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Harold Gregor's Prairie Muse

The colorful and distinctive works of a much-admired central Illinois landscape painter are currently on view in an exhibition that highlights the various stages of his work, and reveals the stunningly different style in which he began his career.

'Changing Perspectives: The Landscapes of Harold Gregor' is now up at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.  The exhibition showcases fifty years in the artist's career, most of which has been spent capturing the vast Illinois prairie.  But, according the Museum Curator Kristan McKinsey, there's one example of Gregor's early work as an Abstract Expressionist. "We have one of his works he did in California in the '60's, "McKinsey said. "He had trained as an Abstract Expressionist, but he was ready for some kind of a change in his work, but he didn't know what that was going to be.  He was tired of doing these big, energetic works that had to do about brushstroke, which he was very good at."

He arrived in Illinois at this time, accepting a teaching position at Illinois State University.  "He got off the plane and saw the farmland, the prairie, the distant horizon.  He saw this landscape that spoke to him.  He was really taken by it."

Gregor transitioned into a landscape painter specializing in photo realism.  And his works were very successful. "He showed these works in New York and Chicago galleries.  They were a hit and gained him a national reputation.  It's interesting that they appeal in these urban environments. It's a traditional format, almost like you're looking out a window at a view."

Gregor started doing panoramic works, then was inspired to do flatscapes, which give a bird's eye view of the prairie farm.  Later works include what Gregor calls Vibrascapes, with bright colors adding a pop art sensibility to the now untraditional Gregor landscape.

The show also features Colorscapes, examples from Gregor's Trail Series, and more.  The show is up through Oct. 16.

Reporter, content producer and former All Things Considered host, Laura Kennedy is a native of the Midwest who occasionally affects an English accent just for the heck of it. Related to two U.S. presidents, Kennedy appalled her family by going into show business.