Painting That Survived German Bombing offered at Bonhams Greek Sale

Written by Clinton Brendel Saturday, 12 March 2011 23:29

 

LONDON - `The Painter’s Family’, (1920-21) a masterpiece by Dimitrios Galanis, will be sold at Bonhams next sale of Greek Art in New Bond Street on 10th November for an estimated £200,000 to £300,000. Although it has not been seen for in public for 80 years its provenance includes time in the Collection Girardin, France and the George Stringos collection in Athens. It was first exhibited in Paris in 1921 and again in1922, and in Athens in 1928.

“The best picture Galanis ever gave us is his Family” said D. Evangelidhes and Ambassador D. Athanassopoulos wondered in 1982, “Where might this Galanis masterpiece be today?” He asked this question in his book D. Galanis 1879-1966, referring to this monumental work that was exhibited in Paris along with paintings by Picasso and Bonnard and was included in the major 1928 Galanis retrospective at the Iliou Melathron (Schliemann Mansion) in Athens. This definitive Galanis, which was highly praised by critics and collectors alike, was a rare jewel in one of the most prominent interwar collections of Modern Greek art that survived the 1941 and 1944 Piraeus bombings and the dark days of German occupation. It was then lost for decades before being rediscovered at the Stringos mansion in Kifissia, its appearance at Bonhams marking the first time it is seen publicly in 80 years.

The flagship of Galanis’s entire oeuvre and one of the most important works in the history of Greek art that redefines monumental portraiture, The painter’s family reaped praise and wonder from art critics as early as the mid 1920s. Professor D. Evangelidhes deemed it “the best picture Galanis ever gave us. Its power of rich plasticity, solid and encompassing composition and deep-felt spiritual expression are combined in admirable unity and timeless harmony.”

This magnificent group portrait pictures the painter’s family in Galanis’s famous studio in Montmartre at 12 rue Cortot, which had been the legendary abode of such illustrious artists and intellectuals as Utrillo, Raul Dufy and Susan Valadon. His studio-home in which Galanis lived continuously from 1910 to 1964, with only a brief break during World War I, was frequented by avant-garde painters and members of the French intelligencia, including Picasso, Braque, Rouault, Utrillo, Derain and Matisse, who often played the violin.

The painter’s family was eventually acquired by Georgios Stringos (1878-1956), a leading personality in the history of Modern Greek commerce who opened new vistas in terms of trade, industry and related chambers. He was also one of the first and most prominent collectors of Modern Greek art, demonstrating considerable insight and keen aesthetic criteria.

The Stringos mansion, was until recently the French Institute of Piraeus, was purchased in 1917. One of the reasons Stringos dearly loved this house was because his collections could be better displayed. During the German occupation the building was commandeered and used as an officer’s club. The owners were allowed, however, to leave one of their people inside, a trusted caretaker, thanks to whose ingenuity and resourcefulness part of the collection was salvaged. Following the German retreat, the house was first commandeered by the British forces and then by the Greek Navy and used as an officer’s club. Up until 1955, when the Greek Navy ceased using it, the Stringos mansion hosted memorable festivities and magnificent receptions.

Another great image in the Bonhams sale of Greek Art is ‘The sailing boat SEVASTON approaching the Corinth canal’ by C. Volanakis which is also estimated to make £200,000 to £300,000. An elegant and seductive beauty and at the same time an imposing presence in complete command of the waters surrounding it, this captivating portrait of a two-masted vessel briskly sailing in a fresh breeze off the mouth of the Corinth Canal, exudes an air of confidence, power and mastery of the forces of nature. 

The size, proximity, detailing of rigging and masts, broadside presentation and, above all, the banner on the foremast reading Sevaston -the name of the ship or the shipping company- confirm that this is indeed a ship portrait rather than a generalised marine view. Ever since his studies at the Munich Academy, Volanakis perceived the seascape as a complex entity, a homogenous whole with unlimited expressive potential, allowing him to seek the ideal balance between nature’s elemental forces and man’s will to master. Upon his return from Germany in 1883, he took up permanent residency in the seaside town of Piraeus and had the opportunity to observe and render the atmospheric changes, the delicate nuances of the seascape and the soft gradations of light and shade with great accuracy and finesse.

‘Eroticon’ by Moralis is a great work by the greatest Greek artist alive and demonstrates the defining elements of his signature style: solid structure, purity of form, poetic abstraction, disciplined rhythm, harmonious proportions, inspired synthesis of gently flowing curves and ingenious interplay of active and passive themes. Among the artists in this sale are great names like Fassianos , Kessanlis, Prassinos, Tsinogos and Gaitis.

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