Lot 5
  • 5

Constantinos Parthenis

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
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Description

  • Constantinos Parthenis
  • A Tree-Lined Road
  • signed, inscribed and dated twice 900 lower left
  • oil on canvas
  • 55 by 68.5cm., 21¾ by 27in.

Provenance

Acquired by the family of the present owner in Vienna; thence by descent

Catalogue Note

A plein air painting, the present work reflects the delicate beauty and ethereal light with blurred chiaroscuro contrasts typical of Symbolist landscapes of the period, which are here combined with a French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist sun-dappled and pointillist sensibility. The bright spots of colour that signify the fragile field flowers add detail to a work imbued with columnar strength in the vertical format of the composition and the intense contrast between the sky and landscape and the cool and warm tones, as seen in contemporary paintings such as Klimt's Tall Poplars I of the same year (fig. 1). Parthenis would have travelled within similar circles as the prominent Viennese Symbolist, potentially through connections with the Macedonian philanthropist and patron of the arts Nicholas Doumbas (1830-1900), who donated Vienna's Musikverein to the city, and commissioned Klimt to paint an iconic image of Schubert in his music room. 

The cross-pollination of ideas and styles that was occurring between artists of various nationalities in Vienna at the turn of the century informed Parthenis' work. The emergent styles opened the modernist floodgates within the scope of the Hellenistic aesthetic of the fin de siècle, allowing theoretical and visual space for the artist to develop an inimitably Greek visual expression later in the span of his oeuvre.

At the turn of the century and until circa 1915-1919, Greek art was dominated by Symbolism.  Allegorical and mythological subjects were popular not only with students of Gysis, but also with more modern and progressive painters such as Maleas and Parthenis. The literary and philosophical origins of Symbolism together with its idealistic elements and focus on dream, fantasy and poetry corresponded to a model of modernism that Greek painters identified with and considered 'worthy' of the Greek classical tradition. Parthenis' works of this period typically combine philosophical or poetic content with visual beauty and decorative embellishment.  In the case of A Tree-Lined Road, he subjectifies his surroundings and inserts layers of meaning and emotion into a simple landscape. This elegant and ornamented emotion, imbued with tonal harmony and inherent spirituality can be seen in other works by Parthenis of this period such as Deer in Dense Forest (fig. 2).

FIG. 1, Gustav Klimt, Tall Poplars I, Private Collection
106D08100_3LVMH

FIG. 2, Constantinos Parthenis, Deer in Dense Forest, The Emfietzoglou Collection, Athens
165D08100_3LVMH