Konstantinos Maleas Greek, 1879-1928

C. Panagou, Athens

Athens, Zappeion Hall, 1920
Venice, Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d'Arte, 1936, no. 15, as Taigitos

Stelios Lydakis, The Greek Painters - 20th Century, vol. 2, Athens, 1976, p. 78, no. 21, illustrated; also illustrated on the back cover; incorrectly titled Helmos
Antonis Kotidis, Konstantinos Maleas, Athens, 2000, pp. 229, 349 & 381, no. 172, illustrated; incorrecly titled Helmos

Influenced by the Post- Impressionist movements of the early 20th century, Maleas' work is dominated by vibrant colours and thick brushstrokes. His technique of applying paint in layers was influenced by his teacher Henri Martin under whom he studied in Paris from 1901 to 1908.  

Maleas' pivotal importance in Greek painting is ascribed to the assimilation of Pont Aven symbolism; the arabesque line and flattened space of art nouveau, and the rich colouring of the Fauves. Often executed en plein air with spatulas, Maleas' poetic landscapes represent a supremely gestural approach that displaces the painted with the painting as the artist's priority. As such, his innovations are credited with having produced 'the first self-referential works in Greek painting' (Antonis Kotidis, '20th Century - The First Thirty Years', in Marina Lambraki-Plaka, ed., Four Centuries of Greek paintings, Athens, 1999, p. 118). 

Dominated by the snow capped mountain peaks in the centre of the composition, Taigitos  is intersected by a winding road and thick horizontal tufts of vegetation in the foreground that lead the viewer back to the summit. By reducing his palette to a combination of blue, green and brown tones Maleas achieved an increasing level of abstraction in his landscapes, as in the present work. Like Cézanne (see fig. 1) whose work he encountered in France, Maleas rejected conventional methods of rendering perspective, instead building the spatial structure of this composition purely by juxtaposing different shapes and colours.

An inscription on the reverse of the work by Fotinos Maleas, the artist's son, dated 27 May 1982 confirms the attribution to Maleas and the title  Taigitos.