Vlassis Caniaris

Originally from Athens, Caniaris began his career studying medicine, supplemented by his painting and drawing studies under the tutelage of Tsarouchis. After his father's death in 1950 he abandoned his medical studies to enrol in 1951 at the Fine Art Academy, continuing his work with Tsarouchis in theatre set and costume design. After completing his fine art studies in 1955, Caniaris and his wife moved to Rome the following year, where his main subjects were the houses of Athens and his memories of his birthplace.

During his stay in Rome he travelled through Italy, to Paris and to England. The half-destroyed second World War bunkers he saw in England left such a strong impression upon him that he tried to recreate their sculptural qualities in his works of the period called Tiefen (Depths). Delving even further into abstraction, in 1959 Caniaris started working on large-scale canvases on which he wrote slogans seen in Athens during the occupation, covering them with white plaster and then re-applying different slogans. In 1960 Caniaris left Rome for Paris, exhibiting with other artists and continuing his work.

On 21 April 1967 the Greek military seized power in a coup d'état, overthrowing the government of Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and establishing the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 (also known as the 'Regime of the Colonels'). The material leitmotif of plaster in the artist's oeuvre demonstrates his need to express the repression experienced by the populace during years of rule by various right-wing military governments, more specifically between 1967 and 1969. Caniaris exhibited these works in Athens in May 1969 and gave each visitor a red plastic carnation, a symbol of the revolution, moulded from a plaster base. Both plaster and carnations would be recurring materials in Caniaris' work of this period (see also lots 129 & 143), arguably the most potent and emotional of his oeuvre.

This lot is sold with a photograph of the artist with the present work.