About the Artist

Harold Gregor gained national prominence in the early 1970's within the Photo-realism movement, turning to farm structures and the sweeping horizon of the rural Midwest for inspiration. Along with the realist landscape depictions, this Bloomington, Illinois, artist is also known for his unusual Flatscape paintings which combine an aerial perspective with unique color choices to suggest an essential Midwestern landscape.

In 1995, upon retirement, Gregor began exploring a third aspect called "trail" paintings -- colorful abstract paintings derived from scenes of a local walking trail. He continues to paint and show all four modes: realist panoramas, colorful aerial Flatscapes, energetic abstract "trail" paintings, and his latest effort Vibrascapes.

Gregor, a native of Detroit, Michigan, received his BS from Wayne State University, his MS from Michigan State University, and his doctorate from Ohio State University.

Among many distinctions, he is the recipient of a 1993-1994 National Endowment of the Arts grant and a NEA Midwest Fellowship. In 1993 he was awarded the Illinois Academy of Fine Arts Lifetime Achievement Award. Gregor's work is represented in important public and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. Gregor is a Distinguished Professor, Emeritus at Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois.

He is represented by Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago, Illinois; Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Texas; ACA Galleries in Chelsea, New York City, and Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Illinois State University: Normal, IL; Distinguished Professor of Art. 1970-1995. Emeritus. 1995-present.

Chapman College: Orange, CA; Head of Department. Associate Professor of Art. 1966-1970.

Purdue University: West Lafayette, Indiana; Assistant Professor of Art. 1963-1966.

San Diego State University: San Diego, CA; Assistant Professor of Art. 1960-1963.

RECOGNITION

Who's Who Internationl

Who's Who in American Art

Who's Who in Midwest America

2000 Outstanding Artists and Designers of the 20th Century

Articles By The Artist

Gregor, Harold with Katherine Gregor. "Discovering a Lost Technique." The Artist's Magazine. July 1987:40-45.

---. "The Techniques of Flatscape." The Artist's Magazine. Dec. 1986: 34-43 (illus.).

Gregor, Harold. "Colorfields from the Heartland." Watercolor Magic Magazine. 7:1 (Winter 1999): 38-43 (illus).

---. "Requirements for a New Vision: Reflections by an Artist Teacher." Mills and Irving, eds. Visual Arts in the Ninth Decade.National Council of Art Administrators. 1980.

---. Catalog essay for "State of the Art." Parkland College Biennial National Watercolor Show.Champaign, IL: Parkland College, 1991.

---. "Speculating on the Role of Watercolor in the 1990s." Watercolor USA Honor Society Newsletter. Summer 1990: 3-4.

Dissertation: "Clarification of an Artistic Position with Reference to Gestalt Perceptual Principles." 1960.

Retrospective Exhibition Catalogues

Arthur, John. Midwestern Romanticism: Exhibition of Contemporary Landscape Paintings. Peoria, IL: Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1996.

Cotter, Holland. "Harold Gregor and the American Landscape." Introductory essay in Harold Gregor: A New View/Painter in the American Landscape Tradition. Peoria, IL: Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1987: 8-10.

Nordland, Gerald. Harold Gregor. Rockford, IL:Rockford Art Museum, 1993.

Sharp, Kevin. Harold Gregor's Illinois. Mt. Vernon, IL, Mitchell Museum 2005.

Selected Articles About the Artist

Arthur, John. Green Woods and Crystal Water: the American Landscape Tradition. Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Okla. Seattle: U of Washington Press, 1999: 82, 88 (illus), 129, 165.

Arthur, John. Spirit of Place: Contemporary Landscape Painting and the American Tradition. Boston: Little, Brown, 1989: 93-99, 134-35 (illus).

Battock, Gregory. Super Realism. New York: Dutton, 1975: 265.s

Cross, Robert. "Prairie Panache." Chicago Tribune. 8 May 1986: 1,3.

Driscoll, John and Arnold Skolnick. The Artist and the American Landscape. Cobb, CAs: First Glance Book, O.G. Publishing, 1993: 102-03 (illus.).

Goldman, Betsy Schein. "Harold Gregor." American Artist. Nov. 1986: 74-79.

Goodyear, Frank, Jr. Contemporary American Realism Since 1980. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1981: 140-41 (illus).

Gussow, Alan. Rediscovering the Landscape of the Americas. Santa Fe, NM: Gerald Peters Gallery Publication, 1996: 54 (illus), 99 -100.

Hanson, Henry. "Painterly Poet of the Prairie State." Chicago Magazine. Sept. 1982: 126.

Iris, Bonnie. "Recent Images, Recent Concerns: Harold Gregor, Shifting Colorscapes of the Midwest." Watercolor Magazine. Fall 1997: 36-39 (illus.).

Kinsey, Joni L. Plain Pictures: Images of the American Prairie. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press: 186, 188-191 (illus), 201.

Koplos, Janet. "Harold Gregor at Katharina Rich Perlow", review, Art in America, March 2003: 123.

Lucie-Smith, Edward. American Art Now. New York: William Morrow, 1985: 92-93.

Roberts, Nancy. "Harold Gregor." U.S. Art. Dec. 1989: 47-51.

Sullivan, Terry. The Best of Sketching and Drawing: A Collection of Still Lifes, Portraits, and Landscapes. Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers, 1999: 37 (illus).

Thompson, Walter. "I-55 at I-74." Art and Artists. April-May 1989: 9.

Weil, Rex. "Three Visions: Landscape in 2005", K. R. Perlow Gallery, NYC, review, Art News, April 2005: 130. (illus).

Ph.D., Ohio State University. 1960.
M.S., Michigan State University, 1953.
B.S.,Wayne State University, 1951.