- 39
Constantinos Parthenis Greek, 1878-1967
Description
- Constantinos Parthenis
- head of a magus
oil on board
- 33 by 29.5cm., 13 by 11 3/4 in.
Provenance
Nicholas Parthenis, the artist's son
Galerie Timos, Athens (purchased from the above on 9 March 1970)
Catalogue Note
Painted circa 1924.
Parthenis is regarded as the most significant and innovative of Modern Greek painters. Born in Alexandria, he initially studied in Vienna, gleaning ideas from Symbolism, before travelling extensively in Europe, and was influenced by much of the avant-garde painting which he encountered in Italy and in Paris.
A professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1947, he encouraged his students to paint using their mind and soul: “Gentlemen, the greatest labour in the creation of art is the work of the mind, and the painter should also work with the mind and soul, just as the poet is never tired of noting the verses with a pencil, but labour intellectually and his whole work is done with the mind and the emotions”. (Constantinos Parthenis, quoted in Dimitris Papastamos, Painting 1930-1940, Astir Company, 1981, p. 66).
Three sketches of a wooded landscape are painted on the reverse.
The reverse of the present work