Greg Montgomery became a friend to Impressions of Saratoga almost 30 years ago when he was beginning what would eventually become a Saratoga Tradition! This tall guy who lived in a restored barn in Saratoga Springs wandered into our store with an idea to create a poster for the world renowned Travers Stakes Race. That was the first step in what has become a wonderful friendship based on mutual respect and support that has lasted through thick and thin over all these years! We are blessed to call him a friend and have even had the pleasure to employ some of his children all those years ago. We are proud to offer Greg’s posters, books, t-shirts and some fun new surprise products coming down the pipeline for this summer season! Watch for his signing session in front of the store during the Hats Off Festival that celebrates the opening of the 2015 Saratoga Race Course Meet. Hope you can stop down and visit an old friend!!!
— Marianne Barker, Co-Owner of Impressions of Saratoga
Greg Montgomery received his formal art training at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque where he studied painting and lithography, and at The College of St. Rose in Alb
any, N.Y., where he studied serigraphy.
After completing his degree in New Mexico, Greg worked as art director and set designer for public television in New Mexico. As art director for General Electric’s Corporate Marketing Communications Operation in Albany, Greg worked on major campaigns for the power systems and plastic business components, and on the world-renowned GE calendar. Greg moved to the world of publications as art director for Capital Region magazine. He recently retired from the Albany Times Union newspaper where he worked as a design editor. Greg currently works as an illustrator and designer, accepting projects and commissioned portraits.
A native of Washington, D.C., Greg travels extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Europe, and Asia, capturing images with pen, paint, and camera. His clean colors, dynamic form, and unusual use of white space make his work unparalleled in the field of equestrian, sporting, and poster art. Greg’s series of posters for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course is the longest running series by a single artist for a single event in racing history.
On August 1, 2006 the author and journalist Vic Zast wrote to me asking if I would like to work with him on a very special Travers book. I certainly did, and we did, and now, very sadly,Vic has left us. These seats – Sec J, Row J, seats 3-4 in Saratoga’s grandstand were Vic’s trackside office for decades.
“Greg Montgomery’s posters define Saratoga uniquely. If any racecourse has earned the right to have its own special “style,” Saratoga Race Course, in all its transcendent glory, is the one that has. The irony is that no other “look” but one which is classy and consistent would suite it. Consequently, no other look but Montgomery’s is now de rigueur.”
–Vic Zast, author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.”
Vic Zast, a former summertime resident of Saratoga Springs, New York, attended the races at Saratoga for more than 50 straight years. He wrote about horse racing the world over. A breeder, horse owner, former racetrack president, and marketing pioneer in the sport, he produced articles for The Blood-Horse, The New York Times, MSNBC.com, and National Public Radio.
— Paul Roberts, Executive Director – Turnberry Consulting, and international lecturer on racetrack design and management. He is a co-author of
“The Spa: Saratoga’s Legendary Race Course” and had these wonderful words to say about Greg and his work!
Since its inaugural meeting in August 1863, Saratoga Race Course has captured the imagination of racing fans worldwide. As the United States’ oldest surviving sports ground, the scene of Man o’ War’s famous sole defeat, and home of the nation’s longest-running major thoroughbred race, the Travers Stakes, the Race Course is steeped in racing history.
And its appeal extends far beyond the action of the track. The soaring peaks of the Victorian grandstand, the tree-studded paddock, and the backstretch village of nineteenth-century barns all combine to create a unique, celebratory atmosphere which is the envy of tracks the globe across.
Since 1986, Greg Montgomery has been capturing Saratoga’s timeless spirit in a series of posters. The Travers Stakes posters – the longest continuing series of sporting art in the world – are immediately evocative of the identity and beauty of the legendary track and as such convey the Spa’s unparalleled sense of history, place and sporting excitement to an international audience.
