Yiannis Spyropoulos

Spyropoulos (Greek Γιάννης Σπυρόπουλος, born March 12, 1912 in Pylos, Greece; † 18 May 1990 in Athens ) was a Greek painter. He was an important representative of the artistic avant-garde of Greek painting after the Second World War.

Life and work

Spyropoulos studied between 1933 and 1938 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens. In 1938, Spyropoulos received a scholarship and continued his studies at the École nationale supérieure des beaux -arts in Paris until 1940 continued. After his return to Greece, he settled in Athens, where in 1950 held his first solo exhibition.

At this time he began the abstract painting, inspired by the current French art scene, in particular through the work of Paul Cézanne. The peculiarity of his painting was in the architectural composition of the images on one side, and an igneous - spontaneous, aggressive brushwork on the other side. He used the brush on all sides, and carved with the brush handle lines in the color layers of his mostly large -format canvases. He also created many collages in the 1960s. His artistic contribution to abstraction is one of the most important chapters in the history of contemporary Greek art.

In the late 1950s the abstract painting of Spyropoulos got international attention. His work has been shown at major international exhibitions. In 1959 he had an exhibition at the World House Galleries in New York City. In 1960 he was on the XXX. Venice Biennale, Greece represented there and got there and the price of UNESCO. In 1962 he was exhibited at the New Gallery in the artist's house in Munich. He was "Aspects 1964" represented by three oil paintings as a participant of the documenta III in Kassel in 1964 in the department. In 1969 he had an exhibition at the National Collection of Fine Arts, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

In 1976, Jannis Spyropoulos set his house and studio in Kifissia. This house is now the headquarters of Spyropoulos Foundation and the Jannis Spyropoulos Museum. A major retrospective of his art was shown in 1994 in many Greek cities. His paintings are also part of the collection of the Greek National Gallery in Athens.

Literature and sources

• Documenta III. International Exhibition; Catalogue: Volume 1: Paintings and Sculpture; Volume 2: Hand drawings; Volume 3: Industrial design, graphic; Kassel / Cologne 1964