Dialogue with Light and Colour
Impressionist signs in Greece
Boats in the Bosphorus (1907) by Savvidis Symeon National Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
Landscape developed as a particular kind of urban painting in the 17th century in the Protestant Netherlands. The realistic landscapes of the Low Countries would become the models for the revival of interest in nature during the 19th century.
This turn towards nature was fostered and completed by Realism. The group of French painters who, around the middle of the 19th century, formed an artistic community in a small village in the woods of Fontainebleau, near Paris, has become known as the Barbizon School. These artists were the first genuine plein-air painters and paved the way for Impressionism.
Festival in Munich (1876) by Volanakis Κonstantinos National Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
Going out of the shadowy workshop to the brilliant light of the outdoors was a revelation for painters. This signalled the birth of Impressionism: a form of painting that aspired to capture the momentary impression, before it was elaborated by the intellect.
The impressionists worked with pure colours, resorting to supplementary tones in order to increase their brilliance and luminosity and managed to translate the pulsing vibrancy of the real outdoors.They painted with short, quick brushstrokes and invited the viewer’s eye to actively participate in the genesis of the work. Their paintings glow with luminosity, pulse and colour and transmit to the viewer a feeling of ebullient vitality.
A “realistic” landscape painting slowly came into being in Greece during the last quarter of the 19th century.Plein air intimations and impressionist signs were to be encountered by many Greek painters like Κ.Volanakis(1837-1907), V. Chatzis(1870-1915) and Altamouras(1852-1878).
Areios Pagos (1880) by Pantazis Periklis National Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
Periklis Pantazis (1849 - 1884), after the Athens School of Arts , he briefly sojourned in Paris and ended up in Brussels. There, joining radical groups of Belgian artists, he took part in the renovation of painting, despite his premature death.
The plein air quests and subject matter of his mature works are related to those of the pre-impressionists Manet and Boudin.
Landscape with Tributary of Seine, near Paris (1872) by Pantazis Periklis National Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
The light of the south, as manifeste appearing to be an adherent of academicism and others of plein air approaches.
Still Life with Flowers (ca 1875 - 1877) by Pantazis Periklis National Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
This is the main reason why genuine Impressionism was not able to prosper in Greece. This suggestion is confirmed in all Greek painters who even well into the 20th century continued to paint in an impressionist idiom.
Ring Around the Rosie (1908) by Savvidis Symeon National Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
Symeon Savidis (1859 - 1927) can be considered a genuine Greek impressionist, despite the fact that he originated from the School of Munich.
At the Chinese Tower in Munich (1915) by Savvidis Symeon National Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
At the end of the 19th century most Greek artists felt the need to brighten their palettes and revitalize their painting with the touches of Impressionism, independent of their origins.
Colour Study (1910) by Savvidis Symeon National Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
The human figure in the plein air occupied a prime place among the plastic investigations of the impressionists.
Texts: Marina Lampraki-Plaka, Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, ex-Director, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens
Project leader: Efi Agathonikou, Head of Collections Department, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, AthensImages: Stavros Psiroukis & Thalia Kimpari, Photographic Studio, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens
Digital curation: Dr. Alexandros Teneketzis, Art Historian & Marina Tomazani, Art Historian, Curator, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
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