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Visual Arts in Greece |
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Greek contemporary Art -with its age-long tradition, its artists and their creations of major importance in the international cultural arena- ancient Greek and Byzantine Art offered world exceptional creators even during the slavery years of the Turkish occupation. A bright example -amongst the great number of artists- is Dominicos Theotokopoulos (El Greco) with his combination of Byzantine spirituality, Venetian color of mannerist forms and Spanish mysticism.
Moreover, an important and mainly pioneering part is played by artists from Ionian islands in the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, who exploit some conquests of the Italian Renaissance and baroque ateliers. As efforts persist with new outsets, preconditions and objectives, Greek artists emerging in the world during the first decades of the 19th century reconnect Greek art with ancient Greek tradition as well as with the quests of the European ateliers, especially those of the Munich School.
Having focused their interest, as a matter of course, to portraiture and historical issues, they create works that respond also to the character of their times. So that the great masters of Greek contemporary Art -Lytras, Gyzis, Volanakis- can arise and expand its thematic fields, enrich its morphologic vocabulary and advance beyond their teachers' styles. Those are the artists who prepare the creators that are following and turning towards the quests of other ateliers, especially the French ones.
Hence, during the last decades of the 19th century, with the "fathers" of Greek contemporary art of the 20th century, the creators Konstantinos Parthenis, Konstantinos Maleas and George Bouzianis, Greek contemporary art will proceed to entirely new formulas beyond the quests of foreign mainstreams. Particularly in sculpture, one can distinctly observe the success of our artists who manage to combine excellently ancient Greek tradition with the folk art forms and the European quests.
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Thus, during the first decades of the 20th century, Greek contemporary art succeeds to be forwarded to an ample disengagement from foreign influences and offers works that distinguish for their sincerity and their expressive wealth. This is a course that continues more plainly with the creators that are emerging to the world during the years between the two world wars. Those are the creators that go even further.
In the 20th century, Greek art distinguishes for the multiformity of its quests and the wealth of the expressive language, the honesty of its voice and the quality of its formulas. So, it creates works of all mainstreams, traditional, contemporary and experimental, that -beyond anything else, beyond any regional character- express faith in Man and love for freedom, in a convincing way, with esoteric truth.
Chrysanthos Christou
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