Yannis Tsarouchis ( el, Γιάννης Τσαρούχης; 13 January 1910 – 20 July 1989) was a Greek modernist

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and set designer who achieved international fame, and was "known in particular for his homoerotic subjects," including soldiers, sailors, and nude males.

Biography

Early life

Born in Piraeus, he studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1929–1935). He was also a student of

Photios Kontoglou Photis Kontoglou (, the pen name of Φώτης Αποστολέλης (Photis Apostolelis); Aivali, 8 November 1895 – Athens, 13 July 1965) was a Greek writer, painter and icon painter. Life He was raised by his mother, Despoina Kontoglou, an ...

, who introduced him to Byzantine

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

, while he also studied popular architecture and dressing customs. Together with Dimitris Pikionis, Kontoglou and

Angeliki Hatzimichali Angeliki Hatzimichali (1895–1965) was a Greek folklorist. She grew up in Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinth ...

he led the movement for the introduction of Greek tradition in painting. From 1935 to 1936 he visited Istanbul, Paris and Italy. He came in contact with the Renaissance art and Impressionism. He discovered the works of

Theophilos Hatzimihail Theophilos Chatzimichail ( el, Θεόφιλος Χατζημιχαήλ or Θεόφιλος Κεφαλάς; born c. 1870, Vareia, near Mytilene, island of Lesbos; died in Vareia, Greece, 24 March 1934), known simply as Theophilos, was a Greek fo ...

and met influential artists such as Henri Matisse and

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and ...

Work

He returned to Greece in 1936 and two years later he produced his first personal

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

in Athens. He later fought in the Greco-Italian War in 1940. In 1949, he and other artists, including Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas,

Yannis Moralis Yiannis Moralis ( el, Γιάννης Μόραλης; also transliterated Yannis Moralis or Giannis Moralis; 23 April 1916 – 20 December 2009) was an important Greek visual artist and part of the so-called "Generation of the '30s". Life B ...

Nikos Nikolaou Nikos Nikolaou ( el, Νίκος Νικολάου) (1909–1986) was a major figure in Greek art during the 20th century. In 1929 Nikolaou was admitted into the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Konstantinos Parthenis and Umberto ...

, Nikos Engonopoulos and Panayiotis Tetsis, established the "Armos" art group. In 1951 he had exhibitions in Paris and London. In 1958 he participated in the Venice Biennale. In 1967 he moved to Paris. Tsarouchis "filled his canvases with homoerotic images of vulnerable men and (to a much lesser extent) strong women."

Sylvester & Orphanos Sylvester & Orphanos was a publishing house originally founded in Los Angeles by Ralph Sylvester, Stathis Orphanos and George Fisher in 1972. When Fisher moved to New York City, ''Sylvester & Orphanos'' specialized in limited-signed press books. Or ...

published ''Yannis Tsarouchis: The Face of Modem Greece''.Luckenbill, Dan (1990). Sylvester & Orphanos : catalog of an exhibit, October–December 1990. UCLA. Retrieved 13 March 2018.

Institutions

In 1982 the

Yannis Tsarouchis Foundation Museum Υannis Tsarouchis Foundation Museum is an art museum in Marousi, a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, dedicated to the famous Greek painter Yannis Tsarouchis. The museum is housed in the headquarters of the Foundation, which was formed in 1981, w ...

in Maroussi, Athens, was inaugurated. The Museum is actually hosted in the house of the artist. He died in Athens in 1989.

Notes

References

* Adaptation of the Greek Wikipedia article.

External links

Tsarouchis PaintingsTsarouchis FoundationBiography and selected Works (Greek only)Documentary video and InterviewDocumerntary video with the artist
1910 births 1989 deaths Artists from Piraeus Gay artists Greek designers Greek illustrators 20th-century Greek painters 20th-century LGBT people {{Greece-painter-stub