Gregory Kondos is a wonderful landscape artist with a very modern feel to his work. Kondos was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in the year 1923. The family moved from the east coast to California in 1927.
For his collegiate education Kondos attended Sacramento Junior College. The artist also attended California State.
Kondos was featured in a documentary done by the public broadcasting systems in 1998.
The artist has been associated with Medicine Man Gallery and here we see a great interview with the artist.
Kondos was also part of the teaching faculty at Sacramento City college.
In this clip we listen as the artist talks about what motivates him.
The artist was elected to the national academy of design in 1995.
In this clip we see a short montage of works by George Kondos.
Price range info: The artist has worked with pastels which range from $2000 to $8000. Oils range from $5,000 to $60,000.
Part of museum collections in the United States and Europe.
If you enjoy this artist make sure and check out the artwork of Melissa Chandon. Chandon is an American artist born in 1952. She works mainly with acrylics, but I find her palette very close to that of Kondos. I enjoy her paintings of the beach and swimming pools. Here is an example of Chandon’s artwork.
Another more abstract artist I am reminded of when looking at Kondos is the wonderful painter Richard Diebenkorn. Diebenkorn is best known for his OceanPark series of painting. Another series which features wonderful blues similar to Kondos’ palette. Here is a great example of a birds eye view landscape from Diebenkorn. Diebenkorn was born in 1922 in Oregon but is most associated with the Bay area movement and also the Abstract Expressionist movement.
When Kondos first started out his favorite artist was William De Kooning. As he matured he also made several key artist acquaintances including Wayne Thiebaud. Thiebaud would become an important mentor and friend, important in his career in the art world.
Kondos is a wonderful artist and I love looking at his paintings of the sea the most. His layering of complimentary colors using warm colors under cooler ones gives the viewer a real feeling of warmth and heat. You can see this in his portrayals of trees and their leaves. Take a nod from the featured artists today and try painting an ocean view, first paint it in orange or cadmium red and then paint using your normal method on top of that. Its amazing how much an underpainting can change the feel of work of art.
D
Diattaart Blog 
Nancy Poole Said:
on March 14, 2013 at 3:15 am
Thanks for a very interesting lecture