Constantinos Parthenis Greek, 1878-1967

Dionysios Loverdos, Athens; acquired from the artist;
thence by descent

Stelios Lydakis, The Greek Painters-20th Century, vol. 2, Athens, 1976, pp. 26-27, no. 32, illustrated in a full-page colour plate, titled Sycophantia

Painted circa 1925.

One of the most important works by Parthenis to appear at auction, The Angel of Judgement has remained in private hands since it was painted circa 1925. Considered the father of modern Greek painting, Parthenis combined elements of religious and symbolic allegory, Surrealism and Art Deco in this work.  

In the centre of the composition, a masked angel holding a whip in one hand, and dangling a globe in the other, ascends over mankind. Surrounding her on either side is a mountainous village, one side a peaceful utopia with blue skies and white clouds, the other engulfed by black clouds and with crumbling buildings falling down the rocky cliffs into the abyss. Below the angel is a ship in a sea half calm and half stormy, trying to outrace the approaching tempest. 

Parthenis drew heavily on Symbolism and Expressionism in envisioning his surroundings as a meditative object in the 1920s, and Symbolism is evident throughout this work, giving the subject various layers of meaning. The mask, sometimes an attribute of Deceit or Vice, was also worn by executioners and can also represent Night. The whip is one of the instruments of the Passion, from Christ’s Flagellation. The Globe usually held at the hand of a monarch signifies his sovereignty over the world. In religious painting it is sometimes shown in the hand of Christ as Saviour of the World or denoting God as The Father of the world. It can also symbolize Truth, Fame or Abundance.  

As Marinna Lambraki-Plaka noted:  "During the Twenties Parthenis abandoned plein air studies and turned toward allegorical, symbolic or religious subject matter. His works became more intellectual, more spiritual. The older influences were covered over the new, hellenocentric ones. On the brilliantly lighted field, a screen of dreams of a utopian and idealized Greece, were projected the figures of the "Parthenian" pantheon. Influences from antiquity, Byzantium and Theotokopoulos flowed together in a harmonious amalgam which crystallized into the unique, unrepeatable and amazing Parthenian mannerism." (Marina Lambraki-Plaka, ed., Four Centuries of Greek Painting, Athens, 1999, p. 449).

This combination of the allegorical, symbolic and religious or spiritual themes is evident in Parthenis' most important paintings of the 1920s, such as The Riches of Communication (fig. 1), and The Apotheosis of Athanasios Diakos (fig. 2).

Parthenis was tremendously significant in the development of twentieth century Greek art. As a prominent member of the Omni Techni group of 1917 he was responsible, along with Konstantinos Maleas (see lots 10 & 13 ) for introducing French ideas of light and colour into Greek painting. Through the movement and the influence that Parthenis exerted as Professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1947, the lingering influences of German Academism were finally banished from Athens’ artistic circles, and a new path was laid, paving the way for experimentation in form and colour previously untried in Greek art.

Fig. 1, Constantinos Parthenis, The Riches of Communication, circa 1925 @ National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens
digi ref 080D05103

Fig. 2, Constantinos Parthenis, The Apotheosis of Athanasios Diakos, circa 1930 @ National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens
digi ref 116D05103