Yannis Tsarouchis
Encyclopedia
Early life
Born in PiraeusPiraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, he studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts
Athens School of Fine Arts
The Athens School of Fine Arts , is Greece's premier art school whose main objective is to develop the artistic talents of its students.-History:Athens School of Fine Arts was established on 12 January 1837, known as the School for the Arts...
(1929–1935). He was also a student of Photios Kontoglou
Photios Kontoglou
Photis Kontoglou was a Greek writer, painter and iconographer.-Life :He was raised by his mother, Despoina Kontoglou, and his uncle Stefanos Kontoglou, who was abbot in the nearby monastery of Aghia Paraskevi. He spent his childhood among the monastery, the sea and the fishermen. In 1913, he...
, who introduced him to Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
, while he also studied popular architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and dressing customs. Together with Dimitris Pikionis
Dimitris Pikionis
Dimitri Pikionis or Demetrios Pikionis was a major Greek architect of the 20th century and had a considerable influence in Contemporary Greek Architecture...
, Kontoglou and Angeliki Hatzimichali he led the movement for the introduction of Greek tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
in painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
From 1935 to 1936 he visited Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. He came in contact with the Renaissance art and Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
. He discovered the works of Theophilos Hatzimihail
Theophilos Hatzimihail
Theophilos Hatzimihail , known simply as Theophilos, was a major folk painter of Neo-Hellenic art...
and met influential artists such as Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
and Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter...
.
Art
He returned to Greece in 1936 and two years later he produced his first personal exhibitionArt exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
in Athens. He later fought in the Greco-Italian War
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
in 1940. In 1949, he and other artists, including Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas
Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas
Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas was a leading Greek painter, sculptor, engraver, iconographer, writer and academic...
, Yannis Moralis, Nikos Nikolaou
Nikos Nikolaou
Nikos Nikolaou was a major figure in Greek art during the 20th century.In 1929 Nikolaou is admitted into the Athens School of Fine Arts where he studied under Konstantinos Parthenis and Umbertos Argyros....
, Nikos Engonopoulos
Nikos Engonopoulos
Nikos Engonopoulos was a modern Greek painter and poet. He is one of the most important members of the Greek Generation of the '30s as well as a major representative of the surrealistic movement in Greece...
and Panayiotis Tetsis
Panayiotis Tetsis
Panayiotis Tetsis is a major Greek painter. Tetsis is a genuine exponent of the post-impressionistic seascape tradition.- Life and work :...
, established the "Armos" art group. In 1951 he had exhibitions in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1958 he participated in the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
. In 1967 he moved to Paris.
He filled his canvases with images of vulnerable men and (to a much lesser extent) strong women.
Institutions
In 1982 the Yannis Tsarouchis Museum in Maroussi, Athens, was inaugurated. The Museum is actually hosted in the house of the artist. There is also the Tsarouchis Foundation.He died in Athens in 1989.
Selected bibliography
- Adaptation of the Greek Wikipedia article.