"Gray was, from a technical point of view, a complete virtuoso. You name the condition of light, the degree of haze, the type of foliage, and he could reproduce it. But technique tended to be wedded effortlessly with a projection of mood, and Gray was very much a poetic painter."

An excerpt from a review of Percy Gray's retrospective at the California Historical Society in 1970 by Arthur Bloomfield, San Francisco Examiner, December 10, 1970

In August, 1998, over one hundred paintings, drawings and etchings by Percy Gray were on exhibit at the Carmel Art Association. Compiled from the collections of Gray's family members, individual owners and museums throughout the country, it was the largest assemblage of his work every presented. The positive response to the show affirmed our interest in publishing a comprehensive history on Gray, including reproductions of the 1998 exhibition.

The Percy Gray exhibition, which is presented in its entirety in this volume, clearly demonstrates his vision as an artist. Gray found inspiration in the California landscape and his art expressed this emotional response to nature. The quiet solitude of his paintings serves as recorded history - a reminder that the expanse of the California landscape has rapidly begun to disappear and each year it becomes more important to protect and preserve it.

We are very pleased to have assembled a distinguished group of authors whose individual contributions offer insightful viewpoints: Barbara Dayer Gallati, Curator, American Paintings and Sculpture, Brooklyn Museum of Art; Alfred Harrison, Owner, The Northpoint Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Scott A. Shields, Curator of Fine Arts, California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA; Anita Noenning, Paper Conservator, Oakland, CA; Holly Anderson, Paper Conservator, Sebastopol, CA; Donald C. Whitton, Percy Gray's grandnephew and biographer.