Gregory Kondos, World-Famous Sacramento Painter, Dies At 97

Sacramento artist Gregory Kondos — world famous in the art world for his California landscape paintings — has died. He was 97. 

During a CapRadio interview with Beth Ruyak in 2018, Kondos said he didn't paint to get rich, and was more interested in having his work displayed at art shows and fine museums.

"I've passed up a lot of money in my life,” he said. “That doesn't mean that much to me. I'd rather have a beautiful show if possible and one that people can go home and talk about. And okay if a few sales are made but the idea of what was on the walls lingers on."

Kondos was the son of Greek immigrants. He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1923 and moved to Sacramento with his family in the late 1920s. He attended Sacramento High School and Sacramento City College. And after serving in the Navy in World War Two, Kondos studied art through the GI Bill.

Kondos, who would have turned 98 on Friday,  was still actively painting from his wheelchair and teaching students.

"Look at me, almost 100. I live everyday now to celebrate," he told Ruyak in 2018. "Even though I quarrel with my wife about paint on the floor and I track it in from the studio."