Harold Gregor (American,1929-2018) was a prominent Illinois painter whose colorful and distinctive Midwestern landscapes are both timeless and daringly inventive.

Schooled during the generation of abstract expressionism, Gregor was a Southern California artist and teacher in the 1960s. Gregor moved to Illinois to teach at Illinois State University in 1970. It was then that he earned national attention with his Illinois corn crib series: Tightly rendered and hauntingly silent photorealist works depicting corn cribs as the focal point of the landscape. Later in the 1970s, Gregor began making the first of many landscapes from heightened and skewed perspectives, minimizing the structures within the land and focusing on the beauty and patterns of the heartland landscape itself. 

Gregor spent the following decades continually challenging himself to explore new styles. His bodies of work include Illinois Landscapes (realist works), Illinois Flatscapes (color-formed aerial views), Illinois Colorscapes, large-format watercolors, and later in life, an abstracted Vibrascape Series. Using rich, romanticized hues and both lifelike and surprising color palettes, Gregor’s paintings draw viewers into the agrarian beauty of the land. 

Collections
Gregor's work was represented in important public and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. His work was acquired for many corporate collections, including: Citibank Corporation, New York; AT&T, New Jersey and New York; Amoco Corporation, Houston; Atlanta Richfield Corporation; Baloni Collection, Geneva, Switzerland; Chemical Bank, London; Chicago Board of Trade; Citibank Corporation, New York; Deloitte, NY; Filipacchi Collection, Paris; Kemper Insurance Collection, IL; Monsanto, St. Louis; Northern Trust Bank, Chicago; Owens Corning Fiberglass Corporation, NY.

His work is in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago; Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA; Denver Art Museum; Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina; Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL; Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL and others. It also was acquired by Dartmouth College; California College of Arts and Crafts; College of Guam; Syracuse University; University of Georgia, Athens; and University of Oregon, Eugene, among others.

Gregor was commissioned to create major new works for numerous public collections and buildings. His work may be seen at the State of Illinois Appellate Court Building, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Illinois State Library, McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, the Illinois Governor’s Mansion, and the Central Illinois Airport. 

Representation
For more than 30 years, Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago represented and showed Gregor’s work, as did Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe for nearly 20 years. In New York he was represented by ACA Galleries, Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, M.B. Modern, and in the 1970’s and 1980s at Tibor de Nagy Gallery and O.K Harris Gallery. He also had gallery shows in St. Louis, Dallas, San Francisco, San Diego, Austin, and Milwaukee.

His work continues to be available through Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and through the Gregor family.

Exhibitions
The artist’s work was exhibited nationwide throughout the many decades of his career. Touring solo exhibitions included Harold Gregor: A Retrospective (1993-1994) and Harold Gregor: A New View (1987), both accompanied by books/catalogues. Other solo exhibitions occurred at numerous regional museums and art centers, colleges and universities, and galleries nationwide.

Notable group exhibition and temporary installation venues for Gregor’s work have included the Executive Dining Room of the Obama White House, the Illinois Governor’s Mansion, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, the Bronx Museum of Art in New York, the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Auckland Gallery of Fine Arts in New Zealand, Expo '74, and many others nationwide and abroad. For a full exhibition history, view full resume below.

Professorships
Gregor was a Distinguished Professor of Art at Illinois State University where he taught for 25 years. He also taught at Chapman University in Southern California; Purdue University in Indiana; and San Diego State University. As a professor, he influenced many artists who went on to significant careers. For more information on his circle of Illinois artists, visit HaroldGregor.art.