Theofilos (Hadjimichail)

Private Collection, Athens

The canvas is laid down. There is a horizontal crease that runs through the center of the composition. There are scattered areas of retouching visible under ultra-violet light. The painting is ready to hang.
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Born on the island of Lesbos, Theofilos showed a talent for painting from an early age. In 1883 he left for Smyrna where he enlisted as a volunteer in the Greek-Turkish war. Self-taught he eventually settled in Pelion were he worked on decorating shops, homes and cafes with his paintings and murals. According to Maria Katsanaki "In Theofilos' works - wall paintings, paintings on objects or cloth - his world is caught with the ingenuousness and innocence, but also the freshness of folk painting, a world equally of gods, heroes and everyday human beings, which coexist with elements and images from familiar reality and landscape" (Marina Lambraki-Plaka ed., Four Centuries of Greek Painting, Athens, 1999, p. 682).

Theofilos' work became internationaly recognized when the Parisian art critic Stratis Eleftheriadis, known as Tériade, met Theoflios and promoted his work on the international art market. As Eleftheriadis pointed out: "The Byzantine tradition of wall painting was reborn in his work, in a natural way. The simplicity, the sense of the rough surface, the feel for colour on a whitewashed Greek wall, the magical sensitivity to every colour combination, the ornaments of fresh, spontaneous imagination, and finally the ingenuousness, this creative ingenuousness, which makes primitive art equal or even better than the most sophisticated artistic expression - all these make up the unique person of Theofilos, whose light blue eyes reflected treasures of colours noble and hard to find, elevating him to parity with all the modern 'primitives' and today's most innovative painters, whose inventive audacity he possesed to a point that amazes us. When Theofilios paints Greek heroes from the War of Independence, their traditional fustanella kilts become flowers in the fields" (quoted in H. Kambouridis & G. Levounis, Modern Greek Art - The 20th Century, Athens, 1999, p. 42).

Please note that due to Greek regulations, this painting currently cannot be exported from Greece and will be available for inspection by prospective buyers in Athens by appointment with Sotheby's.  The painting will be located in Greece during the auction.    

Please also note that the sale of the painting will be conditional upon the Greek State failing to pre-empt the sale of this lot at the time of the auction. The successful buyer will be able to collect the work in Athens. Should you have any queries regarding the sale of this work please contact a member of the department.