Constantinos Volanakis Greek, 1837-1907

Acquired by the grandmother of the present owner at the turn of the century at a lottery in the Royal Palace, Athens; thence by descent in the family

Volanakis won renown as the foremost marine painter in Greece during the nineteenth century with his masterful representation of ships, detailed recordings of naval fittings and sensitive renderings of atmospheric changes. Painting in golden yellows, reds and blues, Volanakis captured the calm of the sea and the atmospheric beauty of this placid scene in the present work.  On the right a large fishing boat has laid anchor while a small boat with an elegant figure holding a cream parasol is being rowed towards it.  

Boats in a Calm Bay bears testimony not only to Volanakis’s love of ships and the sea, but of the effects of light, wind and atmosphere. The painting is as much an exploration of the light and colour as it is a marine painting in the traditional sense.