful things with it."
-
- - F. D. Cossitt, Richmond [Virginia] Times Dispatch, Sun,
1 April 1973
-
-
- 1. Illinois Flatscape #4, 1974
- acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 66 inches
- Collection of University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal
-
- "Where there is an image, people will usually pay more attention
to that than to the color. That's why abstract expressionism dropped the
image completely to force people to pay attention to the color. In
the flatscapes I'm trying to make both color and image equally important."
-
- Harold Gregor, Chicago Tribune, 19 January 1977
-
-
- 2. Illinois Corn Crib #25, 1974
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 43 x 66 inches
- Bank of America
-
- "One group of his paintings represented a statuesque, barnlike
structure commonly called a corncrib that is the rural Midwestern
equivalent of the Gothic cathedral. Gregor adopts the corn crib as an image
of strength and stark reality and sets it against the unrelenting pressure
of flatness."
-
- Duncan Pollock, Art in America, January-February 1974
-
-
- 3. Illinois Farmscape #7, 1975
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 15 x 18 _ inches
- Matissa and Tim Leiker Collection, Austin, Texas
-
- "A corncrib is not a barn. Barns are for animals, and they usually
have silos attached great big phallic symbols that suggest fertility
and regeneration. Barns have been painted so often they've practically
become an artistic cliché."
-
- Harold Gregor, Chicago Tribune, 19 January 1977
-
-
- 4. Illinois Farmscape #18, 1976
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 14 x 18 inches
- Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign
-
- "One's initial reaction to Harold Gregor's paintingsis probably
to slot them into the 'school' of Photorealism and judge them purely upon
the artist's draughtsmanly, or perhaps one may say imitative, skills. To
assume such a position vis-à-vis these works would be both to miss
their very special qualities and to misperceive the artist's intention
if those two issues can be taken as in any way independent."
-
- Holland Cotter, New York Arts Journal, September-October 1978
-
-
- 5. Illinois Farmscape #23, 1976
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 15 x 18 _ inches
- Maddie Leiker, Austin, Texas
-
- "A number of people have told me that the ride from Bloomington
to Chicago is much more enjoyable now that they've seen my corncribs. That's
one of the most rewarding things about being a painter. You help people
to see the world they're familiar with in different terms to find
beauty in the things around them."
-
- Harold Gregor, Chicago Tribune, 19 January 1977
-
-
- 6. Illinois Farmscape #27, 1977
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 15 x 18 _ inches
- Katherine Gregor, Austin, Texas
-
- "I have tried to avoid sentimentality or any indication of yearning
for pastoral virtues, wishing to picture defined qualities rather than
cherished notions or points of view about our agricultural heritage."
-
- Harold Gregor, Chicago Tribune Magazine, 8 January 1978
-
-
- 7. Illinois Landscape #23, 1977
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches
- Paul and Margaret Lurie
-
- "There's something about the farm country down thereI first saw
it at the end of August [1970], when the light was highlighting all the
natural colors. It was really knockout stuff, and I guess I'd reached the
point in my development where I was ready to see it."
-
- Harold Gregor, Chicago Tribune, 19 January 1977
-
-
- 8. Illinois Flatscape #16, 1981.
- acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches
- Northern Trust Company, Chicago
-
- "The details as well as the space of this terrain is [sic] rendered
with the kind of photographic accuracy that acquires at times the quality
of a vivid, postcard like hallucination."
-
- Hilton Kramer, The New York Times, 6 May 1977
-
-
- 9. Illinois Flatscape #20, 1982
- acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches
- John R. and Barbara Gregor, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
-
- "In his work the paint surface is a painterly surface which deals
at every turn with questions of how the reality we conceive can be suggested
by applying color to canvas. Although he employs an accessible subject
matter, the impact of Gregor's work depends as much on this painterly intelligence
as it does on acute observation."
-
- Ann Lee Morgan, The New Art Examiner, January 1982
-
-
- 10. Illinois Flatscape #30, 1985
- acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches
- Rod Krueger, Fresno, California
-
- "A flatscape is not meant to be primarily a picture of a farm
nor is it solely a color-formed space. Instead, it is meant to be both,
and thus a new, more complex and dense kind of presentation. If I succeed,
viewers should be able to enjoy the descriptive aspects of the work and
the ordered color array simultaneously."
-
- Harold Gregor, The Artist's Magazine, November 1986
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- 11. Approaching Sugar Creek #8, 1989
- oil and acrylic on paper
- 8 _ x 27 _ inches
- Katherine Gregor, Austin, Texas
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- 12. Approaching Rain #22, 1989
- oil and acrylic on paper
- 8 _ x 27 _ inches
- Matissa and Tim Leiker Collection, Austin, Texas
-
- "I'm trying to get away from being a photorealist. I don't want
to be dependent on that tradition now, and it really has become a tradition,
a technical display."
-
- Harold Gregor, Chicago Tribune, 15 December 1985
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-
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- 13. Illinois Flatscape #44, 1989
- acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches
- Monsanto, St. Louis, Missouri
-
-
- "The pieces he calls 'Flatscapes' also have their origin in photography
insofar as they are based on pictures that Gregor himself takes while traveling
over the country in a small plane. But the look of the resulting paintings
are [sic] only obliquely photographic, imitating the hot blotchy color
of altered Polaroids or computer-processed images."
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- Alan G. Artner, Chicago Tribune, 10 March 1988
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- 14. Illinois Flatscape #47, 1989
- acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches
- Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
-
- "I save my flatscapes for summers, because it's so exhausting
to work on the color concepts. It's not something you can just pick up
here and there; you need long, uninterrupted periods."
-
- Harold Gregor, U.S. Art, December 1989
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- 15. Illinois Spring Morning, 1991
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 98 x 142 inches
- State of Illinois Library, Springfield
-
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- 16. Illinois Autumn Evening, 1990
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 98 x 142 inches
- State of Illinois Library, Springfield
-
- "He's an artist who's been able to take his adopted environmentand
make it palpable, to make it compelling to people who, I think, otherwise
might pass it by without giving it a serious thought."
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- Paul Gray, Bloomington Pantagraph, 11 June 1995
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- 17. Illinois Flatscape #43, 1991
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches Sally Hewlett and Patrick Duke, Chicago
-
-
- "Gregor heightens the strange aerial effects through vibrant color
and often a pointillistic style. Even as these border on the decorative,
recalling the vibrancy of Van Gogh, they nevertheless maintain a strong
sense of formal structure and design"
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- Joni L. Kinsey, Plain Pictures: Images of the American Prairie,
1996
-
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- 18. Illinois Landscape #121, 1992
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 18 x 90 inches
- Collection of Robert and Judy Markowitz, Bloomington, Illinois
-
- "Gregor's panoramas capture the magnificence and subtle variety
of the Midwestern landscapeScattered copses on the horizon accentuate the
splendor of the lightIn the foreground, an untended patch of land, painted
in a variety of browns and greens, contrasts with the golden promise of
an adjacent cultivated field."
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- Gerald Nordland, Harold Gregor, 1993
-
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- 19. Illinois Landscape #136, 1996
- oil and acrylic on canvas
- 18 x 90 inches
- John R. and Barbara Gregor, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
-
- "We tend to think of landscape painting in 19th-century terms,
that is we tend to have a stereotypical view of landscape paintings that
says they're done in oil, and they rely on standard compositional formats.
They have a central focus, for example, with a big tree on the right and
a little tree on the left, and trees and roads march you back to the horizon
line. I wanted to make landscape painting representative of the 20th century
and even the future."
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- Harold Gregor, Watercolor, Fall 1997
-
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- 20. Garden (Bright Light) #140, 1996
- acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches
- Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
-
- "The venerable Harold Gregor is one of the Midwest's most accomplished
landscape painters, his oils [sic] on canvas consistently marked by deft
brushwork, solid compositions and unsentimental tone. Essentially a realist,
Gregor nonetheless has turned into a wild-eyed Fauve on occasion"
-
- David McCracken, Chicago Tribune, 10 September 1993
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- 21. Glorious Fall Splendor, 1996
- acrylic on canvas
- 60 x 82 inches
- Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe
-
- "I'm trying to build on a platform of flattened space to achieve
three-dimensional space through the use of color. I shape the space with
color as well as with descriptive objects. I don't just put one color next
to another. I use tonal color and color combinations, locate the strongest
color, and incorporate a recognizable image."
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- Harold Gregor, Watercolor, Fall 1997
-
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- 22. Illinois Landscape #144, 1997
- acrylic on canvas
- 18 x 90 inches
- Monsanto, St. Louis, Missouri
-
- "Viewing the Midwest prairie landscape casually from our car windows
as we drive by, people today tend to perceive the scene as a huge panorama.
The 19th-century viewer assumed a fixed focal point, while in the elongated
horizontal space there is no strong focal point. We look at the scene but
do not focus on it. We just gather it in, looking at it for a moment, then
go on to the next concentration, or gathering of events."
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- Harold Gregor, Watercolor, Fall 1997
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- 24. Landscape Series #145 Hot Night Sunset, 1997
- acrylic on canvas
- 45 x 68 inches
- Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago
-
- "Passing though Illinois at sunset, driving for what seemed like
forever into the slowly altering color atmosphere [was] an Emersonian sublime
moment!"
-
- Harold Gregor, Recovering the Prairie, ed. Robert F. Sayre,
1999
-
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- 25. Illinois Flatscape #60, 1997
- acrylic on canvas
- 30 x 40 inches
- Collection of Gene and Terry Carr, Glenview, Illinois
-
- "In the 19th century, you did not see many landscapes painted
as though looking down from above. Now people view the landscape from airplane
windows so a landscape painting with that point of view is accepted as
commonplace, whereas in the 19th century it would have been a curiosity.
Flatness, grids, leveling, equality, and notions about democracy are all
pertinent to our life concerns. In my color-formed landscapes I try to
suggest visual equivalences of these concerns."
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- Harold Gregor, Watercolor, Fall 1997
-
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- 23. Hillside Garden #165, 1997
- watercolor and crayon on paper
- 18 x 24 inches
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- 24. Deep Blue Air #172, 1997
- watercolor and crayon on paper
- 18 x 24 inches
- Courtesy of the Artist
-
-
- 25.